“It is a remarkable achievement for a young woman some five years or so of age to become a real ‘star’ actress, and yet it cannot be denied that this unusual feat has been accomplished by Helen Badgley, the dear little child actress of the Thanhouser Company. It is even more remarkable that so youthful a player should attain to so lofty an eminence in her profession without suffering in the least from the precocity which mars the work of many infant prodigies. The charm of Helen Badgley is largely that she has remained entirely unspoiled by the unusual duties she has been called upon to perform. She is just a sweet little baby girl—utterly natural and absolutely childlike. She behaves before the camera precisely as she would behave in real life. It may be said, in fact, that she is the mistress of that greatest of all arts, which is to conceal art.
“In A Messenger of Gladness, Helen Badgley is provided with a part which sets off to the fullest extent the charm of her baby personality. A simple allegory rather than a play, the film shows how the appeal of a little child’s natural goodness and innocence of heart exerts over the varied human weaknesses with which she comes in contact an irresistible healing influence. Unkindness, petty meanness and greed vanish before the magic of her frank and happy smile like noxious vapours before a sunbeam. Apart from Helen Badgley’s delightful performance, the film contains a series of brief but wonderfully vivid little character studies etched with deft and graphic touch by the artist concerned. Each of these various characters, whose troubles are dispelled by the baby’s sunny smile, represents, as it were, a separate human drama, but, although they are all dismissed very rapidly, they are none the less effective. The exact meaning of ‘Thanksgiving Day’ might be explained on the screen for the benefit of English audiences, but it is not a point of any importance, and, in any case, its general significance is sufficiently obvious. Altogether, A Messenger of Gladness is a delightful little picture, which is, in its way, quite unique.”
