Poor Little Peppina (1916): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1916, Poor Little Peppina is a drama film directed by Sidney Olcott, running about 70 minutes.

What it’s about. Holding a grudge against Robert Torrens and his wife, who live in Italy, a member of the Mafia kidnaps their infant daughter Lois. Fifteen years later, after having been raised by Italian peasants, Lois, now called Peppina, dresses as a boy and stows away on a ship to America in order to avoid a marriage to a particularly loathsome count. While aboard ship she befriends Hugh Carroll, an assistant district attorney, who arranges first-class transportation for the "boy." In New York, she once again meets her kidnapper, who fled to America after the crime. He forces Peppina to maintain the masculine disguise and to pass counterfeit bills for him, for which she is arrested. Peppina gladly exposes the kidnapper's operation to the authorities, one of whom, Hugh, recognizes her as the "boy" he met on the ship. Then, once the kidnapper has been apprehended, Peppina is reunited with her parents, after which she and Hugh, who has finally discovered that she is female, get married.

Who’s in it. Poor Little Peppina stars Mary Pickford as Peppina, Eugene O'Brien as Hugh Carroll, Antonio Maiori as Soldo and Ernest Torti as Pietro, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.7/10, Poor Little Peppina has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Poor Little Peppina page.

If you liked it. Fans of Poor Little Peppina tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.