Perhaps one of Mary Pickford's lesser works, this film was nevertheless a funny, extremely well-produced comedy about a socialite who, having lost her fortune, takes a job as a Swedish cook. She falls in love with a chauffeur (Casson Ferguson) who, lo and behold, is a slumming millionaire. Written by Pickford regular Frances Marion, How Could You, Jean? was based on a turn-of-the-century novel by Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd. Interestingly, in 1930 Norwegian writer Sigrid Boo penned a highly successful novel bearing almost the identical plot, Vi som går kjøkkenveien ("We Who Enter Through the Kitchen"). Boo's "original," which had already been filmed in Norway and Sweden, was turned into a star vehicle for Janet Gaynor by Fox in 1934 under the title Servants' Entrance. Apparently, the old Pickford comedy was already forgotten, and no copyright infringement suit was filed.
by Hans J. Wollstein
synopsis
