June Caprice

In 1915, the movie world was all about Mary Pickford and every studio wanted someone like her. Which is probably why she wanted none of them and built her own studio, United Artists, with her husband Douglas Fairbanks and Charles Chaplin.

So they all looked for their own sugary child impersonator with golden locks and many Mary Pickford look-a-like contests were launched at the time. One winner was blue-eyed fair-haired 20 year old Helen Elizabeth Lawson, who had a little stage experience. In 1916, she moved from Boston to New York and tried to get into films. At the time, a good deal of the production was made at Fort Lee, New Jersey. The first studio she tried offered her no chance to work even though she reported daily to find out about job offers, so she tried a second one and got lucky with a $25 a week contract at Thanhouser Film Corporation.

Only a few months later, she signed with Fox Film for her first starring role Caprice of the Mountain
with Harry Hilliard, her co-star for several films to come. Her stage name was chosen in honor of this film: June Caprice.

With the same director (John G. Adolfi), she appeared in 7 more films over two years, all in roles that could have been tailor-made for Pickford: Little Miss Happiness, The Ragged Princess (with child stars sisters Jane and Katherine Lee) and The Mischief Maker in 1916 and A Modern Cinderella (with Wizard of Oz Frank Morgan), A Child of the Wild, The Small Town Girl, and Patsy in 1917.

The Fox publicity department dubbed her "The Sunshine Maid" (possibly from the working title of

The Ragged Princess

one of her films) which stuck in the public mind so much that nowadays, her filmography still often lists a film by that title when there very likely never has been.

That same year, she met her new director Harry F. Millarde, who not only married her, but also made some of her biggest successes: Every Girl's Dream, Miss U.S.A., Unknown 274, The Heart of Romance, The Camouflage Kiss, Blue-eyed Mary, and Miss Innocence.

At the peek of her success, the reviews were quite good: "Miss Caprice never appears to better advantage than she does in "Miss U.S.A." (The Reading Times; November 5, 1917).
Her fame got her a deal with the Coca Cola company to appear in their ads.

After two years with Fox, she ended her contract and signed with Pathé representative Albert Capellani (at Alice Guy Blaché's Solax studios) who directed her in Oh Boy!.
It starred Creighton Hale, who, at the time, was famous for his work opposite the famous Pearl White in many of her trademark films (The Exploits of Elaine, The Iron Claw, etc.). He also was the Prince of Snow White with another Mary Pickford clone: Marguerite Clark.

Yet, these films had moderate success. On June 13, 1919, Variety's critic of "Oh Boy!" was: "six reels of farce is a bit too much. This story is neither farce nor comedy, neither a convincing picture nor a roar of laughter. It is moderately interesting and clean - that’s all".

She then kept teaming up with Creighton Hale, but the following films she made with this studio were directed by George Archainbaud (The Love Cheat, A Damsel in Distress, In Walked Mary).

The August 9, 1919 critic for "The love Cheat" in Harrison’s Reports was: "This is a sweet little offering suitable mostly for young folks who are contented even if the hero does nothing else throughout the picture but kiss the heroine. The picture is good for Sunday crowds." The October 18 critic of "A Damsel in Distress" in Harrison’s Reports that same year was even worse: "This is a very badly padded comedy-drama. At times it is so padded, that it becomes tiresome. There are some good comedy spots in it, it is true, but they are about a mile apart, they do not hold the interest."

June without the wig

In a 1919 interview, June Caprice stated that she had liked only one role among all of her films and that one she did without her trademark golden curls. Maybe she referred to The Ragged Princess, where June swam in the nude in one scene.
Anyway, the public did not like it and when she received a thousand letters begging her to remain an ingénue, she decided to remain typecast for her own good. However,she did try different things at the end of her career. In "In Walked Mary", she becomes a vamp for a time, even though it's just to reveal the real nature of her friend's bride-to-be.
 Also, after the Spanish-themed Rogues and Romance, directed, written and played by George B. Seitz, she tried her hand at a serial, a popular genre at the time, with that same director. The 15 episode film was called The Sky Ranger and was released in 1921. This was to be her final film.

The following year, she gave birth to her only daughter and she
called her June in honor of her stage name. Her husband kept on directing films until 1927. He died of a heart attack in 1931. Unfortunately, June Caprice also died of cancer in 1936, leaving orphan girl June Millard to be raised by June Caprice's parent. When she grew up, she also appeared in a few films in the early 1940s, but her main career was modeling under the name Toni Seven.

June Caprice's misfortune is that her most successful films were made at Fox and most of that studio's silent film catalog is lost due to a fire in 1937. However, none of her films are currently available in any format.

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