The title character was played by Betty Bronson, who was personally cast by Barrie himself. Ernest Torrence and Mary Brian starred as Captain Hook and Wendy respectively. Also, look out for a pre-fame Anna May Wong as Tiger Lily.
In the year 2000, the film was added to the National Film Registry. As of January 1, 2020, it is definitely in the Public Domain, although it is likely the copyright lapsed long before that.
The next film adaptation, coming nearly thirty years later, was the Disney version.
This film has the examples of:
- Adaptational Nationality: The Darlings are, apparently, Americans in this version. See Cultural Translation below.
- Adults Are Useless: Of course, the Lost Boys defeat Hook's pirate crew.
- Crosscast Role: As on the stage, Peter is played by a young woman, specifically Betty Bronson.
- Cultural Translation:
- Every British reference from the original becomes American, with "English gentleman" rendered as "American gentleman," John asking Hook about loyalty to "the Stars and Stripes" instead of "the King," a U.S. flag being raised on the pirate ship after Hook's defeat, and Peter talking about growing up to be "president" instead of just "a man." That last one seems especially excessive.
- For the U.K. release, a version was made in which the British references were left in, complete with an alternate version of the flag-raising scene that uses the Union Jack. Considering the two surviving copies of the film both came from U.S. sources, it's likely the U.K. version is lost.
- Disney Villain Death: Captain Hook is made to Walk the Plank after being defeated by Peter Pan, and he falls into the sea below. A scene later, we see the crocodile coming out of the sea and spitting out Hook's boot.
- Dramatic Shattering: After realizing that Tinkerbell drank the poisoned medicine, Peter drops the empty glass in shock.
- Early Adaptation Weirdness: The film was made twenty years after the play. It's a Setting Update set in the contemporary 1920s. This was before adaptations became Frozen in Time to The Edwardian Era. The characters are also American instead of British, which is something later adaptations never change.
- Fake Interactivity: It's a movie, so it doesn't matter what you do when Peter instructs you to Clap Your Hands If You Believe.
- Neutral Female: During the battle between the Lost Boys and the pirates, Wendy just stands around and watches.
- Pajama-Clad Hero: The Darling children, but only at first. After a Time Skip, they've been in Neverland for a while and have new outfits similar to Peter Pan's.
- Setting Update: The film may come across this way to modern viewers, as the real-world scenes are clearly set in the contemporary 1920s. However, this was made only twenty years after the play was written, and it wasn't yet customary to treat Peter Pan as an Edwardian period piece. Indeed, Barrie continued to edit the play's script through 1928, four years after this film came out.
- Spit Out a Shoe: At the end, there's a shot of the crocodile coughing up Hook's shoe, implying he was eaten.
