However Norma has met a simple man named Michael Jeffrey (Johnny Mack Brown) who she has fallen madly in love with.

Norma gives him their word, then promptly plans to marry Michael in 6 months, when he's made 'good in the hills' so he can buy her a home in the valley.

Dr. Besant is furious and a heated verbal exchange takes place with Michael leaving, vowing to run away with Norma as soon as possible.

Dr. Besant's lawyer friend arrives begging Norma to lie to the police to save her father's life.

After comforting Norma, Dr. Besant approaches the bench and confesses his guilt, saying he has done wrong and is willing to pay the price.

The play was based on real events in Richmond County, North Carolina and some dialog was used verbatim from court testimony.

In the play, the leading lady is pregnant and the story hinges on the fact that she carries the child of the man killed by her father.

Wrote Ernst and Lorentz, "the censor conscious producer would not allow the movie to show the girl enceinte, thus destroying the whole plot.

In 1919 along with Charlie Chaplin, her husband Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith she founded United Artists, giving her complete control over her films.

She tried an older role with her final silent film, My Best Girl in 1927[5] and, following the death of her mother in 1928, cut off her world-famous curls.

Coquette is the story of a flirtatious southern girl who chooses to stand behind her father after he kills the man that she loves.

[6] Despite Pickford's embrace of the new medium it seems she was as concerned as everyone else about how her voice would record, despite the fact she had a stage career before entering film.

"[7] She immediately began intensive vocal lessons, hoping to accomplish a realistic Southern accent for the role.

Pickford became nervous during preparation, firing her sound man when a take wasn't ready for her review on time.

[8] On set during an emotional scene, she notoriously fired her longtime cameraman and friend, Charles Rosher, when he yelled "Cut!"

Pickford's estate no longer owns the rights as MGM (ironically parent company of UA) bought the film for a never-made remake.

In 2008, a legal battle ensued between The Academy and Buddy Rogers' heirs over the sale of the Coquette Oscar.

The Academy insisted that the Award must be offered back to them for $1, to comply with a rule made long after Pickford won her Oscar.