The Library of Congress restored version of the gothic southern swamps movie Sparrows is now available on DVD. The movie starred the biggest star of her day, Mary Pickford, and consequently saw a very wide release in May 1926. The expressionist-style horror / dark melodrama is set in a decrepit ‘baby farm’ in the swamps of New Orleans. Lovecraft was, by that date, no longer in New York. But one wonders if he saw the movie in Providence in summer 1926? Lovecraft of course wrote “The Call of Cthulhu” in the summer of 1926, so one has to wonder if the movie’s acclaimed visuals could have influenced the feel or perhaps even the setting of his story’s New Orleans swamp scenes?