In the early days of cinema, when actors were unbilled and unmentioned in credits, audiences immediately noticed Mary Pickford. Moviegoers everywhere were riveted by her magnetic talent and appeal as she rose to become cinema’s first great star.
In this engaging collection, copublished with the Library of Congress, an eminent group of film historians sheds new light on this icon’s incredible life and legacy. Pickford emerges from the pages in vivid detail. She is revealed as a gifted actress, a philanthropist, and a savvy industry leader who fought for creative control of her films and ultimately became her own producer.
This beautifully designed volume features more than two hundred color and black and white illustrations, including photographs and stills from the collections of the Library of Congress and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Together with the text, they paint a fascinating portrait of a key figure in American cinematic history.
Table of Content
Introduction
The Natural: Transitions in Mary Pickford’s Acting from the Footlights to Her Greatest Role in Film
Childhood Revisited: An Evaluation of Mary Pickford’s Youngest Characters
Pickford: Passionate Producer
Father of the Family: Mary Pickford’s Journey from Breadwinner to Businesswoman
Pickford and Fairbanks: A Modern Marriage
Little Mary: Formidable Philanthropist
Dressing the Part: Mary Pickford’s Use of Costume
The Mary Pickford Costumes
Crown of Glory: The Rise and Fall of the Mary Pickford Curls
American Idol: Mary Pickford, WWI, and the Making of a National Icon
Laws of Attraction: Mary Pickford, Movies and the Evolution of Fame
Blood and Sympathy: Race and the Films of Mary Pickford
America’s Sweetheart
The Films of Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford and the Archival Film Movement
Chronology of Mary Pickford’s Life
About the author
Christel Schmidt is a film historian, writer, and editor. She was awarded two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities for her work on Mary Pickford and is coeditor of Silent Movies: The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture.
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