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Review: Mary Pickford: Muse of the Movies (2008/2012)
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Mark Leeper
2012年6月20日 12:53:132012/6/20
收件人
MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: At one time Mary Pickford was the most famous
woman in the world. Even before the cinema was truly
globalized Pickford was recognized all over the world
for her films. Nicholas Eliopoulos's biographical
documentary recounts the story of Mary Pickford from having
to go on the stage at age five to support her family to
her co-founding of United Artists when she was second
only to Charlie Chaplin as the face most recognized all
over the world. MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES
tells the story of Pickford and of the fledgling film
industry and how the two grew together. The story is
told with interviews of the people involved in her life
including Pickford herself, with stills, and with film
clips from her movies. While the film is not
groundbreaking in style, it is a history of the exploding
film industry and of one of its most remarkable figures.
The story is narrated by Michael York and by Pickford
herself in recordings made before she died. Rating:
+2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
While the world saw Mary Pickford perpetually as a little girl she
became in her time the most famous woman in the world and one of
strongest forces in the early days of cinema. One woman was a film
"actress, writer, director, producer, and studio boss" as we learn
in Nicholas Eliopoulos's MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES.
She was the driving force behind the founding and running of United
Artists. Her story is quite literally rags to riches. Born in
Toronto, her father died when she was five years old. Her family
was so poor that to feed them she had to start earning money on the
stage, billed as Baby Gladys--her real name was Gladys Smith.
Actors at the time had no respect for the coming of the little one-
reel films that were the output of the newly-born movie industry.
Mary would later proudly tell people that she was born the year
that Edison invented the movie camera.
Desperate to earn money she applied for acting work in film and was
rejected, then only moments later discovered by D. W. Griffith, who
convinced her to be a part of the new industry. The two of them
with Charlie Chaplin and her later husband Douglas Fairbanks would
found United Artists to give the actors and directors greater
control over the films being made. Later she would be a major
force in the founding of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and
Sciences. She won the first Best Actress Academy Award.
She had power never matched in the film industry. For most of her
career Pickford could and did insist on veto power over her film
roles, script choice, director choice, and co-star choice. This
assured her of the quality of the films she made and no doubt added
to the popularity of her films.
Her best-known roles were those where she played young girls with
long hair and looks that earned her the title "America's
Sweetheart." She was playing a child up until her early thirties.
In 1928 with the dying of silent film, she decided that she had
played her last little girl. She bobbed her hair and began
speaking in film. But the public's affection was for that little
girl whom she could no longer play, and she had lost her
characteristic appeal. She retreated from acting, though she still
had power at the studio.
Director Eliopoulos, who also produces and edits MARY PICKFORD: THE
MUSE OF THE MOVIES, has presented the viewer with home movies,
interviews with family, friends, and associates: people like
Lillian Gish, Buddy Rogers (star of WINGS and Pickford's third
husband), and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. While generally the film is
very complimentary to Pickford, it does rather gloss over some of
her problems like her alcoholism late in her life.
This is very much a "life and times" biography telling the story of
Pickford's remarkable life and at the same time the story of the
budding film industry. If you are interested in Pickford herself
or just in the early history of the Hollywood film industry, this
is an enthralling documentary. I rate it a +2 on the -4 to +4
scale or 7/10.
MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES was made in 2008 and has been
playing at film festivals. On June 19 it was released by Cinema
Libre on DVD with a photo gallery, a Q&A with the director, and an
interview with the director.
Film Credits: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1332023/>
What others are saying:
<http://tinyurl.com/void-pickford>
Mark R. Leeper
mle...@optonline.net
Copyright 2012 Mark R. Leeper
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: At one time Mary Pickford was the most famous
woman in the world. Even before the cinema was truly
globalized Pickford was recognized all over the world
for her films. Nicholas Eliopoulos's biographical
documentary recounts the story of Mary Pickford from having
to go on the stage at age five to support her family to
her co-founding of United Artists when she was second
only to Charlie Chaplin as the face most recognized all
over the world. MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES
tells the story of Pickford and of the fledgling film
industry and how the two grew together. The story is
told with interviews of the people involved in her life
including Pickford herself, with stills, and with film
clips from her movies. While the film is not
groundbreaking in style, it is a history of the exploding
film industry and of one of its most remarkable figures.
The story is narrated by Michael York and by Pickford
herself in recordings made before she died. Rating:
+2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
While the world saw Mary Pickford perpetually as a little girl she
became in her time the most famous woman in the world and one of
strongest forces in the early days of cinema. One woman was a film
"actress, writer, director, producer, and studio boss" as we learn
in Nicholas Eliopoulos's MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES.
She was the driving force behind the founding and running of United
Artists. Her story is quite literally rags to riches. Born in
Toronto, her father died when she was five years old. Her family
was so poor that to feed them she had to start earning money on the
stage, billed as Baby Gladys--her real name was Gladys Smith.
Actors at the time had no respect for the coming of the little one-
reel films that were the output of the newly-born movie industry.
Mary would later proudly tell people that she was born the year
that Edison invented the movie camera.
Desperate to earn money she applied for acting work in film and was
rejected, then only moments later discovered by D. W. Griffith, who
convinced her to be a part of the new industry. The two of them
with Charlie Chaplin and her later husband Douglas Fairbanks would
found United Artists to give the actors and directors greater
control over the films being made. Later she would be a major
force in the founding of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and
Sciences. She won the first Best Actress Academy Award.
She had power never matched in the film industry. For most of her
career Pickford could and did insist on veto power over her film
roles, script choice, director choice, and co-star choice. This
assured her of the quality of the films she made and no doubt added
to the popularity of her films.
Her best-known roles were those where she played young girls with
long hair and looks that earned her the title "America's
Sweetheart." She was playing a child up until her early thirties.
In 1928 with the dying of silent film, she decided that she had
played her last little girl. She bobbed her hair and began
speaking in film. But the public's affection was for that little
girl whom she could no longer play, and she had lost her
characteristic appeal. She retreated from acting, though she still
had power at the studio.
Director Eliopoulos, who also produces and edits MARY PICKFORD: THE
MUSE OF THE MOVIES, has presented the viewer with home movies,
interviews with family, friends, and associates: people like
Lillian Gish, Buddy Rogers (star of WINGS and Pickford's third
husband), and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. While generally the film is
very complimentary to Pickford, it does rather gloss over some of
her problems like her alcoholism late in her life.
This is very much a "life and times" biography telling the story of
Pickford's remarkable life and at the same time the story of the
budding film industry. If you are interested in Pickford herself
or just in the early history of the Hollywood film industry, this
is an enthralling documentary. I rate it a +2 on the -4 to +4
scale or 7/10.
MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES was made in 2008 and has been
playing at film festivals. On June 19 it was released by Cinema
Libre on DVD with a photo gallery, a Q&A with the director, and an
interview with the director.
Film Credits: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1332023/>
What others are saying:
<http://tinyurl.com/void-pickford>
Mark R. Leeper
mle...@optonline.net
Copyright 2012 Mark R. Leeper
hislop
2012年6月20日 22:22:502012/6/20
收件人
On 21/06/2012 2:53 AM, Mark Leeper wrote:
> MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES
> (a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
>
> CAPSULE: At one time Mary Pickford was the most famous
> woman in the world. Even before the cinema was truly
> globalized Pickford was recognized all over the world
> for her films. Nicholas Eliopoulos's biographical
> documentary recounts the story of Mary Pickford from having
> to go on the stage at age five to support her family to
> her co-founding of United Artists when she was second
> only to Charlie Chaplin as the face most recognized all
> over the world. MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES
> tells the story of Pickford and of the fledgling film
> industry and how the two grew together. The story is
> told with interviews of the people involved in her life
> including Pickford herself, with stills, and with film
> clips from her movies. While the film is not
> groundbreaking in style, it is a history of the exploding
> film industry and of one of its most remarkable figures.
> The story is narrated by Michael York and by Pickford
> herself in recordings made before she died. Rating:
> +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
>
In my not small collection of silent movies I don't have anything, as
> MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES
> (a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
>
> CAPSULE: At one time Mary Pickford was the most famous
> woman in the world. Even before the cinema was truly
> globalized Pickford was recognized all over the world
> for her films. Nicholas Eliopoulos's biographical
> documentary recounts the story of Mary Pickford from having
> to go on the stage at age five to support her family to
> her co-founding of United Artists when she was second
> only to Charlie Chaplin as the face most recognized all
> over the world. MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES
> tells the story of Pickford and of the fledgling film
> industry and how the two grew together. The story is
> told with interviews of the people involved in her life
> including Pickford herself, with stills, and with film
> clips from her movies. While the film is not
> groundbreaking in style, it is a history of the exploding
> film industry and of one of its most remarkable figures.
> The story is narrated by Michael York and by Pickford
> herself in recordings made before she died. Rating:
> +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
>
far as I can tell, with Mary Pickford in it.
m.balarama
2012年6月21日 09:59:502012/6/21
收件人
Mark Leeper
2012年6月21日 12:55:452012/6/21
收件人
Melies or starring Chaplin, Fairbanks, or Keaton, I don't think that
Pickford's films have aged very well at all or offer the 21st century
viewer much. The natural successor to the Mary Pickford film is the
Shirley Temple film. I don't know anybody who is really enthused
about those either. People are just not very interested in "cute
little girl" films (whether the actress is really a little girl or
not).
m.balarama
2012年6月21日 14:48:562012/6/21
收件人
Igenlode Wordsmith
2012年6月24日 22:58:142012/6/24
收件人
Mark Leeper <mlee...@optonline.net> wrote in message <7f2fb6b3-40a8-4abd...@30g2000yqi.googlegroups.com>
> On Jun 20, 10:22pm, hislop <takecarebew...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> [snip]
(1927), "Dorothy Vernon" (1924) and "The Little American" (1917), none
of which are anything like Shirley Temple films and in only one of which
-- as it happens -- does Pickford play a child character: "Sparrows",
in which she portrays the eldest of a group of orphans who escape from a
exploitative baby-farm in the depths of the bayou (cue crocodile
attacks, speedboat chases etc.) There is a comedy moment at the end
where a misunderstanding results in the suggestion that this teenage
girl is the mother of *all* the other children, an obvious
impossibility...
Despite the title, "The Little American" is very definitely not about a
child: it's a WWI film. "My Best Girl" is a slightly generic shop-girl-
and-the-boss's-son comedy, and "Dorothy Vernon" is a historical romance
where Pickford plays a spitfire Elizabethan heroine (and does her own
stunts): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014854/reviews-3
I haven't actually seen any of her "little girl" films (let alone
"Little Lord Fauntleroy", where she famously doubles as both the boy and
his mother!) so I'm actually quite curious. In "Sparrows" she certainly
does an impressive acting job with the young girl's body language; she
doesn't *move* like a woman, let alone like the self-assured public
figure that you see in newsreel footage.
For an interesting set of reactions to this documentary when it was
initially released, see alt.movies silent:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.movies.silent/browse_thread/thread/bf4df49d5593d2eb
--
Igenlode Visit the Ivory Tower http://ivory.vlexofree.com/Tower/
> On Jun 20, 10:22pm, hislop <takecarebew...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> > In my not small collection of silent movies I don't have anything, as
> > far as I can tell, with Mary Pickford in it.
>
> That is not be surprising. Unlike silent films directed by George
> Melies or starring Chaplin, Fairbanks, or Keaton, I don't think that
> Pickford's films have aged very well at all or offer the 21st century
> viewer much. The natural successor to the Mary Pickford film is the
> Shirley Temple film. I don't know anybody who is really enthused
> about those either. People are just not very interested in "cute
> little girl" films (whether the actress is really a little girl or
> not).
Of Mary Pickford's film I've seen "Sparrows" (1926), "My Best Girl"
> > In my not small collection of silent movies I don't have anything, as
> > far as I can tell, with Mary Pickford in it.
>
> That is not be surprising. Unlike silent films directed by George
> Melies or starring Chaplin, Fairbanks, or Keaton, I don't think that
> Pickford's films have aged very well at all or offer the 21st century
> viewer much. The natural successor to the Mary Pickford film is the
> Shirley Temple film. I don't know anybody who is really enthused
> about those either. People are just not very interested in "cute
> little girl" films (whether the actress is really a little girl or
> not).
(1927), "Dorothy Vernon" (1924) and "The Little American" (1917), none
of which are anything like Shirley Temple films and in only one of which
-- as it happens -- does Pickford play a child character: "Sparrows",
in which she portrays the eldest of a group of orphans who escape from a
exploitative baby-farm in the depths of the bayou (cue crocodile
attacks, speedboat chases etc.) There is a comedy moment at the end
where a misunderstanding results in the suggestion that this teenage
girl is the mother of *all* the other children, an obvious
impossibility...
Despite the title, "The Little American" is very definitely not about a
child: it's a WWI film. "My Best Girl" is a slightly generic shop-girl-
and-the-boss's-son comedy, and "Dorothy Vernon" is a historical romance
where Pickford plays a spitfire Elizabethan heroine (and does her own
stunts): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014854/reviews-3
I haven't actually seen any of her "little girl" films (let alone
"Little Lord Fauntleroy", where she famously doubles as both the boy and
his mother!) so I'm actually quite curious. In "Sparrows" she certainly
does an impressive acting job with the young girl's body language; she
doesn't *move* like a woman, let alone like the self-assured public
figure that you see in newsreel footage.
For an interesting set of reactions to this documentary when it was
initially released, see alt.movies silent:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.movies.silent/browse_thread/thread/bf4df49d5593d2eb
--
Igenlode Visit the Ivory Tower http://ivory.vlexofree.com/Tower/
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