Sparrows (1926)

Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926) is one of Mary Pickford's most unexpected films and her only Gothic melodrama. As Molly, the eldest child at a baby farm hidden deep in a swamp, she must rescue the others when their cruel master decides that one of them will be disposed of. Pickford, who was the most powerful woman in Hollywood at the time, also produced the film. It was the last time she portrayed a child.


Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna, no. 697. Photo: United Artists. Mary Pickford in Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926). The Italian release title was Passerotti.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 776. Photo: United Artists. Monty O'Grady and Mary Pickford in Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926). The Italian release title was Passerotti.


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci Editore, Milano, no. 497. Mary Pickford and Mary Louise Miller in Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926).

A horror baby farm

Sparrows (1926) is situated in the American South where the mean Mr Grimes (Gustav von Seyffertitz) runs a farm with his wife (Charlotte Mineau) and their mentally retarded son Ambrose (Spec O'Donnell), surrounded by barely accessible swamps and alligators. The Grimes family admits abandoned children and babies - mainly orphans - so they can work on their land. The children have hard-working hours and are mistreated, almost starved, and practically kept in prison by their wicked guardians. They have to hide when strangers turn up to conceal these conditions from the outside world.

The eldest orphan, Molly (Mary Pickford), mainly looks after the small children and occasionally steals food for them. She is motivated by charity and her faith in God, which she also tries to pass on to the boys and girls. God, says Molly, would watch over everyone here and protect them just as he does for the sparrows... When a cattle dealer appears on the farm one day, Ambrose Grimes sells him one of the children for profit: Splutters, the little ‘stutterer’. Meanwhile, Molly keeps the increasingly desperate children happy by repeating the Bible quote about God's sparrows so that the little ones never completely lose hope.

Ambrose catches Molly embezzling potatoes because the children are starving. Despite Molly's insistent pleas, old Grimes makes all the children suffer and tortures them even more cruelly. The youngest of the children is already so ill that he dies the next night in the face of this latest affliction. Like a vision, Jesus Christ enters the barn and takes the baby to himself. When Molly wakes up, the little one is dead.

The Grimes clan is becoming increasingly brutal and ruthless. They kidnap the infant Doris Wayne (Mary Louise Miller) to extort a ransom from her father, a millionaire. Molly is overjoyed with the new baby. When Mr Grimes reads about the kidnapping in the newspaper a few days later, he tells his son to throw the baby into the swamp so as not to lead the police onto Grimes' trail. At the last moment, the courageous Molly can prevent this crime and takes Doris. The young woman realises that she and her ‘sparrows of God’ must finally stand up to their murderous tormentors. First, she tries to fend off the Grimes threat with a pitchfork. Then they all finally dare to escape. The little trek of minors sets off to cross the dangerous swamp, where hungry alligators are just waiting for fresh meat. Grimes is not worried about this; he firmly believes that either the swamp or the alligators will do the dirty work for him and devour the fugitives. In fact, all the children escape unharmed and hide in a motorboat that belongs to the kidnappers.

Splutters, the ‘stutterer’ (Monty O'Grady) has escaped from his ‘buyer’ and is recognised as one of the missing children. He tells the Police about Mr Grimes' horror farm and his family. Mr Wayne (Roy Stewart) is also present and hopes to get his little daughter back soon. Finally, the police set out to carry out a large-scale raid in the swamps. Molly's hiding place in the boat proves to be too dangerous. Old Grimes is chased by the police during the raid, flees into the marshes and sinks there. Mrs Grimes and her wayward son reach the motorboat where Molly and her ‘sparrows’ had just been and flee. As they are unable to shake off a police boat patrol, they switch to a more manoeuvrable rubber dinghy, but are immediately run over by the police boat and also die in the muddy water. Molly and the others, including the kidnapped Wayne baby Doris, are rescued, and as an act of gratitude, the rich Mr Wayne promises to look after all the rescued children from now on.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 906. Photo: United Artists / Projectograph-Film. Mary Pickford and Mary Louise Miller in Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926).


Italian postcard in the Archivio series by Diesse F. Lli de Siena / S. Girogrio A. Cremano, Napoli, no. 41. Mary Pickford in Through the Back Door (1921). The Italian postcard refers to Passerotti, the Italian title for Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926). EFSP collaborator Marlene Pilaete writes us: 'Through the Back Door is available on YouTube. I've watched the beginning and after approximately 13min43 of running time, you see Pickford in the same dress, with the same furniture and you can also see the doll, By the way, did you notice that the doll is a traditional little Dutch boy. As Pickford plays a Belgian girl in Through the Back Door, it makes sense. The Archivio postcards were issued in the 1970s or 1980s and I think the mistake comes from that they were made much later after the Pickford movies were made.


Italian postcard in the Archivio series by Diesse F. Lli de Siena / S. Girogrio A. Cremano, Napoli, no. 42. Marlene Pilaete: "I think that the Archivio Series postcard nr 42 also comes from another movie than Sparrows, maybe also from Through the Back Door. On this postcard, Mary Pickford sports her famous curls and she is well-dressed. In Sparrows, she sports her hair with braids and wears plain and worn-out dresses."

There wasn't an alligator within ten miles of Miss Pickford

According to a then-well-established theatrical and cinematic convention, the role of Molly was given to an adult actress, while child actors were given supporting parts. Mary Pickford, already 33 years old at the time of filming, had specialised during her career in such little girl parts, and Sparrows (1926) was the final one in a long successful row. Sparrows was Pickford's next-to-last silent role, followed by My Best Girl (1927) in which she played a young woman of indeterminate age. After that, Pickford made some talking pictures before retiring to Pickfair, her estate, with her husband Douglas Fairbanks.

Sparrows was produced by the Pickford Corporation with an estimated budget of $463,455 and shot in July 1925 in West Hollywood. It was directed by William Beaudine and (uncredited) Tom McNamara. Winifred Dunn wrote the story. Art director Harry Oliver designed the magnificent film set. He went to great lengths to transform 4 acres (16,000 m2) of the back lot between Willoughby Avenue and Alta Vista Street into a stylized Gothic swamp. The ground was scraped bare in places, 600 trees were transplanted, and pits were dug and filled with a mixture of burned cork, sawdust and muddy water.

Sparrows is a full-blooded Gothic melodrama. The subject matter is dark, and some of the horrors are reminiscent of Charles Dickens, but the darkness is interspersed with plenty of laughs. Mary Pickford plays naturally and her little co-stars are of unprecedented ease. The film also presents Gustav von Seyffertitz with the best role of his career. Distributed by United Artists, the film premiered in Hollywood on 14 May 1926 and in New York on 19 September. Some critics expected that Sparrows would be too strong for audiences, but it did well. In the United States, the film grossed $966,878. In later years, Pickford repeatedly recounted the story that she was concerned that director William Beaudine was jeopardizing the actors, particularly when he insisted she carry a real baby, rather than a doll as she wanted, across some water teeming with alligators (albeit with their jaws bound shut). However, Hal Mohr, the film's director of photography, debunked this tale, saying "There wasn't an alligator within ten miles of Miss Pickford," and revealing in precise detail how the effect was done.

An incomplete six-reel copy of the film - a 35 mm nitrate tinted positive - is preserved in the archives of the Library of Congress (American Film Institute / Mary Pickford collection). A 35 mm positive is in the archives of the Cinémathèque Française; negatives and positives are in those of the Mary Pickford Institute for Film Education film collection. The film was presented in 2008 at the Giornate del Cinema Muto (the Pordenone Silent Film Festival) in Italy.

Film historian Jeffrey Vance considers Sparrows to be Pickford's masterpiece. In his program notes for the Giornate del Cinema Muto, Vance wrote: "Sparrows is her most fully realized and timeless work of art. The film’s superb performances, gothic production design, and cinematography all serve a suspenseful, emotionally compelling story anchored by a central performance by Pickford herself imbued with pathos, humour, and charm." In 2012, Milestone Film & Video released the Library of Congress restoration of Sparrows to DVD and Blu-ray, as part of the box set 'Rags and Riches: Mary Pickford Collection". It contains an audio commentary track by Jeffrey Vance and Tony Maietta.


Italian postcard by Edit. B.F.F. (Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze), no. 473. Photo: United Artists. Mary Pickford in Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926). The Italian release title was Passerotti.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1852/2, 1927-1928. Photo: United Artists.


Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna, no. 700. Photo: United Artists. Mary Pickford in Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926). The Italian release title was Passerotti.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch, French, German, Italian and English) and IMDb. With special thanks to Marlene Pilaete!

Pollyanna (1920)

Pollyanna (1920) is an American silent film directed by Paul Powell and starring 'America's sweetheart', Mary Pickford. After her father's death, orphan Pollyanna has to live in an ill-tempered town with her stern Victorian Aunt Polly. Although Pollyanna's good deeds and incurable optimism melt all hearts in the town, Aunt Polly remains unmoved, still heartsick over an early romance with the village doctor... Pollyanna, scripted by Frances Marion, was based on a book by Eleanor H. Porter and a play by Catherine Chisholm Cushing.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 689/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Terra-Film, Berlin. Katherine Griffith as Aunt Polly and Mary Pickford as Pollyanna in Pollyanna (Paul Powell, 1920), released in Germany as Sonne im Herzen (Sunshine in her Heart).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 689/2. Photo: Terra-Film, Berlin. Mary Pickford in Pollyanna (Paul Powell, 1920). The man could be William Courtleigh as the neighbour, John Pendleton. She is stealing his apples but he forgives her. He discovers Pollyanna is the spitting image of her mother who left him for her father.

The glad game

Pollyanna (1920) opens in the Ozarks where a distraught Pollyanna (Mary Pickford) is comforting her father the Reverend John Whittier (Wharton James) as he dies. After his death, Pollyanna is sent to live on a New England plantation with her rich spinster aunt Polly (Katherine Griffith). Her aunt is extremely harsh with Pollyanna by not allowing her to speak of her father in her house and choosing the attic for her bedroom. She even takes Pollyanna shopping for new clothes. One day, while playing on the plantation, Pollyanna gets in trouble with a servant woman and runs to hide in a haystack. There she meets Jimmy Bean (Howard Ralston), an orphan her age.

Taking pity on Jimmy, Pollyanna is certain eventually Aunt Polly will let him live with them. So she hides him in the cellar. One day, Aunt Polly insists on going into the cellar, despite Pollyanna's pleas for fear Jimmy will be discovered. Jimmy is asleep and Pollyanna believes they're in the clear; until Jimmy starts shouting in his sleep, having a bad dream about turnips chasing and trying to eat him. Pollyanna is amused but Aunt Polly is not. After some pleading, Aunt Polly relents and tells Pollyanna to bring some good quilts for Jimmy.

One day, as Jimmy and Pollyanna play with the other children, they try to steal some apples from a tree belonging to John Pendleton (William Courtleigh). John catches Pollyanna in the act, but forgives her, realizing she is the exact image of her mother, a woman he once loved deeply, but she loved Pollyanna's father instead. He tells Pollyanna this as he shows her a painting of her mother. Meanwhile, Jimmy fights his way in, fearing that Pollyanna is in danger. He tries to defend her but finds that everything is normal.

As Pollyanna settles in she seems to bring optimism to those she meets. She is insistent on playing a game her father taught her called 'The Glad Game', where one counts the things they are glad for. She visits an old shut-in who is supposedly grateful for nothing. Pollyanna brings along an old blind and deaf friend who plays the accordion. Upon discovering the woman is blind and deaf, the shut-in proclaims her gratitude for still having her sight and hearing.

One day, however, Pollyanna tries to save a child from a car but is herself hit and becomes paralysed. Aunt Polly finally realises how important her niece has become to her. She learns that the only doctor who can happily operate on Pollyanna by restoring the use of her legs is Chilton, her old lover. Swallowing her pride, Polly goes to him to ask him to perform the miracle. Chilton succeeds and Pollyanna can finally walk again. The whole town rejoices as Jimmie Bean finally declares his love for her.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 689/3. Photo: Terra-Film, Berlin. Mary Pickford in Pollyanna (Paul Powell, 1920).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 689/4. Photo: Terra-Film, Berlin. Mary Pickford in Pollyanna (Paul Powell, 1920). The man could be William Courtleigh, who plays the neighbour, John Pendleton, from whose tree Pollyanna has stolen apples. He is smitten with her as she is the lookalike of her mother, whom he once loved. She makes sure he adopts an orphan boy, Jimmy Bean (Howard Ralston), who she helped find lodgings.

Little girl pictures

Eleanor H. Porter created the character of Pollyanna in 1913 and made her the protagonist of a series of highly successful children's books. Catherine Chisholm Cushing's stage version was first staged at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway on 18 September 1916, closing in December after 112 performances. It starred the young actress Patricia Collinge, who was celebrated by audiences and critics alike for her performance.

In 1920, Eleanor H. Porter died at the age of 52. Precisely that year her character was first brought to life on screen by Mary Pickford. Pickford was then 27 years old and portrayed a 12-year-old. She had recently divorced her alcoholic husband, the actor Owen Moore and was on the verge of remarrying a second time to Douglas Fairbanks. According to the theatrical and cinematic conventions of the time, it was nonetheless common that experienced young actresses played teenage virginal leading roles, on screen as well as in the theatre.

Mary Pickford was no stranger to child roles, in fact, she had specialised in them with a long series of successful films. From Poor Little Rich Girl (Maurice Tourneur, 1917) to Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (Marshall Neilan, 1917), A Little Princess (Marshall Neilan, 1917), and Daddy Longlegs (Marshall Neilan, 1919). In Pollyanna, the actress again played the role of the teenager with long blond curly hair with great ease, alongside ‘real’ child actors such as Howard Ralston or Joan Marsh. In the following years, Pickford successfully played other child roles such as in Little Lord Fauntleroy (Alfred E. Green, Jack Pickford, 1921), Little Annie Rooney (William Beaudine, 1925), and Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926).

Pollyanna (Paul Powell, 1920) was Mary Pickford's first film for United Artists, the company she helped found. The film was shot in California, Alabama Hills, Lone Pine and South Pasadena in September 1919. The Mary Pickford Company produced it with an estimated budget of $300,000. Pollyanna has a copyright year of 1919 but was first released in 1920. Pollyanna became a major success. Ron Oliver at IMDb: "This splendid family film, based on the Eleanor H. Porter classic, is as spunky & cheerful as its innocent heroine. 28-year-old Mary Pickford is wonderfully believable as a little girl. She exhibits the sweet charm which made her the world's most famous celebrity. She dominates her every scene with star quality few others ever possessed. The rest of the cast is also very good, especially Katherine Griffith as sullen Aunt Polly & Howard Ralston as young orphan Jimmy Bean. The sets & location filming are also worthy of mention.

During its first theatrical run, the film grossed $1.1 million (approximately $16,730,000 today) worldwide. It was extremely popular, became one of Mary Pickford's most defining 'little girl' pictures and made her Hollywood's first great star. A complete print of Pollyanna is preserved at the Mary Pickford Institute for Film Education. The Pickford Corporation also owns the copyright. There is also a famous film remake, Pollyanna (David Swift, 1960), produced by Disney and starring Hayley Mills and Jane Wyman. In the following decades, several television versions followed.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 689/6, 1919-1924. Photo: Terra-Film, Berlin. Howard Ralston and Mary Pickford in Pollyanna (Paul Powell, 1920).


British postcard. Photo: Walturdaw.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, London, no. S. 62-3. Photo: Moody, N.Y.

Sources: Ron Oliver (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch, Italian and English) and IMDb.

Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford (1892-1979) was a legendary silent film actress and was known as 'America’s sweetheart.' She was a founder of United Artists and helped to establish the Academy.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 838/1. Photo: Terra Film A.G., Berlin. Publicity still for Rosita (Ernst Lubitsch, 1923).


French postcard by Europe, no. 710. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (Marshall Neilan, 1924).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3100/2, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4778/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Ifa / United Artists. Publicity still for Coquette (Sam Taylor, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5214/1, 1930-1931. Photo: publicity still for The Taming of the Shrew (Sam Taylor, 1929).

The Girl with the Golden Curls

Mary Pickford was born Gladys Mary Smith in 1892, in Toronto, Canada. She was the sister of actor/director Jack Pickford and stage/screen actress Lottie Pickford.

Pickford began performing at the age of five on the stage and was known for a time as 'Baby Gladys.' After her father was killed in an accident, Gladys became the family’s main breadwinner by performing in the theatre. She was seven years old.

The stage became a family venture, as her younger siblings Lottie and Jack and even her mother took up the trade. After touring in different shows and productions for more than nine years, Gladys went to New York to conquer Broadway.

In 1907, she made her Broadway debut in The Warrens of Virginia, produced by the famous director-producer David Belasco. He insisted that Gladys Smith would assume the stage name Mary Pickford.

In 1909, when Pickford was between stage engagements, she approached David Wark Griffith, director and head of the Biograph Company (American Mutoscope & Biograph) in New York and asked him for work in moving pictures.

Pickford had no intention of working permanently in the new medium, but hoped the income would tide her over before she went back to Belasco and the stage. That same year, 'the girl with the curls' appeared in 40 films for Biograph (according to some sources even 51 films).

In January 1910, Griffith moved his operation to California, and Pickford went with him. Actors were not listed in the credits of the Biograph pictures. Audiences noticed and identified Pickford within weeks of her first film appearance.

Exhibitors in turn capitalised on her popularity by advertising on sandwich boards that a film featuring 'The Girl with the Golden Curls' or 'The Biograph Girl' was inside.


French postcard by Cinemagazine-Edition, no. 4 Photo: Evans L.A.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, London, no. S 62-4. Photo: Moody, N.Y. Caption: "This is a Real Photograph on Rajar Bromide Card."


British postcard in the 'Pictures' Portrait Gallery, London.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1165/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Ifa / United Artists.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3666/2, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists.

The Most Popular Actress in America, if not the World

Mary Pickford stayed with the Biograph Company, working as both an actress and writer from 1909 to 1911. She left Biograph in December 1910 for a brief stint at Carl Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP). Unhappy with their creative standards, Pickford returned to work with Griffith. Some of her best performances were in his films, such as Friends (D.W. Griffith, 1912) with Henry B. Walthall, The Mender of Nets (D.W. Griffith, 1912) with Mabel Normand, and The Female of the Species (D.W. Griffith, 1912).

In 1913, after a run on Broadway in 'A Good Little Devil', Pickford made a definitive break from the stage by signing a film contract with Adolph Zukor who had formed one of the first American feature film companies: Famous Players in Famous Plays later known as Paramount Pictures.

Hearts Adrift (Edwin S. Porter, 1914) made her irresistible to filmgoers. With Harold Lockwood, she played a man and a woman who are shipwrecked on a desert island. It doesn't take long before they fall in love and, figuring that they would never see civilisation again, declare themselves married ... The film was so popular that Pickford asked for the first of her many publicised pay raises based on the profits and reviews. The film marked the first time Pickford’s name was featured above the title on cinema marquees.

Tess of the Storm Country (Edwin S. Porter, 1914) was released five weeks later. Mary played a fiery young woman fighting for the underclass. The film caused a sensation. Biographer Kevin Brownlow observed that the film "sent her career into orbit and made her the most popular actress in America, if not the world." Over the years, her fame grew as well as her salary. In 1916, Pickford had negotiated a contract that gave her a $10,000 a week salary, 50% of her film profits, and her own production company.

'Little Mary' became an international star, beloved for her beauty and charm. She often appeared on screen in young girl roles, even when she was an adult. Some of Mary Pickford’s greatest films were a collaborative effort with friend and writer-director Frances Marion. Together they worked on such hits as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (Marshall Neilan, 1917) and Poor Little Rich Girl (Maurice Tourneur, 1917).

Christel Schmidt at Women Film Pioneers Project: "Pickford is often remembered for her portrayals of children in films including Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917) and Daddy-Long-Legs (1919). The stories were adapted from popular novels and had been performed on stage with an adult actress (Edith Taliaferro and Ruth Chatterton) playing the role of a young girl. Pickford’s petite size and youthful beauty made her ideal for these parts, but it was her acting talent that seared these roles into the public consciousness."

Mary Pickford also worked as a producer. In 1919, when she was only twenty-seven years old, Pickford cofounded United Artists, the first independent film distribution company along with D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., She had been married to actor Owen Moore since 1911, but in 1920, she divorced him to be with Fairbanks.


American postcard by California Postcard Company, Los Angeles. Pickfair. The "Doug (Douglas Fairbanks) and Mary" (Mary Pickford) Home, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California.


American postcard by Western Publishing & Novelty Co., Los Angeles, no. 850. Pickfair. Residence of Mary Pickford, "America's sweetheart" (and Douglas Fairbanks), Beverly Hills, California.


American postcard by California Postcard Co., Los Angeles. Photo: Glen G. Stone, Los Angeles. Mary Pickford in the title role of Tess of the Storm Country (John S. Robertson, 1922), on location, speaking by a radiophone with her studio at Hollywood, at thirty miles distant.


French postcard in the Les Vedettes de Cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 85. Photo: United Artists. Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., the 'United Artists'.


Vintage postcard, no. 960/2. Probably a vintage reprint of a Ross Verlag postcard. In 1926, Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. visited Berlin and stayed at the Hotel Adlon near the Brandenburg Gate, which is in the background of this picture.

One of Hollywood’s Earliest Supercouples

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr married in 1920, becoming one of Hollywood’s earliest supercouples. Fans adored the pairing, and the couple was mobbed at every port on their whirlwind European honeymoon. The couple were known to host fabulous events at their home, called Pickfair, which were attended by many of the leading figures in film.

In the 1920s, Pickford continued to score more box-office hits with Polyanna (Paul Powell, 1920), Little Lord Fauntleroy (Alfred E. Green, Jack Pickford, 1921) with Claude Gillingwater, and a new version of Tess of the Storm Country (John S. Robertson, 1922).

German director Ernst Lubitsch came to America at Mary's invitation to direct Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924), but when he arrived he had changed his mind and would not do it. The film was eventually directed by Marshall Neilan. Instead, Ernst Lubitsch and Mary Pickford made Rosita (1923) together.

Another hit was Little Annie Rooney (William Beaudine, 1925) with William Haines, and her last silent film, My Best Girl (Sam Taylor, 1927) with Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, would be one of the greatest of the era.

Mary Pickford was one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. Around this time, the film industry was changing and talking pictures were on the rise. In 1929, Pickford starred in her first sound film, Coquette (Sam Taylor, 1929), which explored the dark side of a wealthy family. She won an Academy Award for her work on the film.

Still she was never quite able to recreate the phenomenal success she had in the silent pictures with the sound films. Her last film was Secrets (Frank Borzage, 1933) with Leslie Howard. Mary Pickford retired from the screen in 1933 but continued to produce.

Pickford, whose professional decline had begun in the same year as the death of her beloved mother, Gladys, in 1928, saw her brother and sister die in the 1930s. In 1936, her fairytale marriage to Fairbanks ended in divorce. Fairbanks died of heart failure only three years later.

In 1937, Pickford married actor and band leader Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, her costar in My Best Girl. They stayed together until her death and adopted two children. Mary Pickford died in 1979 in Santa Monica, California.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 689/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Terra-Film, Berlin. Publicity still of Katherine Griffith and Mary Pickford in Pollyanna (Paul Powell, 1920), released in Germany as Sonne im Herzen (Sunshine in her Heart).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 683/5. Photo: Terra Film A.G., Berlin. Publicity still for Rosita (Ernst Lubitsch, 1923).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 839/4. Photo: Terra Film A.G., Berlin. Publicity still for Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (Marshall Neilan, 1924).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 906. Photo: United Artists / Projectograph-Film. Publicity still for Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 47784/2, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for Coquette (Sam Taylor, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5214/2, 1930-1931. Photo: publicity still for Taming of the Shrew (Sam Taylor, 1929).


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 5215/4 1930-1931. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for The Taming of the Shrew (Sam Taylor, 1930) with Douglas Fairbanks Sr..


British postcard. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for Secrets (Frank Borzage, 1933) with Leslie Howard.

Sources: Christel Schmidt (Women's Film Pioneer Project), Biography.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Rosita (1923)

On a visit to Hollywood, Ernst Lubitsch was contracted by Mary Pickford, who wanted him to direct her in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall. Upon arrival, he rejected the project and directed her instead in Rosita (1923). During the production, the two giants of the silent cinema reportedly clashed.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 683/3. Photo: Terra Film A.G., Berlin. Publicity still for Rosita (Ernst Lubitsch, 1923).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 838/1. Photo: Terra Film A.G., Berlin. Publicity still for Rosita (Ernst Lubitsch, 1923).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 838/2. Photo: Terra Film A.G., Berlin. Publicity still for Rosita (Ernst Lubitsch, 1923).

A contentious on-set relationship

Mary Pickford and Ernst Lubitsch planned Rosita (1923) as the first of four films they would make together for Mary Pickford Films and United Artists. Rosita was meant as Mary Pickford's first adult role. She wanted to abandon her 'little girl with the curls' persona.

Rosita is based upon the 1872 opera Don César de Bazan of Adolphe d'Ennery and Philippe Dumanoir. In a mythical 16th Century Spain the lecherous King (Holbrook Blinn) has cast his eye on a popular but provocative peasant singer (Mary Pickford) who performs in the streets of Seville. She, in turn, yearns for the handsome young nobleman (George Walsh, brother of the celebrated director Raoul Walsh), who has rescued her from the angry king’s guards and has been condemned to a dungeon for his troubles.

Ernst Lubitsch had hesitated about making it, but Pickford eventually convinced him to work on the project. According to IMDb, the role of Don Diego was first offered to Ramon Novarro, on Mary Pickford's urging. He rejected it, however, because Pickford had once stated that his "face and body don't match".

Several postcards with pictures of Pickford and Lubitsch happily working together on the production were produced, despite rumours concerning a contentious on-set relationship between the superstar and her director. By all accounts, he film was a major critical and commercial success on its first release. Rosita earned over $1,000,000. In later years, Pickford turned against the film: in an interview with film historian Kevin Brownlow, Pickford said, "Oh, I detested that picture!... I disliked the director... as much as he disliked me."

Pickford demanded all copies of the film to be ruined. When she handed her films over for preservation she refused to hand over Rosita, except for the fourth reel. Rosita was considered a lost film until a nitrate print was discovered in the Russian archives and repatriated by the Museum of Modern Art in the 1960s. A safety preservation negative was made from the nitrate print, but no further work was done on the film because of the expense and difficulty of recreating the English intertitles.

Happily, a copy of a complete continuity script, which includes all of the intertitles, surfaced in the collection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Using the titles in Pickford’s preserved fourth reel as a template, new intertitles were created to match the original. MoMA presented the restored version in 2017 at the 74th Venice International Film Festival.

At AllMovie, Janiss Garza reviews: "For reasons still not clear, Pickford came to hate this film, claiming it was the worst one she ever made. On the contrary, it's excellent entertainment and while the star is not at her very best, she still puts in a decent performance. In its day Rosita was well received critically, and it made money for United Artists. It holds up better today than some of Pickford's other vehicles."


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 839/2. Photo: Terra Film A.G., Berlin. Publicity still for Rosita (Ernst Lubitsch, 1923).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 581/2, 1919-1924. Photo: B.B.B. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 581/4, 1919-1924. Photo: B.B.B. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 581/5, 1919-1924. Photo: B.B.B. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Sources: Janiss Garza (AllMovie), The Film Foundation, Wikipedia and IMDb.