Mary Pickford, a blessing and a curse

The name Mary Pickford remains inextricably linked to the legend of American cinema. She, who invented the star system at the beginning of the 20th century and became the greatest star ever known, not just in Hollywood but around the world, in an era when actors didn’t even have their names on movie posters. She was more than a pioneer; she held every role – a global star, a formidable producer and businesswoman, a scriptwriter and director behind the scenes, and a studio head. In her alone is embodied the entire legend of cinema and the rise of women during that very special era.

She also represents the entire memory of that golden age of Hollywood, where everything was yet to be done, in a place that was only fields of magnolias and fruit orchards. In the midst of this nearly desert-like dust, a band of madmen migrated from the East Coast of America, fleeing the patents of a tyrannical Edison and the bad weather, to try their luck in this distant land where everything was to be invented. The famous “Hollywoodland” sign didn’t even exist, nor did any movie studio when Mary Pickford first set foot on Californian soil in 1910. But it would take more to scare this child of the theater. The story of the one who would become “America’s Sweetheart” begins in the previous century.

Directors : Clara Kuperberg & Julia Kuperberg
Production : Wichita Films
Producers : Clara Kuperberg & Julia Kuperberg
Co Producer : Martine Melloul – Kali Pictures
Network : OCS
Year : 2023
Running Time : 53 minutes
World Distributor : Prime Entertainment

Watch here:

Casting

Mary Pickford
footage

Tony Maietta
Film Historian

Tracey Goessel
Author of Douglas Fairbanks The King of Hollywood

Kathleen A.Feeley
Author of Mary Pickford: Hollywood and the New Woman

🏆 WINNER Jury Special Award at AMDOCS 2024

🎬 Selected at the Beverly Hills Film Festival 2024