Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies (2008)
**** (out of 4)
Terrific documentary taking a look at the career and life of actress Mary Pickford. The film tracks the earliest days of her life, her meeting D.W. Griffith, forming United Artists, marrying Douglas Fairbanks and her rise to power and eventual retirement. I really don't think fans of Pickford could ask for much more from a documentary because this one here really delivers just about everything you'd want to know. We're given a very detailed look at her career and the various paths she took after leaving Griffith (only to go back) and her decision to start financing her own pictures. We also learn about her personal life as well as getting to hear stories from archival interviews with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Buddy Rogers and Lillian Gish. I think the greatest thing going for the film is that we have Pickford herself doing the majority of the narration herself. Around twelve interviews that the actresses recorded throughout her life are edited into the film so that she can talk about various stages in her career including some interesting stuff about why she retired when she did and why she felt The Little Tramp killed Chaplin and she didn't want her little girl to do the same to her. Throughout the running time we're shown clips from the majority of her movies and we also get some footage from newsreels including some footage of her and Gish at the D.W. Griffith burial in LaGrange, KY. Fans of Pickford or Hollywood history are certainly going to enjoy this well-detailed documentary that covers a lot of ground and manages to be a definitive look at the legend.
**** (out of 4)
Terrific documentary taking a look at the career and life of actress Mary Pickford. The film tracks the earliest days of her life, her meeting D.W. Griffith, forming United Artists, marrying Douglas Fairbanks and her rise to power and eventual retirement. I really don't think fans of Pickford could ask for much more from a documentary because this one here really delivers just about everything you'd want to know. We're given a very detailed look at her career and the various paths she took after leaving Griffith (only to go back) and her decision to start financing her own pictures. We also learn about her personal life as well as getting to hear stories from archival interviews with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Buddy Rogers and Lillian Gish. I think the greatest thing going for the film is that we have Pickford herself doing the majority of the narration herself. Around twelve interviews that the actresses recorded throughout her life are edited into the film so that she can talk about various stages in her career including some interesting stuff about why she retired when she did and why she felt The Little Tramp killed Chaplin and she didn't want her little girl to do the same to her. Throughout the running time we're shown clips from the majority of her movies and we also get some footage from newsreels including some footage of her and Gish at the D.W. Griffith burial in LaGrange, KY. Fans of Pickford or Hollywood history are certainly going to enjoy this well-detailed documentary that covers a lot of ground and manages to be a definitive look at the legend.