Published in 2012
276 pages
Christel Schmidt is the leading expert on the films of Mary Pickford. She was awarded two fellowships, in 2000 and 2004, from the National Endowment for the Humanities for her research in locating and identify Pickford films in US and European film archives. Her work has been used by the Women Film Pioneers Project and the Mary Pickford Foundation.
Schmidt is a film historian, writer and editor. She co-edited Silent Movies: The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture (2007) and is currently researching and writing about the careers of stage actresses during the progressive era.
What is this book about?
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, co-published 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.
