Customer Reviews

Mary Pickford - A Life on Film [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For an Image Entertainment production, I thought this biography of Mary Pickford would have been much meatier than it actually was. Overall, this biography gives a pretty good outline of Mary Pickford's life. One thing that annoyed me about the film was how they kept referring to Mary as being American; she was a CANADIAN from Toronto and during her middle age she was concerned about losing her Canadian citizenship and renewed it in honour of her parents who were Canadians. CBC did a Pickford documentary as part of their Life and Times series which was very good and only an hour long. I wish CBC would release their documentary on DVD.

They should have included commentary from Eileen Whitfield who wrote a wonderful biography of Pickford in 1997: "Pickford: the Woman Who Made Hollywood". Since Whitfield spent many years doing research for this book, I think she would have been able to give better insight into Mary than someone like Leonard Maltin and the other people who had commentaries in this documentary.

If you have never seen Pickford in action, this is the biography to watch for it is chock full of short footage of the incomparable Mary doing her screen antics. Displaying scenes from her rare unseen silents & talkies, "A Life on Film" made me want to go out searching for Pickford reels to spin for myself. I especially love the scenes of Mary from "Cinderella," "Rosita" (A rare Lubitsch classic) and "Hoodlum!" not to mention "Secrets" which is a Pickford's last talkie. Another thing I love is the home movie footage of Pickford, Chaplin and Douglas. I gave it Minus 1 * because the menu is sparse and there is no extras included. I would have liked a Pickford "Biograph" short to be included or a feature just to wet the appetite of the viewer more but oh well . . . (NOTE TO MILESTONE: Keep those Pickford Pictures coming!!)

This is an excellent biographical documentary on Mary Pickford (Gladys Smith.) Much more than just a biography of one of the most powerful women in the film industry or in the world for that matter, this presentation depicts the interworking of the film industry of the time.

We see previously unreleased film portions from Mary's personal archive. We also get to watch the highlights of many marvelous films without sitting through the complete viewing. Who would have suspected "The Taming of the Shrew?" Some of the films you will want for your own collection.

The presentation does go in chronological order and even tough we bounce back and forth from diffident presenters as Whoopi Goldberg, and Charles "Buddy" Rogers you do not feel that you are being bombarded with sound bites.

The Taming of the Shrew - Mary Pickford

IF YOU LOVE MARY PICKFORD AND WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HER LIFE, THIS IS A VERRY WELL MADE BIOGRAPHY. IT`S HOSTED BY WHOOPIE GOLDBERG ??? AND IT TAKES YOU THROUGH HER BIRTH IN 1893 TO HER DEATH IN 1979. YOU SEE PEOPLE LIKE DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS JR AND HER LAST HUSBAND CHARLES "BUDDY" ROGERS TALKING ABOUT THEIR FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH HER AND OTHER ACTORS AND FRIENDS TALKING ABOUT WHO SHE WAS AND WHAT SHE DID. YOU ALSO SEE A CHRONOLOGY OF THE FILMS SHE MADE FROM HER FIRSTS SHORTS TO HER FEW TALKIES, THIS WAS INTERESTING TO ME BECAUSE THERE`S A LOT OF STUFF I NEVER SAW BEFORE. SO,IF YOU LOVE MARY PICKFORD LIKE ME AND DON`T HAVE TIME TO READ A BOOK ABOUT HER YOU`LL PROBABLY LIKE THIS. IT ALSO HAD A NICE RUNNING TIME OF 96 MIN.

I was really excited to see this after I bought it because I am a huge Mary Pickford fan and because many of her movies only partially survive. I had a seen a preview on another Milestone release and was happy to hear that Buddy Rogers and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. were commenting on her.

The story was told and not a whole lot of new information was given that could not be found in books, but clips from rare movies were shown like Kiki and Secrets. However, some information seems to contradict some things that I have read, so I am not sure how completely accurate this film is.

Okay, first of all, I'd like to say I am a Mary Pickford fan and yes, Charles "Buddy" Roger's too. (Love, love, love "My Best Girl, 1927)

So, I've seen most of the documentaries on Mary (they don't seem to have any on Buddy). Then, lo and behold, this one has both of them. It also has footage I haven't seen anywhere. Nice :)