Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1935)

Mary Pickford's Search for Happiness I FIRST saw Mary Pickford in " The Warrens of Virginia." She played the part of an angelic golden-haired little girl and to me — just a child, myself — she seemed as radiant as the princess in the fairy tale! If anyone had told me that she wasn't completely happy I would have burst into tears — tears of disillusionment. That was the only behind-footlights-role in which I ever saw Mary Pickford, but through the years I have watched her upon many a motion picture screen. I have followed her film career with breathless interest; I have seen her achieve recognition and near greatness and — at last — actual greatness. I have applauded silently as she became a world figure — and this is not my first written tribute to her, not by any means! And yet — although I have applauded her both silently and with my pen — the conviction that she was the always gay,. invariably light-hearted princess of romance left me long since. "\ y4"ARY PICKFORD, in common with every other normal, ■'■^-'-wholesome woman, has had her plethora of problems and tragedies — her moments of pain and heartbreak. When I finally met her I knew that my diagnosis had been correct, for underlying her charm was a sense of wistf ulness, and her eyes — at times — were shadowed with longing. As I have come to know her better and better I have often felt that she was searching through the highways and byways of life for some intangible thing. Her search has carried her across desert places and beyond the seven seas. She has gone exploring — really exploring— in the hope of finding for herself the loveliness of existence that she has given to so many people. Finding the loveliness of existence! It hasn't been as easy for Man' Pickford as the casual observer would suppose. Life hasn't always been a bed of roses for her — no, indeed! She has told me that, as a youngster, she knew actual poverty, and poverty is an experience that lingers in the mind no matter how much — and how often — success comes your way. Of course, she 34 This noted star tells you that striving toward an elusive goal has been something far removed from the veneer ealled success By Margaret E. Sangster iderful Before the microphone, Mary must feel her search for happiness has nearly ended. By closing her eyes, she can visualize thousands who care for her had the most won mother in the world — you' should see her face when she speaks about her mother! Mrs. Pickford; could by the magic of her personality make even cold and hunger seem part of ari' amusing game. It was she — I am sure — who started Mary on her search for happiness; it was she who gave her daughter the courage to seek — beyond the minor discomforts of the moment — for truth. Mrs. Pickford's code was to square the shoulders and to keep the chin up to pack one's troubles into the proverbial kit bag and "smile, smile, smile . . ." Mary Pickford learned from her mother that gallantry is a gracious garment which the soul wears — that if one dresses one's soul in a brave garment a ragged frock doesn't count against one. During the long years that have led her from obscurity toj fame, Mary Pickford has had to tell herself, often, that gallantry of the soul was more important than the surface sparkle that is known as glamour. She's been surrounded with glamour — saturated with it — for a couple of decades, but it hasn't; meant very much when measured against the real thing. Heri striving toward an elusive goal has been something far removed from that veneer which the world calls success. There are times when I have thought that the applause of the crowd: must have had an empty sound to her ears. For — in her personal life — Mary Pickford has known her times of defeat. She has struggled against fate — and! has not always triumphed. Take her first marriage, with Owen Moore. Man entered into that marriage, with high hopes and brave' ideals, but it didn't jell | Her second marriage — which was thought by the general public to be the perfect thing — has come to a saddened cross-road. The j two people she most adored ; — her mother and her brother, Jack — were taken from her prematurely. Even now her eyes fill with swift j tears when Jack's name is mentioned, and — as I've said before — you should see her face when she speaks of her mother! Although she