The stars (1962)

The virgin dynamo Small animals were a customary Pickford prop, as they are for a latter-day child-woman named Brigitte Bardot. MARY PICKFORD "Although theaters, studios and exchanges in 1917-18 represented investments of several millions of dollars and gave employment to a hundred thousand people, Mary Pickford remained the industry's most valuable asset. Woman's place in business has grown enormously in importance in the last three decades, but Mary Pickford is the only member of her sex who ever became the focal point of an entire industry. Her position was unique; probably no man or woman will ever again win so extensive a following." So wrote Benjamin Hampton in his History of the Movies, and he did not exaggerate. Little Mary's mere presence in the industry was a strong defense against reformers, who had raised a hue and cry against movies almost as soon as they were born. When the charge that movies corrupted youth was raised, the industry merely pointed to Miss Pickford, and reminded critics of the lesson which her standard plot (and her career) taught. She was a virgin in almost constant peril. Yet she was both plucky and optimistic, even surprisingly resourceful in defeating the heavily armed enemies who surrounded her. As Bill Hart asserted man's right to freedom, so Mary 32 A big moment from Little Lord Fauntleroy. At the time Miss Pickford was 29 years old.