By the late 1920s, Mary Pickford was in her thirties, a producer, a smart businesswoman, and one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. But she was still "America's Sweetheart," playing young girls with her trademark golden curls. Talking pictures had proven to be more than just a fad, and shrewd as ever, Pickford realized that this was an opportunity to change her image. First, she cut off her curls into a flapper bob. Then she chose as her first talkie Coquette, a play that had been a big hit for Helen Hayes, the "First Lady of the American Theater." The role of a Southern flirt whose headstrong ways lead to tragedy was far removed from the innocent ing¿nues Pickford usually played. Mary was determined not only to re-tool her image, but "to give the performance of my career, and to give it my own way." The result was a film that was Pickford's most financially (if not artistically) successful ever.
When the Academy Awards¨ nominations for 1928-29 were announced, Mary Pickford was among them. She launched the first-ever campaign to win the award, inviting the members of the Central Board of Judges to tea at her mansion, Pickfair. It didn't hurt, either, that she was a founding member of the Academy. When Pickford won, there were whispers of favoritism. One columnist wrote: "the Academy is handing out its cups on a political or social basis." The following year, the method of selecting the winners was changed.
But there were those who thought that Pickford's victory was a career-achievement award, and therefore justified. And maybe they were right. Seventy years later, that's been a basis for many an Oscar¨ awarded since. Paul Newman for The Color of Money (1986), Helen Hayes for Airport (1970), and Don Ameche for Cocoon (1985) are just a few that come to mind.
Director/Screenwriter: Sam Taylor
Producer: Mary Pickford
Screenwriter: John Wesley Grey, Allen McnEil
Cinematographer: Karl Struss
Sets: William Cameron Menzies Music: Irving Berlin (uncredited) Editor: Barbara McLean
Cast: Mary Pickford (Norma Besant), Louise Beavers (Julia), Johnny Mack Brown (Michael Jeffery), George Irving (Robert Wentworth), William Janney (Jimmy Besant), Henry Kolker (Jasper Carter), Matt Moore (Stanley Wentworth)
BW-76m.
By Margarita Landazuri
