Suds

"Today, Mother and I saw Mary Pickford in Suds...We enjoyed greatly Mary Pickford's true acting in a pretty, human story; how we sympathized and were thrilled, touched, as so many different times." So wrote Anais Nin in her famous diary. Say what you will about Mary Pickford, but the perception that she was only a goldilocked waif is just not true. As she proves in Suds (1920), now available on DVD from Milestone Film & Video, she was a gifted physical comedienne who was adept at handling Chaplin-esque pathos within the larger context of a very funny comedy. And she did it all while remaining unquestionably the true force behind her pictures. It's easy to underestimate Pickford because she was so short. When she stands next to her co-stars, she really does look like a kid. Anyone who has been to the cement courtyard at Graumann's Chinese theater in Hollywood and have compared their own hands and feet to those of Pickford's can attest to this fact. But she was a giant in a larger sense: she was unafraid to take risks and expand her abilities as a movie star, a producer, and a filmmaking pioneer. Mary did it all. In Suds, she even rides a horse down a steep flight of stairs, a dangerous bit of action that would usually require the assistance of a horse wrangler or even a stuntman. Suds was originally called The Duchess of Suds and was adapted from an English one-act play introduced in 1905. Pickford is a homely Cockney laundress named Amanda Afflick who has romantic daydreams about one of her handsome customers. Amanda cherishes the shirt he had brought in for washing over eight months ago, even though he has apparently forgotten about it. So, Amanda tells her fellow workers that the garment really belongs to her fiance, an English lord. We see this fantasy via a mini-movie in which Pickford appears as a virginal lady-in-waiting, an overripe characterization that is ironically the false image many people have of Pickford. Released June 27, 1920, Suds has the distinction of being one of Pickford's most Chaplin-esque productions. Performing on sets standing in for a post-Dickensian London slum, Mary Pickford, America's Sweetheart, looks every bit the part of an impoverished, hard-working Cockney lass. She is similar to Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. When we first glimpse Amanda, houseflies are dancing on her leg and up her tattered skirt. Of course, having the most famous set of blond locks in the world is a drawback when you want to appear like a street urchin. So to achieve the appropriately grimy look, Pickford applied a liberal dose of oil to her hair. The way director Jack Dillon and cinematographer Charles Rosher shot the sets helped immensely in creating a convincing London slum. While the story is Chaplin-esque, the photorealistic shooting looks more like Buster Keaton's style. Bonus features on the DVD include the original foreign release of Suds in its entirety, with an organ score by Gaylord Carter. Also featured is an alternate happy ending with a score by the Mont Alto Orchestra. Most helpful is a short side-by-side comparison of the foreign and American versions that reveal the same cast and the same story making up an entirely different film. There is also included a short documentary called The Birth of a Legend (1966) about the relationship between Pickford and her dashing matinee idol husband, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. It was during the production of Suds that Mary and Doug were wed in 1920. The wedding was semi-secret due to the concerns the couple had over the public's reaction to their marriage. Mary was Catholic, and her divorce from actor Owen Moore was deemed unacceptable in some Catholic quarters. Plus, Fairbanks was also recently divorced. After fearing for many months that their marriage would destroy their careers, the pair decided that they had both proved themselves in Hollywood, and decided to take the plunge, careers be damned. But to delay the rumors, Mary came to the Suds set with adhesive tape covering her wedding ring. Once the wedding became public, their marriage was hailed with worldwide rejoicing. "This America's Sweetheart business must stop," joked Fairbanks. "She's my sweetheart. And if the world doesn't like it, they know the way to Beverly Hills." For more information about Suds, visit Milestone Films. To order Suds, go to TCM Shopping. by Scott McGee