The Time Mary Pickford Started a Film Studio
Mary
Pickford was an actress who is synonymous with silent film and early Hollywood.
In 1919, she formed the film studio United Artists alongside other screen
legends of the day; Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith. Chaplin
had become famous playing the Tramp in comedies and was known internationally.
Fairbanks was one of the most sought after male leads of his era and known for
doing his own, dangerous stunts. At the time, he was also married to Pickford.
Griffith was one of the first great directors. He popularised many common camera
techniques and angles that, as a modern audience, we take for granted today. One
of the first close-up shots in a Hollywood film featured Pickford in Friends (1912).
Pickford
had been acting in plays since an early age to support her family. Her mother,
sister and brother – Charlotte, Lottie and Jack – were all vaudeville actors
too. Pickford’s father died when she was young. The family never stayed in the
same place for long as they went where the work was. They saved what money they
could and clocked up many miles on the road.
In
1909, when times were especially hard, Pickford went to the least respected
place an actor could go – a film studio. The motion picture camera was invented
in the later half of the 19th century and the technology was seen as
a novelty. No respected Broadway actress, like Pickford, would ever sink so low.
But with only the clothes she had on to her name, Pickford walked through the
doors of the Biograph Company. She was noticed by Griffith, who called her fat
and little. But her determination stood out and he began casting her in many
films. Pickford was now making $10 a day. (No figures in this article have been
adjusted for inflation.) Within a few short years, Pickford had become a
household name and one of the first international movie stars. The media adopted
many nicknames for her: “Queen of the Movies”, “The Girl with the Golden Curls”
and “America’s Sweetheart,” even though she was Canadian. Her salary increased
with her popularity. By the mid-1910s, she was making tens of thousands of
dollars a week, something unheard of for a woman at the time.
The
American film industry was expanding at an unprecedented rate. In the ten years
Pickford had appeared on screen, movie production had become big business and was
now taken seriously. The storytelling had found its own unique style and
feature films were becoming the standard. Audiences had developed a hunger and
couldn’t get enough of their favourite actors, especially Pickford. Some elite
executives and producers felt that the stars had too much power and demanded ludicrously
high salaries. Tension was ensuing throughout Hollywood.
Hearing
whispers of a new company forming that would effectively block actor’s
creativity and stagnate salaries, Pickford, Chaplin, Fairbanks and Griffith
began talking amongst themselves. They were also joined by Western movie star
William S. Hart. Their first act was to hire two private investigators to look
into the rumours. The investigators were known as Operator 5 and Operator 8.
The
Operators uncovered evidence of a conspiracy. The movie stars had an emergency
meeting. It was decided they would start their own production company that would
better serve their needs. The group called a press conference and announced
they had banded together to form United Artists. The contracts were signed and United
Artists officially began business on February 5, 1919. Hart dropped out in
favour of a better business venture.
Pickford,
Chaplin, Fairbanks and Griffith all invested their own money to start United
Artists. Each owned 20% of the studio with the remaining 20% being controlled
by lawyers. United Artists was unlike any other production company of the time.
Where a traditional production company handles all stages of movie making –
from script writing to filming to release – United Artists was solely designed as
a distribution company. This meant that it only circulated films to theatre
chains, both nationally and internationally. In theory, United Artists
guaranteed greater profit returns for the actors. Pickford, Chaplin, Fairbanks
and Griffith already had their own units for the writing, filming and editing
processes. At its height, United Artists was the largest independent film
production company in the world.
The
1920s was a very successful decade. Pickford’s first release was Pollyanna in 1920. It grossed over $1.1
million. This was followed with other hits – such as Griffith’s Way Down East starring Lillian Gish – and
countless awards. Pickford herself won the 1930 Best Actress Academy Award for her
role in Coquette. She was the second
woman in history to win the award.
Griffith
left United Artists in 1924. Fairbanks and Pickford’s marriage fell apart and,
sadly, he died of a heart attack in 1939. He was 56-years-old. Pickford retired
from acting in the early 1930s, but continued to produce films up until 1949.
Chaplin sold his United Artists shares in 1955, with Pickford doing the same
the following year.
United
Artists is still around today. The studio has made many notable films throughout
the years. Some include: Secrets
(1933), Of Mice and Men (1939), The Great Dictator (1941), High Noon (1952), 12 Angry Men (1957), West
Side Story (1961), It’s a Mad, Mad,
Mad, Mad World (1963) and Rocky
(1976). New films are in development.
By: Matthew J. Healy
Sources:
Film
History: How Mary Pickford Helped Create United Artists (https://whenwomeninspire.com/2014/09/25/film-history-how-mary-pickford-helped-create-united-artists/)
United
Artists – The Boutique (http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Romantic-Comedy-Yugoslavia/United-Artists-THE-BOUTIQUE.html)
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