Mary Pickford was one of the most popular actresses in the early 1910's. She did have a habit, however, of jumping from one studio to another in pursuit of the best salary should could earn. She began her career at Biograph Studios, then signed with Carl Laemmle's IMP Company, then Majestic Film Company, before returning to Biograph for a year. Wanting to get back on to the stage, she let her movie contract expire, then signed with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company, where she acted in four-reelers and feature films (five movies in all).
Her final movie for Biograph, and the last movie she appeared under director D. W. Griffith was December 1912's "The New York Hat" (Records show she was in another Biograph picture after that, "The Unwelcome Guest," but it was filmed prior to "The New York Hat."). Critics claim this was Pickford's best short movie in her early career and one of the finest Griffith one-reelers.
The New York Hat's" success lies in Pickford three dimensional characterization of a poor girl who just lost her mother. She yearns for a hat made in New York just put on sale--hats were a huge status symbol back then. The local preacher, Lionel Barrymore, buys her the hat after a secret dying wish from her mother to him to spend her small inheritance on "frivolous" things for the daughter. When she's seen wearing the hat, tongues wag and the race is on to spread a scandalous romance involving the church minister.
Unlike static characters peppering early cinema, Griffith wanted to draw out the emotional multi-layers his actors would experience in circumstances reflected in his plots' situations. The director would consult with his actors to discover what feelings could be visibly conveyed without the spoken word. In "The New York Hat," the storyline offered a plethora of sentiments, allowing Pickford to show ranges of joy, sadness, anticipation, disappointments, hurt, as well as love.
"The New York Hat" was the first produced script for young screenwriter Anita Loos, 24 years old at the time (not the 12-year old writer some sites peg her age at). Ms. Loos, a proliferate scenario writer for silent movies, would later author the "Gentlemen Prefer Blonds" novel.
Her final movie for Biograph, and the last movie she appeared under director D. W. Griffith was December 1912's "The New York Hat" (Records show she was in another Biograph picture after that, "The Unwelcome Guest," but it was filmed prior to "The New York Hat."). Critics claim this was Pickford's best short movie in her early career and one of the finest Griffith one-reelers.
The New York Hat's" success lies in Pickford three dimensional characterization of a poor girl who just lost her mother. She yearns for a hat made in New York just put on sale--hats were a huge status symbol back then. The local preacher, Lionel Barrymore, buys her the hat after a secret dying wish from her mother to him to spend her small inheritance on "frivolous" things for the daughter. When she's seen wearing the hat, tongues wag and the race is on to spread a scandalous romance involving the church minister.
Unlike static characters peppering early cinema, Griffith wanted to draw out the emotional multi-layers his actors would experience in circumstances reflected in his plots' situations. The director would consult with his actors to discover what feelings could be visibly conveyed without the spoken word. In "The New York Hat," the storyline offered a plethora of sentiments, allowing Pickford to show ranges of joy, sadness, anticipation, disappointments, hurt, as well as love.
"The New York Hat" was the first produced script for young screenwriter Anita Loos, 24 years old at the time (not the 12-year old writer some sites peg her age at). Ms. Loos, a proliferate scenario writer for silent movies, would later author the "Gentlemen Prefer Blonds" novel.