This DVD item from Image Entertainment was reviewed on 24-Mar-2009.
Mary Pickford - A Life on Film Reference DVD. Classifications : General Drama Genres DVD Video Chaplin, Charlie ( C ) Actors & Actresses Custom Stores Specialty Stores DVD Video Fairbanks, Douglas ( F ) Actors & Actresses Custom Stores Specialty Stores DVD Video G . Click the following link to view the cover of Mary Pickford - A Life on Film. Related topics: 1998. General. Drama. Genres. DVD. Video. Chaplin, Charlie. ( C ). Actors & Actresses. Custom Stores. Specialty Stores. requestid: 90ebfda8-ada7-4202-98c1-e6da4769b5ae
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1) DVD DVD Mary Pickford - A Life on Film by Image Entertainment. Pickford is a fascinating woman. I could explore all of her many gifts, but recommend you watch this film for that. I am writing because I watched this and another recent documentary concerning Mary Pickford within a one-week period. Both documentaries were fascinating, but, in the end, I found this particular film to be much more compassionate toward the aging Mary Pickford. Had I based my opinion of Mary Pickford on the other documentary, and not seen this film, I would have perceived Mary Pickford as being a pathetic has-been in her later years. It seemed that the other documentary portrayed Pickford´s life as being "washed up" after the 1930´s. The film carried an air of cattiness toward the aging Pickford. So I was surprised to learn, while watching this film, of Pickford´s kindness and contribution in her later years and to see with my own eyes that, yes, Pickford grew to be even more beautiful as she aged. She had her issues, true, but her life didn´t exactly end in the 1930´s --- not according to this documentary, anyway.
I enjoy biographical interpretations, but, at the same time, am wary of them. We love to tell stories about other people but, too often, our own inner life and opinions are projected out on the very people we tell stories about. It´s hard to know what is truth. Having said that, this documentary was kinder to Pickford, and the world needs more of that. Five stars.¤ 2) DVD DVD Mary Pickford - A Life on Film by Image Entertainment. This is an excellent biographical documentary on Mary Pickford (Gladys Smith.) Much more than just a biography of one of the most powerful women in the film industry or in the world for that matter, this presentation depicts the interworking of the film industry of the time.
We see previously unreleased film portions from Mary´s personal archive. We also get to watch the highlights of many marvelous films without sitting through the complete viewing. Who would have suspected "The Taming of the Shrew?" Some of the films you will want for your own collection.
The presentation does go in chronological order and even tough we bounce back and forth from diffident presenters as Whoopi Goldberg, and Charles "Buddy" Rogers you do not feel that you are being bombarded with sound bites.
The Taming of the Shrew - Mary Pickford¤ 3) DVD DVD Mary Pickford - A Life on Film by Image Entertainment. Okay, first of all, I´d like to say I am a Mary Pickford fan and yes, Charles "Buddy" Roger´s too. (Love, love, love "My Best Girl, 1927)
So, I´ve seen most of the documentaries on Mary (they don´t seem to have any on Buddy). Then, lo and behold, this one has both of them. It also has footage I haven´t seen anywhere. Nice :)¤ 4) DVD DVD Mary Pickford - A Life on Film by Image Entertainment. If you have never seen Pickford in action, this is the biography to watch for it is chock full of short footage of the incomparable Mary doing her screen antics. Displaying scenes from her rare unseen silents & talkies, "A Life on Film" made me want to go out searching for Pickford reels to spin for myself. I especially love the scenes of Mary from "Cinderella," "Rosita" (A rare Lubitsch classic) and "Hoodlum!" not to mention "Secrets" which is a Pickford´s last talkie. Another thing I love is the home movie footage of Pickford, Chaplin and Douglas. I gave it Minus 1 * because the menu is sparse and there is no extras included. I would have liked a Pickford "Biograph" short to be included or a feature just to wet the appetite of the viewer more but oh well . . . (NOTE TO MILESTONE: Keep those Pickford Pictures coming!!)
¤ 5) DVD DVD Mary Pickford - A Life on Film by Image Entertainment. I was really excited to see this after I bought it because I am a huge Mary Pickford fan and because many of her movies only partially survive. I had a seen a preview on another Milestone release and was happy to hear that Buddy Rogers and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. were commenting on her.
The story was told and not a whole lot of new information was given that could not be found in books, but clips from rare movies were shown like Kiki and Secrets. However, some information seems to contradict some things that I have read, so I am not sure how completely accurate this film is.¤ 6) DVD DVD Mary Pickford - A Life on Film by Image Entertainment. By the age of seventeen, Mary Pickford had become the first actress to achieve international superstardom. By the time she was thirty, she was the first and only woman ever to own a major movie studio, the only woman to be the highest-paid actor in Hollywood and the first actress to have complete control in making her films. With comedic talents equal to Keaton, Lloyd or Chaplin, the tragic range of Gish and Swanson and business acumen to rival any Hollywood mogul, Mary Pickford was the consummate movie star of the 20th Century. "Mary Pickford: A Life on Film" is the definitive documentary on the most powerful woman in the history of cinema. Hosted and narrated by Whoopi Goldberg.¤ Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 21-Apr-2009, 014381979428, 930-366-WKB-GFB-CGB-JAB-8 
Mary Pickford - A Life on Film, DVD, Image © Image Entertainment
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