One of the biggest rumors about Mary Pickford was that she failed to transition talkies because of her voice. We've already debunked that. Mary's voice was very little girl. In fact after her first sound test she remarked, "That's a little pipsqueak voice!" and took vocal lessons promptly.
In Coquette which we already showed she used a Southern accent. Mary was actually Canadian so that was kinda funny but she did well enough with it. Check the clip below out at about 2:45 for a Southern Mary
Despite some stiffness in the opening scenes Mary would go on to give a hell of a performance in Coquette (all the more impressive considering the rigid technology). Below are 3 clips proving she deserved that Oscar (warning: they are spoiler filled):
Obviously Mary didn't USUALLY sound like that. She had this accent thing to prove and she did it two more times with varying results. Her follow up was "Taming of the Shrew" with her soon to be ex Douglas Fairbanks...and she sounds...off. Not as bad as a dub made her but it by no means sounds natural.
More than anything Taming of the Shrew was Doug's movie, but Mary's performance was quite enjoyable, no where near as bad as its been said to be. Both Coquette and Taming of the Shrew were successful films (well Taming's box office plummeted with the stock market crash but it still did decently), but Kiki was a disaster. Mary plays a 19 year old sex pot French girl complete with an accent she drops every 5 minutes. Thankfully this is the only film I don't have a clip of, and I think it would be a crime against nature to post it if I did.
It wasn't until Secrets that Mary really...knocked the accent thing off. I think Secrets is as close as we'll get to ''authentic'' young Mary vocally (by young I mean pre 60). However I bet there is still a little accent going on there. Although in my opinion she sounds like Disney's Cinderella. Presenting two clips from Secrets:
And I have one more vocal clip for you! This one is quite nice. I have a record of interviews with Mary from the 30s onward...but its literally a record. And I don't have a player to hook up to the computer...yet. However I think this may be an online clip of one of those interviews. From a CBS interview in 1959 Mary tells her life story. She would have been 67 at the time...and she sounds like it! But it is quite fascinating to hear her talk. It's a two part interview click here and here to listen to both parts.
Mary's Talkie Career
Movies:
*Coquette (1929)
*Taming of the Shrew (1929)
*Kiki (1931)
*Secrets (1933)
Coquette (click here to purchase), Taming of the Shrew (click here to purchase), and Secrets (click here to purchase) have been released on DVD. Kiki has never seen release though a print exists at UCLA.
Radio:
*Mary Pickford Stock Radio Company (WEAF Los Angeles, 1934-1935. Performed various plays, was lauded by critics)
*Parties at Pickford (Nationwide, 1936-??. Interviewed other stars, again lauded by critics)
*PRB (Pickford-Rogers-Boyd) Broadcasting (Broadcasting company made for radio and television, 1949-195?. Several programs were tried including a patriotic government sponsored one and an interview show with Lillian Gish. Mary was so bad both were burned and never aired. Nothing from this seemed to be successful).
As for interviews its slightly impossible to say but through her fame to her death Mary did radio interviews. I don't believe she ever did a TV interview or if she has it hasn't been mentioned (judging by IMDB she never did). Her one and only appearance on TV would be the pretaped Oscar acceptance award. Whats interesting is Mary was actually keen on going into television once she was done with movies. Thats what the radio show was set up for. She even seen it as such a big deal that the reason United Artists lost Walt Disney is because they wouldnt give him the rights to any television work (this was in like 32!!!)
Verdict: Talkie or Silent?
So which was better: Mary's talkies or her silents? As we discussed at length in the talkie transition article Mary never really found her niche with talkies. Only one out of four was successful, and considering who she was before this that's quite a sad thing.
But going off personal opinion she was a very fine talkie actress. She had great comedic timing both silent and talkie wise. But by far her silent acting was truly unparalleled. As a bonus treat I present what is generally perceived as her best acting ever: the baby scene from "Secrets". I'd highly suggest you buy the whole film and watch it, but if you like shortcuts well enjoy it:
Bonus Section: Mary in Color
Mary only appeared on film in color twice. Interestingly enough once for a silent once for a talkie.
*Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove (1934, very small speaking bit, pictured above)
*The Black Pirate (1926, Mary made a color screen test which still survives, she also had a brief bit in the real film from the back as Billie Dove's character goes for a hug in the end)
2 comments:
You may have touched on this in another post, but I suspect the reason Mary Pickford didn't make the transition from silent films to talkies had nothing to do with the limits of her talent (she was a great talent) but with audience expectations. She'd always been their "little Mary" and seeing her playing sophisticated adult roles was too jarring, too much of a reminder that the times were changing.
Plus, I think there is something about sound that makes it a little harder to suspend disbelief -- you might accept a thirty-five year old Mary Pickford as a nineteen year old girl in My Best Girl (her last silent, highly recommended), but to her credit, she knew that wouldn't fly in a talkie.
Maybe if she had chosen different vehicles to make her sound debut, she could have made the transition, but I think the deck was stacked against her. Nobody goes to the movies to be reminded that they are getting older and nothing stays the same.
Fortunately, we still have her preserved on DVD or tape and can dip into her wonderful career whenever want. She was one of the greats.
I like Mary in "Taming of The Shrew". Her speaking there is adequate - she's trying to sound 1)obnoxious 2)"Shakespearean" (archaic British accent, or something like this), which suits the role. "Cinderella" voice would have hardly been alright here. Oh my, seeing this scene I imagine that something similar was going on at Pickfair during their last days together. Not a nice thing to think about...
I heard that silent Kiki with Norma Talmadge was actually very good but it's hardly possible to find any DVDs with her films nowadays.
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