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The Mary Pickford Film Collection at the Library of Congress
- The University Press of Kentucky
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The Mary Pickford Film Collection at the Library of Congress Christel Schmidt The Library of Congress Packard Campus for AudioVisual Conservation (PCAVC), a state-of-the-art facility for storing and preserving audiovisual materials, is home to the largest archival collection of motion pictures starring Mary Pickford. Currently, the Library retains moving image materials representing 156 Pickford titles out of the estimated 210 she made between 1909 and 1933. (Sadly, 36 films are considered lost.) Over the past century, a number of films have been acquired through copyright deposits, through repatriations from European archives, and from movie collectors. However, the Library received most of the films from the actress herself, who made a gift of her collection in the 1940s. This donation—which covers her entire career—provides not only a comprehensive record of the work of one of cinema’s great artists but also a unique and sweeping view of Hollywood’s pioneering era, from the days of one-reelers to the early years of sound. As such, it is one of the PCAVC’s most important collections. It is also one of the first major gifts of moving image materials the Library received in its long quest to establish a motion picture archive. The Pickford Collection’s often complex history at the Library of Congress reflects both the struggle and the tremendous strides made by the institution and in the field of film preservation. In 1943 the Library’s management drew up a plan to create a Motion Picture Division that would collect and preserve American cinema and make it accessible to the public. For its first major acquisition, Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish sought a highpro file donor with strong Hollywood connections as well as an extensive film collection. Pickford, who had retired from acting a decade earlier, was still a respected and powerful figure in the industry, and she was a strong proponent of film preservation. As producer and distributor of many of her features, she often owned the early release copies, foreign and domestic camera negatives, and work prints. She had also acquired half of her earliest Paramount films (made before she had producing credit), as well as most of her one-reel Biograph shorts. In the summer of 1943 MacLeish wrote to Pickford, o∑ering to make the Library of Congress the “ultimate repository” for her vast film collection. She agreed. In late 1946, after preparations had been made for storage, the Library formally accepted the actress’s donation.⁄ But shortly after preservation began, Congress cut funding for the Motion Picture Division, e∑ectively dismantling it. The process of copying the unstable nitrate films in the Pickford Collection to safety stock was halted, leaving the material in limbo.Without preservation, her life’s work was in danger of being permanently lost, and relations between the Library and Pickford became strained. Luckily, Oscar Solbert and James Card, director and film curator at the George Eastman House, respectively, 224 Scenes from four movies in the Mary Pickford film collection at the Library of Congress: Henry B.Walthall and Pickford in The One She Loved (1912); a dramatic moment from Sparrows (1926); Pickford watching a scene from Little Annie Rooney (1925) during filming; and the actress in period costume for Rags (1915). intervened. In 1956 they convinced the star to pay for the preservation of her collection and to give the Library of Congress and Eastman House a print of each of the preserved films. To save on costs, Pickford’s original 35mm materials were copied onto 16mm stock, even though it was considered an inadequate form of preservation. Once the work was finished, the Library returned the nitrate films to the actress. By the 1960s, the Library of Congress had created a Motion Picture Section within the Prints and Photographs Division and began to work with the newly formed American Film Institute (AFI) to acquire and preserve the nation’s movie heritage.With the relationship between Pickford and the Library much improved, she agreed to donate fifty Biograph camera negatives (the majority directed by D.W . Gri≈th) to the AFI for eventual inclusion in the Library’s collection. This new Pickford gift included such notable titles as To Save Her Soul (1909), Ramona (1910), and A Beast at Bay (1912). Along with the negatives, the actress donated nitrate release prints of some Biograph titles, including Her First Biscuits (1909), The Smoker (1910), A Decree of Destiny (1911), and Friends (1912). After preserving the camera...