Evening star., 1943-08-22
HOLLYWOOD.

HULL WoOD.
When you have been trained
from the age of years to work
and make yourself useful, you can
not sit by and just amuse yourself" !"
Mary Pickford Is speaking and ex-
planning why she is returning to the
field of picture-making. We are in
her beautiful mansion, Pickfair,
built for her marriage with the
late Douglas Fairbanks % years
ago. And 1t Is hard to understand,
with a home like that, millions in
the bank, two adopted children to
take care of and loving husband,
1t. Buddy Rogers, why Miss Pick
ford, who will be 81 next birthday,
should risk her money, give her time
and devote her energy to an ex-
ceedingly ambitious project known
as Mary Pickford Productions.
1t seems that Mary, still of the
blond curls and who in the heyday
of her film fame was known as
Americas Sweetheart, has never
lost contact with the business of
making pictures. She has been SELL
ing the movies in which she starred
to various studios here, and she has
been watching her interests in the
profitable United Artists, founded
by Miss Pickford, Douglas Fair
banks, Charles Chaplin and D. w.
Griffith "a years ago. Nor has she
lost her love for acting, which be-
gan at the aforementioned age of
5 in her native Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
"The last time I acted in a pic
ture," says Mary was 10 years
ago in Secrets with poor Leslie
Howard. If there is part I feel
I can do in my producing COM
pany I shall certainly do it.
My first film will be Junior Miss.
There isn't role for me in it, so I
shall work only as the producer.
My second film probably will be
Girls Town but we will have to
give it a different title, because
Paramount owns that title now.
Adela Rogers st. John is writing it
with me- And she wants me to play
the part of the mother of a 15-year-
old girl. If I do shall let some one
else produce the picture for me ]
couldn't do both jobs satisfactorily
But the part I really want to play,
and one know I can do, Is Winnie
in Life With Father"
Plans for a Life.
Some months ago Miss Pickford
startled the industry with an offer
of half a million dollars to make the
movie version of the very successful
play based on some incidents in the
life Of the father of the late Clar-
ence Day. II will pay anything to
get It," she assures me. 1T has
been said that Warmers have the
rights, but it was also said every
studio in Hollywood had bought the
rights to Junior Miss and they
hadn't. So haven't given up hope
II I get Life With Father III do II
in Technicolor. Whether it will be
a. success on the screen is a gamble
but I'm willing to take the chance.
Miss Pickford is using her owr
money to make her pictures. Anc
there is nothing niggardly in the
price she pays or the production SHE
plans. For the screen rights tt
Junior Miss" Mary has agreed tx
pay 1885 900 and IS per cent Of the
profits.
II plan, If the first Junior Miss
Is successful" says Mary, Ito make
a series of them-one every II
months. I shall hire sort OF stocl
company. The players will be un.
known to screen audiences. I shall
look for them in Little Theaters and
stock companies. don't want anna.
teurs, but 7 don't want established
Hollywood players, because I mus
own their contracts exclusively II
keep them permanently in tn.
Junior Miss series. For this rea
son she is not signing Shirley Tenn.
pie for the leading role, becaus,
Shirley is now under contract to Da.
vid Selznick.
A Departure Regretted.
Miss Pickford will start her com
pany rolling at the beginning of tn,
new year. She plans to produc,
three pictures year Her reason
for starting off with Junior Miss" i
that ut reflects all the things likt
in American life and all the thing
did In my own pictures. Not on
of my films was censorable. with tn
exception of 'Kiki' That shocke,
some of my admirers and I'm sorr
/ did it."
Another picture that Mary vii
probably make is "Coquette, il
which she starred in 1929 and TO
which she won the Academy Aware
Its a picture" says Mary, "tha
will make q star OF the girl VIII
plays it."
kost Of the other films made b