Gladys Marie Smith, known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-born American actress, producer, screenwriter and film studio founder, who was a pioneer in the US film industry with a Hollywood career that spanned five decades.
1917 in film was a particularly fruitful year for the art form, and is often cited as one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with 1913. Secondarily the year saw a limited global embrace of narrative film-making and featured innovative techniques such as continuity cutting. Primarily, the year is an American landmark, as 1917 is the first year where the narrative and visual style is typified as "Classical Hollywood".
The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.
The Three Musketeers is a 1921 American silent film based on the 1844 novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père. It was directed by Fred Niblo and stars Douglas Fairbanks as d'Artagnan. The film originally had scenes filmed in the Handschiegl Color Process. The film had a sequel, The Iron Mask (1929), also starring Fairbanks as d'Artagnan and DeBrulier as Cardinal Richelieu.
Charles Edward "Buddy" Rogers was an American film actor and musician. During the peak of his popularity in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he was publicized as "America's Boyfriend".
William Churchill deMille, also spelled de Mille or De Mille, was an American screenwriter and film director from the silent film era through the early 1930s. He was also a noted playwright prior to moving into film. Once he was established in film he specialized in adapting Broadway plays into silent films.
Leatrice Joy was an American actress most prolific during the silent film era.
Abbie Jean MacPherson was an American silent actress, writer and director. She is known for her collaborations with directors D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, and was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Thomas Meighan was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he commanded $10,000 per week.
The Country Doctor is a 1909 American short silent drama film written and directed by D. W. Griffith. Currently in the public domain, prints of The Country Doctor are preserved at the film archives of the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress.
The Lonely Villa is a 1909 American short silent crime drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. The film stars David Miles, Marion Leonard and Mary Pickford in one of her first film roles. It is based on the 1901 French play Au Téléphone by André de Lorde. A print of The Lonely Villa survives and is currently in the public domain. The Lonely Villa was produced by the Biograph Company and shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey. It was released on June 10, 1909, along with another D.W. Griffith split-reel film, A New Trick.
The Little American is a 1917 American silent romantic war drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Mary Pickford as an American woman who is in love with both a German soldier and a French soldier during World War I. A print of the film is housed at the UCLA Film and Television Archive and has been released on DVD.
A Romance of the Western Hills is a 1910 short silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Mary Pickford and Blanche Sweet. A print of the film survives in the film archive of the Library of Congress.
Hollywood is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by James Cruze, co-written by Frank Condon and Thomas J. Geraghty, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is a lengthier feature follow-up to Paramount's own short film exposé of itself, A Trip to Paramountown from 1922.
Walter Stradling was an English-born American cinematographer of the silent era. He is best remembered for working on several well-known feature films of Mary Pickford and for the Famous Players–Lasky production company in general. He also worked on the films of Cecil B. DeMille, Sessue Hayakawa and Blanche Sweet. Stradling died relatively young at 43 in the 1918 flu pandemic. He was the uncle of the cinematographer Harry Stradling.
The Ragamuffin is a 1916 American silent drama film directed and written by William C. deMille. The film stars Blanche Sweet in a 'Pickfordish' style role.
The George Eastman Award for distinguished contribution to the art of film was established by the George Eastman Museum in 1955 as the first film award given by an American archive and museum to honor artistic work of enduring value.
The Ghost House is a 1917 American silent comedy film directed by William C. deMille and written by Beulah Marie Dix. The film stars Jack Pickford, Louise Huff, Olga Grey, James Neill, Eugene Pallette, and Horace B. Carpenter. The film was released on October 1, 1917, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives, which suggests that it is a lost film.
The Warrens of Virginia is a dramatic play set during the American Civil War by playwright William C. de Mille. It was produced on Broadway by David Belasco in 1907 and was the basis for two films in 1915 and in 1924. The play was also the basis for a novelization by author George Cary Eggleston in 1908.
Two Memories is a 1909 American silent short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. The film marks the onscreen debut of Mary Pickford.
