My Best Girl  /  The Son's Return  /  A Manly Man

After nearly 15 years as the silver screen’s reigning “Queen of the Movies,” Mary Pickford lovingly concluded her silent movie career with one of her best films—the utterly charming romantic comedy, My Best Girl.  Featuring future husband Charles “Buddy” Rogers as her leading man, Pickford shines as a department store Cinderella who falls in love with the owner’s son, once again exhibiting the wide-ranging talent that had made her a sensation the world over.

Based on a story by novelist Kathleen Norris, the screenplay (originally titled Paradise Alley) was written by Hope Loring, who had co-authored Paramount’s successful World War I epic Wings (1927)—which had featured Rogers.  An attraction between the two actors sparked during Roger’s audition with Pickford and subsequently blossomed while the cameras rolled.  As Pickford biographer Jeffrey Vance relates, “What makes My Best Girl special is that it captures the miracle of two people falling in love with each other as their characters do.  It is challenging to capture genuine emotion on a cold piece of celluloid, but falling in love is beautifully immortalized in My Best Girl.”  Fittingly, the movie depicts Pickford’s first romantic screen kiss in a feature film.

Director Sam Taylor honed his comedy chops directing and co-directing a string of classic Harold Lloyd films (including Safety Last!, 1923; and The Freshman, 1925), and his experienced hand is especially evident in the film’s overall polish and by the engaging way he textures the strange and quirky characters that populate the shop girl’s milieu.  The sophisticated photography was contributed by longtime Pickford cinematographer Charles Rosher.  Fresh from his Oscar-winning work on F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise (1927), Rosher created a special lens, the “Rosher Kino Portrait Lens,” for Pickford’s close-ups on My Best Girl to help the 35-year-old actress portray her 17-year-old character.  While Taylor would go on to direct most of Pickford’s sound pictures, My Best Girl would prove to be Rosher’s last completed film with the star actress and producer.

This new print of My Best Girl is based on the Archive’s earlier restoration, which combined the best shots from two 35mm acetate fine grains and a 1940s-era 16mm print, and featured remade intertitles to improve the overall appearance of the film.  This new print incorporates several recent refinements, including better quality copying of shots derived from the 16mm source and improved timing.  —Steven K. Hill

Director: Sam Taylor.  Production: Mary Pickford Corp.  Distribution: United Artists Corp.  Screenwriters: Allen McNeil, Tim Whelan.  Based on the story My Best Girl by Kathleen Norris. Cinematographer: Charles Rosher.  Cast: Mary Pickford, Sunshine Hart, Lucien Littlefield, Carmelita Geraghty, Hobart Bosworth.  35mm, b/w, silent, approx. 90 min.

Restored in cooperation with The Mary Pickford Company and the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation from two 35mm acetate fine grain master positives and a 16mm print.  Laboratory services by Cinetech, The Stanford Theatre Film Laboratory, Title House Digital.