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LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY

Mary Pickford plays a “tomboy of the tenements” in this comedy drama, which she also wrote. Filmed over ten weeks,  LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY was shot entirely on a set created by art director John D. Schulze at the Pickford Fairbanks Studio. Co-starring William Haines and a wide-ranging, multi-ethnic cast, Little Annie Rooney met with huge critical and commercial success upon its original release, proving fans and critics alike wanted the then-33-year-old Mary to stay a child forever. 

Created from the original tinted nitrate print in Mary Pickford’s personal collection at the Library of Congress,  LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY was preserved photochemically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive. A new 35mm preservation master was then scanned at 4K high definition so that the Mary Pickford Foundation, in cooperation with AMPAS, could create a digital version to perfectly match the original nitrate tints and tones. The Mary Pickford Foundation commissioned Andy Gladbach to compose a new, original soundtrack performed by a 12-piece orchestra including three percussionists. 

“This is the Mary Pickford who will always be loved and welcomed. This is Mary at her best and her truest…as the leader of a gang that looks like a junior League of Nations. Here is Mary playing with so much sincerity that she fairly wrings your heart. Most of the picture, however is pure joyousness.”

- ‘Photoplay’, October 1925

"LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY, starring the luminous Mary Pickford, was an unexpected delight [at the 2017 Glasgow Film Festival]… It is easy to see why Pickford was one of the most internationally renowned and best loved stars of her day.”

- Georgina Coburn, ‘Georgina Coburn Arts Blog’, 2017

This Blu-ray/DVD publication includes a souvenir booklet featuring rare photographs, essays by Cari Beauchamp, and an article on the composing of the new score.

Also with Mary Pickford