Page "Mary Pickford" Paragraph 33

But Pickford's most profound influence ( beyond her acting ) was to help reshape the film industry itself.

When she entered features, Hollywood believed that the movies ' future lay in reproducing Broadway plays for a mass audience.

Pickford, who entered feature film with two Broadway credits but a far greater following among fans of nickelodeon flickers, became the world's most popular actress in a matter of months.

In response to her popularity, Hollywood rethought its vision of features as " canned theatre ," and focused instead on actors and material that were uniquely suited to film, not stage performances.