Sunshine and Shadow - Book - 1955

Hardcover book of Mary's autobiography Sunshine and Shadow published by Doubleday & Company Inc. in 1955. The book, a good bit comprised of Mary's lengthy 1954 autobiographical article for McCall's Magazine "My Whole Life," is exactly what one would think--Mary's life, from her birth up until 1955 or so, as told by Mary herself. While it's an easy, albeit now very outdated read with some nice photographs thrown in, it's important to keep in mind these are words right the horses mouth. It's a bit whitewashed, it contains more than just a little hyperbole, and the accuracy of some detail is questionable. In fact, there are a number of identifiable inaccuracies and mistakes. Ultimately. it's worth a read, but these days there are certainly better sources of information about Mary's life. The foreword by Cecil B. DeMille--who directed Mary in A Romance of the Redwoods (1917) and The Little American  (1917)--contains an often-used quote that really sums up Mary well: "There have been hundreds of stars. There have been scores of fine actresses in motion pictures. There has been only one Mary Pickford." 


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