Mary Pickford at Philadelphia's Stanley Theatre

Portrait of Mary by White Studio as seen in the October 30, 1914 edition of Philadelphia's Evening Public Ledger. (Courtesy of LOC.)

Over the course of her lifetime, Mary Pickford visited the city of Philadelphia, PA on numerous occasions—from her earliest theatrical performances at the Walnut, Lyric, and Broad Street theatres; as a guest of Siegmund Lubin at his mighty Lubinville Studio; on her Third Liberty Loan Drive tour in April 1918; a theatre return with The Church Mouse in 1934; to other charitable events well into the 1950s. There were even (probably unfounded) rumors of her having plans to move to the city but, as history shows, that never panned out.

Another particular event occurred on October 29, 1914 when, as a personal favor to the innovative Stanley V. Mastbaum—managing director of the Stanley Booking Corporation and Stanley Theatre chain, Mary, along with her mother Charlotte, Adolph Zukor, and James Kirkwood paid a visit to the Stanley Theatre for a special screening of the Famous Players production of Behind the Scenes (1914.) While Mary's visit to the Stanley caused quite a stir, it certainly wasn't unique as it was par for the course wherever she went.

The original Stanley Theatre itself was located on the south side of Market St. just west of 16th. It has long since been demolished with its footprint essentially sitting between present-day 1600 Market St. and the iconic One Liberty Place.

October 29, 1914 Evening Public Ledger advertisement for the event. The posting of the ad was either a really good thing or a really bad thing, depending on how you look at it. (Courtesy of LOC.)

The October 30, 1914 edition of the Evening Public Ledger detailed the event:

“Mary Pickford, the little flossy-haired movie girl with the rosebud mouth and curling lashes, a glance from whose hazel eyes can cause to palpitate the hearts of the entire male population from the tropical regions of League Island to the arctic zone of Manayunk, left Philadelphia for New York this morning at 10 o’clock, but before going stopped a minute or two to say a parting word about the ovation she received at the Stanley Theatre last evening in particular and about a few other things in general.

“Surrounded by a fond mamma, her director, James Kirkwood, and her manager, Adolph Zukor, Miss Pickford seemed even smaller than the ‘Little Mary’ of the films. In her arms she carried a sad-looking bunch of tea roses.

“‘All that were left to me,’ she said ruefully, ‘I received some beautiful ones last evening but the crowd got them. Not I. It happened in this way: When I came out of the box after the performance to leave the theatre a man pressed close to me and asked if he might have a chrysanthemum. My hands were filled and, so I said, ‘Why, yes, just break one off.’ And that was the signal for the rest of them. I had to give them all away, otherwise I never should have got out of the theatre.’

“Those at the Stanley last night said, despite her generosity in the matter of giving away her flowers, Mary Pickford had difficulty in getting away from her insistent admirers. The lobby was a crushing mass of people, mostly men, who wanted a word with her, and the traffic on Market street was held up at least five minutes [Motion Picture News notes a more likely 15 minutes] by the mobs which crowded around the taxi that bore her to her hotel.”

Prior to the film's screening, Mary and company were guests of honor at a banquet hosted by Mastbaum at the Bellevue-Straford Hotel at the corner of Broad and Walnut. After the picture, the party was entertained at Cafe L’Aiglon at Chestnut and 15th. They returned to NY the following morning.

And while on the subject, let's set the record straight on an often-mislabeled photo—actually several photos. No! The photo below is not the Behind The Scenes premiere in New York City as noted by several sources. The photo(s) actually show Adolph Zukor, James Kirkwood, Mary, Stanley Mastbaum, and Mary's mother Charlotte at Philadelphia's Stanley Theatre during their visit on October 29. 1914.

 One of the often-mislabeled photos. This particular scan comes from the November 21, 1914 issue of Motion Picture News. As noted, seen here are Adolph Zukor, James Kirkwood, Mary, Stanley Mastbaum, and Mary's mother Charlotte at Philadelphia's Stanley Theatre. (Courtesy of MHDL.)