Belasco's A Good Little Devil (1913) Republic Theatre Postcards

"An interesting scene from David Belasco’s great production of the Rostand fairy play at the Republic Theatre, New York, with Ernest Truex, Mary Pickford and Henry Stanford. Arthur Hill impersonates Rab, the dog."

"Juliet sits by the wishing-well in her wonderful garden and makes her wish: 'I want to be Charle's wife.' The fairies hear it and smile their approval." --From David Belasco's fairy play triumph at the Republic Theatre, New York." The victorian figures flanking the photo are illustrations by Kate Greenaway.

Postcards for David Belasco's theatrical performance of A Good Little Devil (1913) at the Republic Theatre in New York. Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Ernest Truex, et al. can be seen on stage in photographs by White Studio. 

I've seen at least two other designs out there: One depicting a photograph of “Rosemond Gerard (Madame Edmond Rostand) and her son, Maurice Rostand, authors of ‘A Good Little Devil.’” And the other with “Ernest Truex who plays the boy, Charles MacLance, in David Belasco’s remarkable production of the Rostand fair play for grown-ups.”

While I would have assumed they were issued by the Republic Theatre, as evidenced by the theatre being explicitly noted on one of the designs, I have seen a case where they were given away at the performance at a different theatre in a different city -- meaning perhaps they were generically made by Belasco for the production (or there were simply a bunch left to dispense elsewhere.)

A Good Little Devil (1914) - Postcard

A Good Little Devil (1914) "The tortured, beaten boy becomes a lord" Famous Players postcard manufactured by the Krauss Mfg. Co. This production, actually taken in 1913, was produced at the Famous Players 26th Street Studio in NYC while the stage performance was still running at the Republic Theatre. Mary recalled that the troupe filmed at the studio during the days there were no matinees, and then ran the performance again on the theatre stage at night. The film was generally a flop as it was essentially just the theatrical performance, sans sound, but it was the start of a fantastic relationship between Mary and Adolph Zukor which played an important part in the movie history. This postcard is additionally marked on verso for a Saturday, April 25, 1914 screening at the Town Hall Theatre in Orange, MA.

A Good Little Devil (1914) "Mr. Belasco visualizing a scene in 'A Good Little Devil'" Famous Players postcard manufactured by the Krauss Mfg. Co. This postcard is likewise additionally marked on verso for the same Saturday, April 25, 1914 screening at the Town Hall Theatre in Orange, MA. Gifted from the Pamela Short Collection.

Belasco's A Good Little Devil - Republic Theatre Program - March 1913

Republic Theatre program (week of Monday, March 17, 1913) for David Belasco's stage production of A Good Little Devil featuring Mary in the role of blind Juliet. Worth noting, by this time Mary's friend Lillian Gish had already left the production and was replaced with Vida Talbot. Gifted from the Pamela Short Collection.

Mary Pickford (photo by White) / A Good Little Devil Postcard - 1914

Mary Pickford / Famous Players Film Co. postcard by Kraus Mfg. Co. featuring a photo by White. Additional advertising on verso for A Good Little Devil (erroneously noted as The Good Little Devil. Obviously, the Famous Players film version which was Mary's first feature length production -- filmed in 1913 but not released until 1914) showing at the Apollo Theatre in Tacoma, Washington. July 28-29-30, 1914

Munsey Magazine Clipping - May 1913

A clipping from the May 1913 issue of Munsey Magazine of an early, albeit brief, interview with Mary and featuring a photo by White Studio. Although close to the time of her A Good Little Devil theatrical performance, she mainly talks about her about her preference for film over the stage. The interview:

"When I was less than five years old I was taken to see 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.' I insisted that the Little Eva was too big for the part, and felt that I could have done much better myself. This was in Toronto, where I was born. One of mother's friends was a stage-manager of a stock company. One night he happened to remark that it was difficult to find children for the plays that required them, and suggested that possibly my sister and myself could help him out. Mother was scandalized. She had the old-fashioned notions about the playerfolk, and only after he had introduced her to the ladies and gentlemen of the company would she give her consent."

"Well, I play in 'Bootle's Baby' and 'In Convict Stripes.' I was the girl in 'The Silver King' and the boy in 'East Lynne.' After a while we came to New York, where I went to school, and here the luckiest thing of all happened to me. I got into the 'movies.' Yes, that the work I like best. And why shouldn't I? You rehearse for perhaps one day, instead of four or five weeks, and there is no terrible worry about whether the play is going to succeed or fail. Then you travel about the country in automobiles, and go to California, Cuba, and all sorts of interesting places. You draw a salary fifty-two weeks in the year, and have all your evenings to yourself, so that you can go to the theater as much as you like. Do you wonder that I hope the 'talkis' won't be a success?"

"How about your future?" I inquired. "Aren't you ambitious to act some big role?"

"No, not in emotional drama," she answered. "What's the use? The public doesn't care for that sort of thing any more, and if people don't think enough of what you do to come in crowds to watch it, I can't imagine any other reason for doing it. Light comedy would please me best; but to my mind, after all, the 'movies' are the most satisfying. There is a fascination about the work that never palls.

"What, with no real audience to play to when you are posing?" I reminded her.

"Yes, indeed," came back the prompt reply. "For in the 'movies' you have something a great deal better. You can be your own audience and watch yourself act. I have not yet got over the joy of sitting out in front and seeing myself walk about the screen!"

When you recall that Mary Pickford, the heroine of "A Good Little Devil," was with the David Belasco half a dozed years ago as Betty in "The Warrens of Virginia," you may know that she isn't so young as she looks. Nevertheless, her grown-up state in teh last act of her present play marks her first appearence in other than a child's part.

A Good Little Devil - Oversized Photo by White Studio - ca. 1912

An extremely sharp 11"x14" oversized photograph by White Studio depicting a scene from Mary's theatrical performance of David Belasco's A Good Little Devil circa 1912 Mary's friend and fellow actress Lillian Gish can be seen second from eft. Gifted from the Pamela Short Collection.

The Detroit News - September 9, 1934 - Newspaper

An entire newspaper spread from September 9, 1934 issue of The Detroit News dedicated to Mary that features photos (At the Little Red Schoolhouse, The Way of Man, A Good Little Devil, The New York Hat, Suds) and the usual bits of trivia. Gifted from the Pamela Short Collection.