Silent Film Star Has Ties to San Juan Capistrano

San Juan Capistrano was one of the first locations film director D.W. Griffith filmed at when he came to Los Angeles from New York.

Griffith—who launched the silent film career of Mary Pickford—"wanted to come out here because there were a lot of places to film. You have the modernity of the city and then you have the history of the Spanish missions,” said Hugh Munro Neely, director of Archive, Library and Legacy for the Mary Pickford Institute.

The first day of the first at the kicked off with a tribute to "the girl with the curls" presented by the Pickford Institute, and attended by more than 50 people.

Neely presented a slideshow which portrayed the actress’ life as a silent film star and her roles in two silent films: Two Brothers and Ramona—both filmed in San Juan Capistrano.

Pickford was originally known as "Gladys Smith" from Toronto, Canada. Later dubbed "America's Sweetheart," she was introduced to the stage by her mother and began acting at age six.

The actress chose her stage name, “Mary Pickford,” in her later years when she toured with an acting troupe in 1907. She began filming in 1909 with Griffith and his company Biograph in New York City. 

Neely described Pickford as a spunky and sweet character who was often casted into roles portraying a more "independent woman" for the era. 

She had more ties to San Juan Capistrano other than filming. The small town is where Pickford renewed her vows to first husband actor, Owen Moore.

“We believe this film festival is the beginning of a tradition in San Juan Capistrano,” said co-founder of the West Coast Film Festival Robert Kline. “We want to share the film experience and make San Juan Capistrano synonymous with good film festivals in America.”

The remainder of the film festival will feature classics such as Ben-Hur and Looney Tunes cartoons.

FILM FESTIVAL SCHEDULE TUESDAY TO THURSDAY

Tuesday

• You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story presented by Robert Kline
• The Eastwood Factor
• Charlton Heston and Ben Hur: A Personal Journey; Fraser Heston will make a guest appearance.

Wednesday

• Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry with a guest appearance by Steve Oedekerk  
• On the Wings of Penguins and Saving Pelican 895 (double feature) 
• Wuss with a guest appearance by Asher Goldstein 

Thursday

• Gene Autry's Angels Baseball 50th Anniversary
• Bells of Capistrano and Head for Texas (double feature)
• Special Sneak Preview of Lionsgate film Warrior