The Best Mary Pickford Movies

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Updated September 16, 2023 837 votes 79 voters
Over 70 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Mary Pickford Movies
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List of the best Mary Pickford movies, ranked best to worst with movie trailers when available. Mary Pickford's highest grossing movies have received a lot of accolades over the years, earning millions upon millions around the world. The order of these top Mary Pickford movies is decided by how many votes they receive, so only highly rated Mary Pickford movies will be at the top of the list. Mary Pickford has been in a lot of films, so people often debate each other over what the greatest Mary Pickford movie of all time is. If you and a friend are arguing about this then use this list of the most entertaining Mary Pickford films to end the squabble once and for all.

If you think the best Mary Pickford role isn't at the top, then upvote it so it has the chance to become number one. The greatest Mary Pickford performances didn't necessarily come from the best movies, but in most cases they go hand in hand.

The list you're viewing is made up of many different films, including To Save Her Soul and Ramona.

"This list answers the questions, "What are the best Mary Pickford movies?" and "What are the greatest Mary Pickford roles of all time?"

Mary Pickford was no stranger to working with popular directors, including D. W. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille and Ernst Lubitsch. If Mary Pickford movies are your thing, then check out the greatest movies by Lillian Gish and Hattie McDaniel too.

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  • My Best Girl
    1

    My Best Girl

    Mary Pickford, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Sunshine Hart
    17 votes
    • Released: 1927
    • Directed by: Sam Taylor
    When stock girl Maggie Johnson (Mary Pickford) falls for coworker Joe Grant (Charles Rogers) at the Merrill department store, she doesn't know he's the son of the owner. Joe wants to prove that he has what it takes to honestly work his way up. In the process, he falls for Maggie, too. After his real identity is revealed, Maggie also learns that he's engaged to a debutante (Avonne Taylor). Maggie flees from their budding relationship, and Joe becomes determined to win her back.
  • Stella Maris
    2

    Stella Maris

    Mary Pickford, Conway Tearle, Ida Waterman
    17 votes
    • Released: 1918
    • Directed by: Marshall Neilan
    Stella Maris (Mary Pickford), paralyzed since birth, lives in an opulent mansion and has virtually no knowledge of the outside world. She adores her frequent visitor John Risca (Conway Tearle), a journalist stuck in a loveless marriage to Louise (Marcia Manon). After Louise viciously beats her maid Unity Blake (also Pickford), she is jailed, and Unity too falls in love with John. The two young women are hopelessly enamored of the same man, and after Louise's release something has to give.

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  • Sparrows
    3

    Sparrows

    Mary Pickford, Gustave von Seyffertitz, Roy Stewart
    23 votes
    • Released: 1926
    • Directed by: William Beaudine
    Molly (Mary Pickford) is the eldest resident of a prison-like orphanage run by the abusive Mr. Grimes (Gustave von Seyffertitz), his neglectful wife (Charlotte Mineau) and their diabolical son, Ambrose ("Spec" O'Donnell). When Mr. Grimes becomes involved in a kidnapping plot, Molly realizes she must somehow escape, and struggles to lead the younger children to freedom through the treacherous swamps that surround the orphanage where they have all been enslaved.

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  • Tess of the Storm Country
    4

    Tess of the Storm Country

    Milton Berle, Mary Pickford, Lloyd Hughes
    16 votes
    • Released: 1922
    • Directed by: John S. Robertson
    Tess of the Storm Country is a 1922 melodrama starring Mary Pickford, directed by John S. Robertson, and based upon a Grace Miller White novel. It is a remake of Pickford's film from eight years prior and was subsequently remade a decade later as a sound version starring Janet Gaynor.
  • Poor Little Rich Girl
    5

    Poor Little Rich Girl

    Mary Pickford, Marcia Harris, Frank McGlynn
    15 votes
    • Released: 1917
    • Directed by: Maurice Tourneur
    The Poor Little Rich Girl is a 1917 American comedy-drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur. Adapted by Frances Marion from the 1913 play by Eleanor Gates. The Broadway play actually starred future screen actress Viola Dana. The film stars Mary Pickford, Madlaine Traverse, Charles Wellesley, Gladys Fairbanks and Frank McGlynn, Sr.. The film was shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey when early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based there at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1991, The Poor Little Rich Girl was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
  • Secrets
    6

    Secrets

    Mary Pickford, Leslie Howard, C. Aubrey Smith
    14 votes
    • Released: 1933
    • Directed by: Frank Borzage
    In the 1860s, Mary Marlowe (Mary Pickford) defies her father's wishes to marry a British lord and runs away with clerk John Carlton (Leslie Howard) as he heads West to make his fortune. Mary and John endure the difficult journey and settle into a small cabin, then face the hostilities of a cattle rustling gang, as well as the tragic loss of their only son. With Mary's help, John defeats the gang, which propels him to political power that, over the years, gradually erodes the once-happy marriage.