Stella Maris

Mary Pickford plays a celebrated dual role in this Marshall Neilan drama adapted from William J. Locke's novel by Frances Marion. Stella Maris is a rich, sheltered invalid who has never been allowed to see the world's ugliness; Unity Blake is a beaten-down orphan from the workhouse who knows nothing else. When Unity is taken into the household of Stella's cousin (Conway Tearle), the two women's lives cross in ways neither understands, and Pickford's transformation into the plain, hunched Unity remains startling — she asked to be made as unbeautiful as possible. One of the best showcases of what silent-era star vehicles could do when their stars wanted to act rather than pose. Published in 1918, it is in the public domain in the United States.