Her Darkest Hour (IMP)

 

MOVING PICTURE NEWS 4, no. 5 (4 February 1911): 26.

That’s Mary Pickford whose full figure graces this full-page advertisement for Her Darkest Hour (along with The Convert). It is quite unusual for its time in foregrounding of the image of the film’s star outside of the context of the films themselves. When photos were used in film advertisements such as these, they were typically publicity stills depicting scenes from the film in question. That IMP would take this tactic is not surprising however, because in general IMP‘s ads were the most aggressive about exploiting the star power of their actors (see for example the ad for Their First Misunderstanding, starring Mary and Owen Moore) but this one takes it to the next level by having “Little Mary” appear as herself — not as a character in either of the film, harnessing her star power for IMP’s benefit.