America 1919

Has Pickford arrived?

Although Donnie didn't know why she would come at this time, he had no illusions that after just one meeting, she would decide to leave her husband and spend a romantic night with him.

No matter what he thought, Donnie still had the butler invite Pickford in.

"Donnie, I'm sorry for disturbing you so late!"

When Pickford saw Donnie, she apologized.

"It's okay, Mary, if you're visiting at this time, I assume there must be something important, right?"

Donnie didn't dwell on why she had come so late but instead immediately asked her reason for doing so.

Pickford sat on the sofa in the courtyard, the night wind on her face. She gathered her hair and then said,

"Donnie, after listening to what you said, I've been thinking about a question. Is it possible to establish a women's actors' union in Hollywood as well?

You may not know this, but the status of female actors in Hollywood is very poor. To put it bluntly, they are essentially the vases of a movie.

However, in reality, the work that women actors put in is no less than that of male actors, yet the disparity in their pay is five times, ten times bigger!"

Good Lord, is the ideological battle starting already?

Donnie said, "Mary, your idea is good, but I believe now is not the time to undertake this matter!"

After receiving Donnie's reply, Pickford looked at him somewhat disappointedly: "I didn't expect you to have the same view as Doug!"

The reason for Pickford's visit was actually quite simple. After leaving here, Pickford began discussing with Douglas whether they could establish a women's actors' union while the three major unions were being formed!

However, Douglas outright rejected Pickford's proposal.

Because of this, the two had an argument.

Pickford thought of the Miss America's principles Donnie previously promoted, and since the concept of the three major unions was also proposed by him, she believed that Donnie would accept her idea.

Yet now, although Donnie's response was slightly different from that of Douglas, the result was the same, as both of them denied the establishment of a women's actors' union.

Donnie didn't want any events outside his control to happen at this time, so he said,

"Mary, I'm not dismissing the importance of establishing a women's actors' union. However, at this point, what's most important for us is the formation of the three major unions, and women actors are actually part of the actors' union.

If we were to establish a separate women's actors' union now, it would create confusion over priorities and issues within our management and, furthermore, increase costs!"

"But the establishment of a women's actors union could indeed bring more benefits to the female actors of Hollywood. Your Miss Americas will also become actresses in the future. Don't you want to see their interests being infringed upon?"

Simply put, Donnie's Starry Entertainment was still just a talent agency and didn't involve itself in movie investments. So in Pickford's view, increasing female actors' benefits was essentially increasing Starry Entertainment's income.

Pickford couldn't see the reason why Donnie wouldn't support her.

"Of course, I would mind. In fact, Mary, I am even more concerned about women's rights than you might think. In Atlantic City, I am the biggest donor to the WCTU, and I have also created hundreds of job positions for women. I have even started a fraternal aid association there, and now I am helping Miss South Brenton establish a women's rights protection association.

These are my contributions to American women!"

Pickford's eyes lit up, and she asked excitedly, "Is the WRPA something you helped establish?"

The Women's Rights Protection Association, known as WRPA in the United States, saw Keira Sandton and others follow Donnie to Los Angeles, while other Miss Americas were at that moment giving speeches nationwide with South Brenton.

Although Pickford had only been back in the United States for a short time, she was already aware of this.

Donnie nodded: "That's right. So, Mary, trust me, I've never given up on protecting women, but many things can't just be done immediately whenever we wish. There's a need for a gradual approach.

Think about it, if we haven't even settled the actors' union matters and we start rushing to set up a women's actors' union, then when it comes to who goes first and how resources are allocated, and even whether the women's actors' union demands conflict with the actors' union demands—all these issues need our consideration.

If any aspect of this isn't handled properly, it could lead to the failure of our entire plan.

At that point, forget a women's actors' union—the actors' union itself might end up a pipedream!"

Because of the WRPA matter, Pickford's doubts about Donnie were gone, and now she was willing to trust his words.

"All right, Donnie, it seems I was a bit too simplistic in my thoughts before. Sorry to have disturbed you so late!"

Donnie smiled: "It's fine, we just became friends, didn't we? It's only right for friends to trouble each other occasionally!"

Pickford stood up: "Then I won't disturb your rest anymore, Donnie. I should go and get some rest too!"

Donnie also stood up and said, "It's not gentlemanly to let a girl drive home alone late at night. Wait a moment, Mary, I'll take you!"