1. AshleyAnne Strobridge
WomeninAmericanHistory
Dr. Sue JeanCho
ResearchPaperon WomeninFilm
4/27/11
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The Forgotten Women Leaders Who Founded the Film Industry: Their
Story and How They Were Written Out of HIStory
Little known in today’s society is the fact that from the 1890s through the 1920s,
women were the driving force in the art of filmmaking across the U.S. Women were the primary
screen-writers, as well as the most prominent and successful directors and producers of the
films that came out of Hollywood from before the turn of the 20th century into the early 1920s.
Through the first two decades of the last century, women called the shots in Hollywood, but by
the 1930s, big business had taken over Hollywood, and because business and the large sums of
money that the film industry was now generating (thanks to these women) were considered a
man’s arena, women were no longer encouraged to, and were in many cases barred from,
entering a filmmaking career. So why from the 1890s through the 1920s were there so many
powerful women behind the camera in Hollywood, and what other factors made all that
abruptly end for the majority of women in the 1930s? Where do women stand in the film
industry today? And why is it that the mothers of Hollywood, the real founders, are little heard
of in today’s history books and filmclasses? These questions must be answered to properly
record the tale of how the founders of the filmindustry were erased from popular memory,
and shunted into the dusty corners of history. Through this recording and others like it, the
memory of their achievements can be restored, and their proper place of honor in history
remembered.
Whentellingastory,one shouldalwaysstartfromthe beginning. Well,the storyof Hollywood
beganwitha woman. In herbook, When Women Call the Shots:TheDeveloping Powerand Influenceof
Women in Television and Film, Linda Segerexplainsthat Alice Guy Blanche,asecretaryina photographic
studioinParis in1895, was inspiredbythe possibilitiesof filmmakingafterseeinganon-fictionfilmwith
herboss. She requestedpermissionfromhim, in1896, to filma short fictional piece she hadwritten
calledLa Fee aux choux (The Cabbage Fairy),whichshe proceededtofilm, direct,andproduce withhelp
fromher friendswhoplayedthe charactersandbuiltthe set. Herboss wasso impressedbythe final
productthat he setup a studioforher,and overthe course of the nexttenyears,she produced,

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directed,andwrote almostfourhundredfilms. She pioneeredthe special effectsinfilmingsuchas
movingthe camerato followitssubjects,close-ups,fade-outs,double exposures, colorfilming, and
locationfilming,andwasthe veryfirst person tocreate a fictional film.Before her,onlynon-fictionfilms
had beenmade,andfictionwasn’tevenconsideredarelevantor appropriate topicforfilmmaking.
Afterbecomingasuccessful headof herown productioncompanyinParis,Alice GuyBlanche then
conqueredthe UnitedStates,creatingthe studioSolax Company inNew Jerseyin1910, which“became
a model forthe modernfilmstudiosthatwere tofollow,” (Seger5-7). Because of herefforts,she
shouldbe consideredthe motherof moderncinema,asthe filmindustryisbuiltonthe moneymade
fromfictional films.Tothisday she remainsalmostcompletelyhiddeninthe obscure pagesof history.
Alice Guy Blanche isonlyone example of unsungfemale heroesinfilm.There are many,many
more. Inthisyear’sAcademyAwardsitwas mentionedthatlastyear,2010, was the firstyear thata
womanhad everwonan Oscar for directingafilm.Thisisanastoundingfactwhenone considersthata
womanwas actuallythe firstpersontoeverconceive of afictional movie andproceedtofilmit.The
fictional filmbusinesshas made the U.S.a fortune,butlittle creditisattributedtothe plethoraof female
theaterowners,managers,scenariowriters,producers,editors,actressesanddirectorsinthe earlydays
that helpedbuildthe filmindustryfromthe groundup. LoisWeber,Director,Producer,Writerand
Motherof the “UpliftMovement”(see page 4fordefinition);CleoMadison,whosefemale heroeswere
groundbreakingintheirstrength (Cooper47);FrancesMarion,actress,director,andabove all Academy
Awardwinningscenariowriter;MaryPickford,America’sSweetheartthroughoutthe silentera,filmstar
and headof the UnitedArtiststudiowithCharlie Chaplin,D.W.Griffith,andDouglasFairbanks.Allof
these womenwere pioneers,andaccordingtofilmhistorianAnthony Slide,“Duringthe silentera,
womencan be saidto have dominatedthe industry. Womenwriterswere consideredthe bestof this
era….manyof these screenwriterswere consideredthe topscreenwritersof thisperiod,andthe women
directorswere considered equal to,if notbetterthan,theirmale colleagues,”(Slide). Yetinhistories

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today, we hear nearlynothingof anyfemale filmpioneersotherthanMary Pickford,while mensuchas
D.W. GriffithandCecil B.de Mille have householdnamesfordoingthingsthatAlice Guy Blanche dida
decade earlierthantheydid.
To delve furtherinto the topicof womeninearlyHollywood,we mustfirstunderstandwhy
womenwere soacceptedintofilmmakinginthe firstplace. There are manyaspectsbehindthis
developmentinthe early20th
century. One reason mentionedinKarenWardMahar’s book Women
Filmmakersin Early Hollywood wasthat filmmaking,likephotography,wasthoughttobe an art form
“requiringthe femininetraitsof abnegationanddevotionandadelicate touch,”(Mahar16). This
argumentwasfirstmade for photographyinthe late nineteenthcentury,butwouldlaterbe takenupby
the firstwomenfilmmakers. AlsoaccordingtoMahar, “the photographtrade setthe precedentof using
womentoprocessfilm”(Mahar 20). With female editorshavingprocessedphotographicfilmsince the
1840s, it was nota leaptoallowwomentobecome movingpicture filmeditors.
Between1910 and the endof WWI womenmade upthe largestsectionof movie audiences,
(Mahar 3), whichinfluencedstudioheadstoactivelyseekoutwomentojointhe filmindustrybecause
theythoughtwomenwouldknowwhatotherwomenwantedtosee onfilm. Thiswasnotthe only
aspectof the relationshipbetweenthose withinthe feminine sexthatmade itpossible forwomentobe
acceptedintofilmmaking,itwasalsotheirfierce loyaltytoone anotherthatplayedahuge role. Women
whowere alreadyinthe businessof filmmakingencouragedotherwomentojointhemthere,andso
theirnumbersinthe filmindustrygrewrapidlyinthe earlydays.
Between1908 and 1916 there wasa spike indemandformovingpicturesthatleftstudioheads
scramblingtoproduce filmsfastenoughforthe voraciousappetite of the Americancinemaaudience.
Theyendedupneedingtohire more andmore writers,directors,producersandactors,whichledto
more openhiringpractices,whichledtomore womenbeinghiredtofill these positions.

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One of the mostinfluential reasonswhywomenwere welcomedintothe filmindustrywas that
whenthe nickelodeonsbecamethoughtof as“too dangerousforimpressionables, assumptionsof
female moral superiorityencouragedthe industrytoembrace andpromote womenintheirmidst,”
(Mahar 3). This ideacame aboutduringthe time whenwomenwerestill thoughtof asguidestosociety
concerningmoral issues. Accordingto Sara Evans’book Born forLiberty, in1900 there were nearlya
hundredsettlementhouseswhichwerefoundedbythe New Womenof thatperiodtoserve the poor
and provide themwithmoral guidance,aswell asprovide societywith neededsocial reform(Evans148-
149). Thiswas aroundthe same time thatwomenwere helpingtofoundthe filmindustry,anditwas
indeedthoughtthe realmof the womentokeepthe filmindustry cleanalongwithsociety. Thiswas
calledthe UpliftMovement, whichbeganin1909, and itfell uponthe shouldersof womentomake the
nickelodeons respectable,whichwasatough jobwhenone realizeshow nickelodeonswere thoughtby
some observerstobe a menace. It wasat thispointthat“womenbecame the mostcelebrated
exhibitorsandfilmmakers inAmericancinema,”(Mahar78). Thispowerful statementringstrue when
comparedto otherevidence thatwomenwereastrongforce in the birthof the art of filmmakingin
America.
The final variable one mustconsiderwhendecidingwhyitwasthat women were soaccepted
intothe filmindustry,which certainlycannotbe overlooked,isthese women’simmense talent.Women
inthe late 1800s and early1900s were the mosteducatedinAmericanHistory. AccordingtoEvans,
womenin1880 made up 32% of all studentsinhighereducation (Evans147). Withveryfew fieldsopen
to women,aftergraduationtheyflockedtothose fieldswhichwere,these includednursing,teaching,
social work,and as we have seen,the social workof refiningthe movies. One mustnotoverlook,
however,those talentedartistsandpioneersthatjoinedthe filmmakingtrade nottoreformit,but to
builditand to be creative ina realmwhere theywere actuallywelcomedandcouldevenmake money.

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In fact,most of the womeninHollywoodwere there expresslyforthatpurpose,nottoreform;for many
that wasonlytheirfootin the door.
As we can see, manyfactorsconvergedbetween1896, whenthe firstfictional filmwasmade
(bya woman),andthe late 1920s that allowedforwomen’sacceptance intothe moviebusiness.Butit
wentfartherthanthat. In AllyAcker’sbook Reel Women,Pioneersof theCinema 1896 to the Present,
Marc Wanamakeris quotedinsaying,“more womenworkedindecision-makingpositionsinfilmbefore
1920 than at any othertime inhistory,”(Ackerxviii). So whatpropelled women tothe forefrontand
towardssuch greatsuccessin the fieldof filmmaking?
As I have mentionedpreviously,womenwereanextremelytalented,newlytappedresource for
the movie business duringitsformativeyears.Womenhadalwaysbeenacceptedasartists,butnever
before asbread-winningartistsinabusiness. Withinthisnew freedomwomenflourished. LoisWeber
was the firstwomentodirect,star,coauthor, and produce a major motionpicture, andhada fruitful
career. Ida May Park “was one of several prominentwomendirectorsatUniversal Studiosinthe late
1910s, and certainlyone of the mostprolific,”(Acker17). ThoughWomenenjoyedgreatsuccessat
Universal duringit’sinception, Parkandtwoothers,includingWeber,were the onlytrulypowerful
womenat Universal Studios afterWWI,whenUniversal’sencouragementof womenseemedtotake a
turn downwards.Onthe otherhand,manywomenachievedsuccessasscenariowriters(screenwriters),
inthe teensandcontinuedtosucceedthroughthe sounderaand beyond. Accordingtothe St.James
Women Filmmakers Encyclopedia,one of these women, “BessMeredyth, wasone of the solidcore of
first-classscreenwriters,the majorityof whomwere women,whobegantheircareersinthe silentera
and continuedtoenjoysuccessonintothe coming of sound,”(Unterberger287). Meredyth wasactually
penningscriptsintothe ‘40s. Female writersinfilmmaking achievedparticularsuccessbecausewriting
had longbeenacknowledgedassomewhatsuitedtoa“woman’ssensibilities,”withone of the
pioneeringfeminine writersbeingJane Austen,whose firstbookwaspublishedin1813, (Austen).

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Anotherreasonforwomen’sgreatsuccessinfilmmakinginthe earlyyearswas,alsomentioned
earlier,afeminineteamwork. Womencreatedastrongnetworkof female colleagueswithinwhichto
exchange favorsandback eachotherup intimes of trouble. Accordingtoa quote byFrancesMarion in
Marsha McCreadie’sbook The Women Who Write the Movies there wasan abundance of female writers
whowere tiedinfriendshiptomanyof the female starsof earlyHollywood,(McCreadie28). Andmany
of these starswouldhave nootherwritercreate scenariosforthemthantheirownfriends. InCari
Beauchamp’sbook WithoutLying Down,FrancesMarion and thePowerfulWomen of Early Hollywood,
Mary Pickfordandothersclose toher attributedmuchof Pickford’ssuccesstoherteamworkwith
scenariowriterFrancesMarion,whoknew exactlywhatthe audienceswantedtosee Mary upto on the
silverscreen. MarionalsoprotectedPickfordfromscandal duringPickfordandDouglasFairbanks’torrid
affairwhile bothwere marriedtootherspouses. Marionhelpedtoshieldthemfrompublicscrutiny
until bothcoulddivorce theirspousesby non-scandalous means,andwedeachother.Pickford,
Fairbanks,Marion,andher thenhusbandFredThompsonevenhoneymoonedtogetherinEurope,
(Beauchamp).
Early Hollywoodwasdevelopingduringthe daysof the New Woman,whenpossibilitieswere
openingupeverywhere forwomen,andmore womenfeltlike beingadventurous,sothe trappingsof
the silverscreencalledtomanywomen. Those whotrulywere adventurouswere the mostsuccessful.
Early Hollywoodgave womenanopportunityto championtheirfellow female.
Slide wrote in Early Women Directors, “Duringthe silentera,womenmighthave beensaidto
have virtuallycontrolledthe filmindustry.” Sowhyover100 years ago,before womenevenhadthe
vote,were there more womenbehindthe scenesinpositionsof powermakingfilmsthan duringthe 30s
and beyond?Itall comesdownto money. Ackerstatesin Reel Women that as Hollywoodbecame more
centralized,“Hollywood…..wasmirroringchangestakingplace inUSindustryingeneral…..Soasfilm
beganto be a bigbusinessandonlysecondarilyanartform, womenwere promptlyshownthe door,”

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(Ackerxxiv). Sohowdidall thisoccur? Accordingto Seger’s When Women Call the Shots, itbeganwith
the birthof the studiosystemin1924; “studioswere runby men,andmenhiredmen,”(Seger13). With
thisdevelopment,womenwhohadbeenchampionedadecade earlierwere now nolongerseenas
valuable;theirartisticvirtuescouldnolongerholdupagainstthe art of makingmoney. Segerstates,
“No longercouldanyone take acamera, shoota goodfilm, andsell it.All the meansof productionwere
beingconsolidatedintoone large system…”(Seger12),and thissystemwascontrolledbymen.
So whywas the newstudiosystemloathe to hire women?AccordingtoEvans,duringthe Great
Depression“boththe prospectandthe realityof strongandresourceful womenwereprofoundly
frightening,”(Evans197). Womenwhowere successful inthe earlyyearsof Hollywoodwere boththese
things,leadingone tobelievethatduringthe Depressionatleasta portionof societyjustcouldn’t
handle havingastrong womanrunningthe show andbeingbreadwinnerswhenmanymencouldn’tfind
a job. Evansstates,“Hostilitytowardworkingwomengenerallyignoredthe factthatwomenwere not
holdingtraditionallymale jobs,butitprobablystrengthenedthe resistance toopeningsuch
opportunitiestothe growingnumberof womendesperate towork,”(Evans202). The reactionto
womenholdingimportant positionsinthe movie business before the Depression,wastoeliminate them
fromthe field once the 30s came in orderto create jobsfor men. Segerarticulatesthat,“Although
womenhadmade successful films,theircontributionswere notrecognized,andtheywere bypassedin
the developmentof the studiosystem…bythe 1930s, the onlywomenonthe setwere the wardrobe
women”(Seger13). To add insulttoinjury,notonlywere womenbarredfrommostpositionsbehind
the camera, butalsotheirachievementswere virtuallyforgotten. Whendoes modernmainstream
Americaeverhearof the powerful femalefiguresIhave mentionedearlier? Itisa veryrare occurrence.
There were scoresmore successful andpowerful womeninHollywoodinthe earlydaysthan
the fewI mentionedabove,butonlytwofemaledirectorsmade itpastthe 1930s and the inventionof
the studiosystem,andtheywere DorothyArznerandIda Lupino. Lupinooperatedoutside the period

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scope of thispaper,butSegeremphasizesthat,“InHollywood,the onlywomandirectingforastudio
duringthe period1927 to 1943 was DorothyArzner,”(Seger14). Arznerwasgiftedateditingaswell,
but isalsoknownfor herabilitytocreate multilayeredwomenandher“insightintohow womentalk
and relate toeach otherand viewthe world,”(Seger14).It isa comfortto know that there wasat least
one personcreatingrealisticportrayalsof womenonscreenduringthis period. However,myresearch
revealed thatthoughthere were onlytwowomendirectingmajorfeature filmsbetween1927 and 1971
(Seger15),womeneditorsandscriptwriters,thoughnotplentiful,were present. Thisisevidence that
the more detail orientedandartisticjobswere stillviewed asacceptable positionsforwomen,butthat
any positionthatheldauthority,exceptinrare cases,wasdeemedinappropriateforwomen.
In Reel Women,Ackerstates,“Between1913 and 1923, at leasttwenty-six womendirectors
have beencountedinHollywood,”(Ackerxxiii). Thisstatisticdoesn’tevencountthe womenwho
directedbefore 1913, or womeninotherpowerful positionslikestudioheadsuchasAlice GuyBlanche,
Nell Shipman,MaryPickford,andmanyothers.Italsoleavesoutthe otherstrongwomeninpositionsof
powersuchas producer,stage manager,productionmanager,ordistributer. Manywomenwere great
filmmakersinthe earlypartof the 20th
centurybut theyremainmostlyforgotten. In Reel Women,Acker
describeshowgenerationsof historianshave ignoredthe achievementsof these women,saying
“AndrewSarrisonce dismissedthe contributionsof womenfilmmakersas“little more thanaladies
auxiliary”-astatementhe waslatertorevise andretract,”(Ackerxviii). Withhistorianslike these
keepingpeople informed,itislittlewonderwomenfilmmakershave beenlostinourcountry’shistory.
Reel Women quotesart historianH.W.Janson,authorof one of the mostwidelyreadarthistorybooks
inthe world, TheHistory of Art,as sayingin 1977, “There is nota single womanartist,sofaras I know,in
my book…there are hundredsof womenartistsfromthe fifteenthcenturyon…Butnone of themhashad
enoughof an impactor developmentonthe historyof art…womenartistshave oftendone very
interestingvariationsonthemesthatultimatelygobackto somebodyelsethatturnsout tobe a man.

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One has to be extremelyselective.” Thisisan outrageousstatementwhenone consideredthe workof
FridaKahlo,GeorgiaO’Keeffe,andthe manyotherswhomade greatstridesinthe art worldbefore 1963
(whenhisbookwaspublished). Janson’sstatementsmake one wonderhow many truly unique male
artistshe can have inhisbookwhenhe disregardsanyone whodoesvariationsonthemes. Itistruly
rare to findanyonewhocando unique artthat isnot insome way informedbyanother’swork,yethe
discriminatesagainstwomeninparticularbecausetheyapparentlycannotdoanythingoriginal.But
accordingto Acker,“He whohas access tomajor publishersgetstomake history,”(Ackerxix),andwho
wouldhave takena womanartistseriously enoughtopublishherworksandrecordthem before the
firstwave of feminism?Clearly,itisevendifficultformentotake women artistsseriously postsecond
wave feminism. Itseemsasthoughmanyfilmhistoriansfeel the same wayaboutthe historyof film,for
accordingto Acker, “From the filmsdeemedimportantenoughtoarchive andpasson(notto be
confusedwiththe hundredsof filmsmade bywomenandlostbyarchival neglect),thisinterpretive eye
has mostoftenbeenthe eye of a man,”(Ackerxix). The interpretiveeye mentionedhereisthe eye of
the archivalistwho,inmostcases,isa man. So not onlyhave historiansoverlookedthe worksof
women,those works have beenliterallydiscarded.
It isa sadfate forthe worksof these strongand fine womenof earlyHollywoodtobe lostto
male neglectandderision. The worksof womenartistsmustbe preservedforfuture generationstolook
back and knowthat womencanaccomplishgreatthings,andhave made greatchangesin the art if
filmmaking. AccordingtoDebraZimmermaninthe autumn2004 publicationof Signs,“Womenstill
representonly10percentof the DirectorsGuildof America. Andthat includeswomendirectors,first
and secondassistantdirectors,stage mangersaswell asotherpositionslike unitproductionmanager”
(Zimmerman1457). AndinMcCreadie’sbook,she citesa statisticthatstatesthat there are onlya
handful of female writerslistedinthe FilmWriter’s Guide, withover1,500 listedtoday,andonly33
women,(McCreadie 3& 4) We must go to those bigstudios,anddemandthatwomenbe includedin

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the art inwhichtheyonce flourishedbeforebeingflungoutof the businessforsimplybeing awoman
and havinga differentpointof viewthantheirmale colleagues.
Perhapswiththe world’senhancedsocialnetworksuchasfacebookandtwitterwe canattempt
a newway to getthe word outabout the historical andcontemporaryfemalefilmmakers of America. If
we rememberthe achievementsof womeninthe past,andshow the meninpowerwhere theywent
wrong,it will be easierforwomentogeta footholdinthe bigbusinessof filmmakingtoday. If we use
thisnewsocial network,we wouldevenbe echoingthe effortsof womenfromearlyHollywoodwho
knewhowto getthe word outabout eachother’saccomplishments. Anotheravenue maybe tomake
filmmakinglessaboutprofitandmore aboutart like itonce was. Howeverwe doit, itis importantto
make that effort,orall of the effortsof womenlike FrancesMarion,Alice GuyBlanche,andLoisWeber
reallycouldbe lostintime.