spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Jul 22, 2023 3:20:16 GMT
Frances Marion (1888-1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century. During the course of her career, she wrote over 300 scripts (many for films now lost). She was the first writer to win two Academy Awards ( The Champ (1931 and The Big House (1930)). She was also nominated for The Prizefighter and the Lady (1934). She began her film career working for filmmaker Lois Weber and wrote numerous silent film scripts for actress Mary Pickford before transitioning to writing sound films. Some of her other credits include Anna Christie, Min and Bill, The Wind, Dinner at Eight, Camille, the the 1925 version of Stella Dallas, the 1926 version of The Scarlet Letter, and the 1920 version of Humoresque.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Jul 25, 2023 21:28:00 GMT
Unless I missed it you didn't mention Joan Harrison was the producer of the Alfred Hitchcock TV show. She was the one who brought the macabre Hitch outlook & sense of humor to television. Joan Harrison (20 June 1907 – 14 August 1994) was an English screenwriter and producer. Harrison became the first female screenwriter to be nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar when the category was introduced in 1940. She was the first screenwriter to receive two Academy Award nominations in the same year in separate categories, for co-writing the screenplay for the films Foreign Correspondent (1940) (original) and Rebecca (1940) (adapted), both directed by Alfred Hitchcock, with whom she had a long professional relationship. The groundbreaking, Oscar-nominated script for “Rebecca” (1940) put a woman’s voice front-and-center, literally. It was the first film to begin with a female voice-over and presaged the technique as a trope of film noir. Harrison had written two films that had garnered 17 nominations between them. When Alfred Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in March 1939 to begin his contract with David O. Selznick, Joan Harrison emigrated with him as an assistant and writer. She continued contributing to his screenplays, Suspicion (1941), and Saboteur (1942), while also working with other directors, writing and producing, notable also is her work on the feminist noir “Phantom Lady,” directed by Robert Siodmak. Joan Harrison married thriller novelist Eric Ambler in 1958; the couple remained married until her death in 1994. Long dismissed or relegated to the background in most Hitchcock biographies, a timely biography of Harrison by Christina Lane, Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock, was published in 2020. Phantom Lady chronicles the untold story of Hollywood’s most powerful female writer-producer of the 1940s.... "In 1933, Joan Harrison was a 26-year-old former salesgirl with a dream of escaping her stodgy London suburb and the dreadful prospect of settling down with one of the local boys. A few short years later, she was Alfred Hitchcock’s confidante and the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of his first American film, Rebecca. Harrison had quickly grown from being the worst secretary Alfred Hitchcock ever had to one of his closest collaborators, critically shaping his brand as the “Master of Suspense.” Forging an image as “the female Hitchcock”... In the writer's room circa 1943 Discussing over breakfast the latest project... with Alma Reville (Lady Hitchcock) working on the script of Suspicion (1941) Harrison was uncredited for her contribution to this screenplay, here with Wanda Hendrix and Robert Montgomery reviewing the script of Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
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Post by Richard Kimble on Jul 25, 2023 21:28:55 GMT
Anita was a Loos woman Pioneering American screenwriter, novelist and playwright Anita Loos (1888 – 1981) became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood. In 1915, it was D. W. Griffith who first put her on the payroll at the Triangle Film Corporation. Probably best known for her 1925 comic novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and her 1951 Broadway adaptation of Colette's novella Gigi, Loos however was a prolific scenarist with an incredible list of screenwriting credits, working behind the scenes many went uncredited. D.W. Griffith directed T he New York Hat (1912), a film based on Loos screenplay, starring Mary Pickford and Lionel Barrymore She wrote hundreds of scripts during the silent era of cinema, noted for their feminine wit, sharp observation and humor. Loos collaborated with director (and future husband John Emerson) on several romantic comedies which helped make Douglas Fairbanks a star. In later years, many of the scripts that carried both of their names are regarded as Loos’ work. It was often convenient, in the Hollywood system of the 1930s and '40s, to have a male co-writer, as some directors were unwilling or uncomfortable discussing a script with a woman. By the end of the 1920's, Anita Loos was personal assistant of Richard Rubin, vice-president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Irving Thalberg,the legendary production mind behind MGM, discovered that Anita Loos knew how to make a movie move so well that instead of assigning her one script, he assigned her everything. She spent the greater part of her 18 years at Hollywood’s top studio as their script doctor, a job which saved hundreds of movies and stars from box office and artistic oblivion. In the late 1930s, Loos befriended Aldous Huxley and helped him find work writing screenplays in Hollywood. Her film output slowed during and after the war, particularly as several of her scripts which often celebrated liberated and fearless women, ran afoul with the eras production code guidelines. Passing away at 92 years of age, leaving a tremendous legacy, Anita Loos outlived most of her contemporaries and friends. She wrote several volumes of fascinating memoir, following her decades of Hollywood and Broadway life. Loos had an amazing and successful writing career, from the earliest days of Hollywood she blazed an original and creative trail for screenwriters, not just the female ones, to follow… In the writer's room... Not all the glamorous women of Hollywood worked in front of the cameras. One of the most talented and glamorous ladies of early Hollywood was Anita Loos, a gifted beauty who shone bright behind the scenes as a top scriptwriter and studio executive.
With Jean Harlow Red Headed Woman (1932)
With George Cukor on the set of The Women (1939)
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Post by Richard Kimble on Jul 26, 2023 20:04:44 GMT
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Post by manfromplanetx on Jul 26, 2023 23:20:18 GMT
Unless I missed it you didn't mention Joan Harrison was the producer of the Alfred Hitchcock TV show. She was the one who brought the macabre Hitch outlook & sense of humor to television. Joan Harrison (20 June 1907 – 14 August 1994) was an English screenwriter and producer. Harrison became the first female screenwriter to be nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar when the category was introduced in 1940. She was the first screenwriter to receive two Academy Award nominations in the same year in separate categories, ... Long dismissed or relegated to the background in most Hitchcock biographies, a timely biography of Harrison by Christina Lane, Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock, was published in 2020. Phantom Lady chronicles the untold story of Hollywood’s most powerful female writer-producer of the 1940s.... "In 1933, Joan Harrison was a 26-year-old former salesgirl with a dream of escaping her stodgy London suburb and the dreadful prospect of settling down with one of the local boys. A few short years later, she was Alfred Hitchcock’s confidante and the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of his first American film, Rebecca. Harrison had quickly grown from being the worst secretary Alfred Hitchcock ever had to one of his closest collaborators, critically shaping his brand as the “Master of Suspense.” Forging an image as “the female Hitchcock”... Discussing over breakfast the latest project... Why would i, this is the classic film board, if you paid attention in the last paragraph there is a book mentioned which will provide all the extra interesting things about Joan's life and her relationship with Alfred Hitchcock.
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Post by manfromplanetx on Jul 26, 2023 23:38:32 GMT
Anita was a Loos woman Pioneering American screenwriter, novelist and playwright Anita Loos (1888 – 1981) became the first female staff screenwriter in
Was that supposed to be funny ? Disrespectful and juvenile is the way I read it. Richard, having persevered with commenting/bumping the threads you post, I have no further interest in anything you have to offer here at the classic film board....
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Post by Richard Kimble on Jul 27, 2023 21:34:59 GMT
Unless I missed it you didn't mention Joan Harrison was the producer of the Alfred Hitchcock TV show. She was the one who brought the macabre Hitch outlook & sense of humor to television. Why would i, this is the classic film board, if you paid attention in the last paragraph there is a book mentioned which will provide all the extra interesting things about Joan's life and her relationship with Alfred Hitchcock. AHP staff & crews worked on both film & TV Many future filmmakers, writers & actors got their start on TV shoes like AHP "Video noir" shows like AHP Peter Gunn, & yes The Fugitive were the successors to film noir & should be of interest to noir buffs. Need more reasons?
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Post by Richard Kimble on Jul 27, 2023 21:41:03 GMT
Was that supposed to be funny ? Disrespectful and juvenile is the way I read it. Richard, having persevered with commenting/bumping the threads you post, I have no further interest in anything you have to offer here at the classic film board.... You seem like a pretty Loos person yourself, with an X in your name -- did you planet that way? Anita break from this nonsense... (Returns to a life on the run, trying to elude the humorless persecutors obsessed with his capture...)
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spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
Posts: 2,527
Likes: 9,326
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Post by spiderwort on Jul 28, 2023 2:12:51 GMT
Bo Goldman
Based upon his spec script, Shoot the Moon, Bo was hired by Milos Forman to write the screenplay for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, for which he won his first Oscar. He won his second Oscar for Melvin and Howard. Finally, after winning two Oscars, he was able to get Shoot the Moon done in 1982 (I had the good fortune to read it in 1974). His other credits include The Rose, City Hall and Scent of a Woman, for which he received another Oscar nomination. He retired in the late '90s, but is still revered by many in the business today. He turned 90 last fall. Interesting side-note: his son-in-law is Oscar nominated actor/writer/director, Todd Field. My beloved friend, Bo Goldman, passed away on July 25, 2023 at the age of 90. He helped me so much throughout the years, and I will miss him and carry him forever in my heart. Rest in peace, dear Bo. You made the world a better place with your art and your humanity. My heartfelt condolences to your family.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Aug 2, 2023 19:53:45 GMT
Gillis is best remembered today as creator of one the greatest clues in mystery history: Per Gillis, he had conceived the clue years earlier during his Perry Mason days, but saved it for what he felt was the perfect moment.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Sept 3, 2023 3:50:37 GMT
Robert Pirosh's letter to Hollywood executives, 1934A New York copywriter by the name of Robert Pirosh quit his well-paid job and headed for Hollywood in 1934, determined to begin the career of his dreams as a screenwriter. When he arrived, he gathered the names and addresses of as many directors, producers and studio executives as he could find and sent them what is surely one of the greatest, most effective cover letters ever to be written; a letter which secured him three interviews, one of which led to his job as a junior writer at MGM. Fifteen years later, Pirosh won an Oscar for best original screenplay for his work on the war film Battleground. A few months after that, he also won a Golden Globe.
__ Dear Sir: I like words. I like fat buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, glutinous, toady. I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as straitlaced, cantankerous, pecunious, valedictory. I like spurious, black-is-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demi-monde. I like suave "v" words, such as Svengali, svelte, bravura, verve. I like crunchy, brittle, crackly words, such as splinter, grapple, jostle, crusty. I like sullen, crabbed, scowling words, such as skulk, glower, scabby, churl. I like Oh-Heavens, my-gracious, land's-sake words, such as tricksy, tucker, genteel, horrid. I like elegant, flowery words, such as estivate, peregrinate, elysium, halcyon. I like wormy, squirmy, mealy words, such as crawl, blubber, squeal, drip. I like sniggly, chuckling words, such as cowlick, gurgle, bubble and burp. I like the word screenwriter better than copywriter, so I decided to quit my job in a New York advertising agency and try my luck in Hollywood, but before taking the plunge I went to Europe for a year of study, contemplation and horsing around. I have just returned and I still like words. May I have a few with you? Robert Pirosh
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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 3, 2023 5:30:36 GMT
Robert Pirosh's letter to Hollywood executives, 1934Dear Sir: I like words. I like fat buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, glutinous, toady. I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as straitlaced, cantankerous, pecunious, valedictory. I like spurious, black-is-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demi-monde. I like suave "v" words, such as Svengali, svelte, bravura, verve. I like crunchy, brittle, crackly words, such as splinter, grapple, jostle, crusty. I like sullen, crabbed, scowling words, such as skulk, glower, scabby, churl. I like Oh-Heavens, my-gracious, land's-sake words, such as tricksy, tucker, genteel, horrid. I like elegant, flowery words, such as estivate, peregrinate, elysium, halcyon. I like wormy, squirmy, mealy words, such as crawl, blubber, squeal, drip. I like sniggly, chuckling words, such as cowlick, gurgle, bubble and burp. I like the word screenwriter better than copywriter, so I decided to quit my job in a New York advertising agency and try my luck in Hollywood, but before taking the plunge I went to Europe for a year of study, contemplation and horsing around. I have just returned and I still like words. May I have a few with you? Robert Pirosh I love this. Thanks so much for posting it. Audacious, extravagant and grandiloquent are words I like, and they all describe Pirosh's writing above. In 1934, there was no shortage of men and women of letters at the studios who could appreciate it. Maybe not so much among the moguls, who mostly came from hardscrabble, up-from-the-street youth, but they were smart enough to surround themselves with creative types who had the book learnin' they lacked. I wonder how such a letter would be received today by any studio exec, junior or senior. I fear it might get binned with a mystified shrug before halfway read, perhaps with a head-shaking, "What's the deal with this dude?"
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Post by Richard Kimble on Oct 1, 2023 11:46:01 GMT
Screenwriters are grateful for any attention they can get.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Oct 19, 2023 20:10:36 GMT
Rowland BrownThe term "auteur" is insanely mis (& over) used these days. But one Classic Age figure it might actually describe is writer (& briefly director) Rowland Brown. He was one of the rare screenwriters with a truly individualistic author's voice. Brown directed some notable pre codes like Blood Money & Quick Millions, but his brief directing career ended when he walked off some films and was fired from others. At one point he is said to have actually punched out a producer. Brown directing Spencer Tracy on the set of Quick Millions. Brown's scripts have gritty details and a streetwise air about them, possibly deriving from his alleged personal knowledge of underworld figures. For further info check out the extremely detailed Wikipedia entry on Brown. Some grad student musta put in a heckuva lotta work on it.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Oct 20, 2023 0:57:48 GMT
Husband-wife screenwriters Harriet Frank and Irving Ravetch on location in Texas, on the set of one of my favorite movies, Hud
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spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
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Likes: 9,326
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Post by spiderwort on Oct 21, 2023 0:22:16 GMT
Husband-wife screenwriters Harriet Frank and Irving Ravetch on location in Texas, on the set of one of my favorite movies, Hud
Two of my favorites. And HUD is my favorite of all their works, adapted from one of my favorites novels, "Horseman, Pass By," by Larry McMurtry.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Oct 31, 2023 0:00:20 GMT
Radio writer-auteur Wyllis Cooper
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 8, 2023 8:31:05 GMT
Jo Swerling
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 29, 2023 9:05:12 GMT
R.C. SherriffRCS goes over the script for The Road Back with director James Whale Whale gave Sheriff credit for capturing the English humor of the novel ( "'e's all eaten awye!")
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Post by Richard Kimble on Dec 5, 2023 21:47:56 GMT
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