Nobody's Girl Friday: The Women Who Ran Hollywood

Fans of Molly Haskell's From Reverence to Rape and Marjorie Rosen's Popcorn Venus--which chronicled how women were portrayed on screen from silent films until the mid 1970s--now have an outstanding additional resource in J.E. Smyth's Nobody's Girl Friday. Smyth (Edna Ferber's Hollywood) delves even deeper to examine how female directors, writers, producers, editors, agents, designers and actresses shaped Hollywood films during the studio era.

Along with profiles of some familiar women working behind the scenes (like directors Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino, costume designer Edith Head and actresses Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn), Smyth shines a spotlight on some fascinating women whose stories have previously been neglected. Screenwriter Mary C. McCall Jr. (Craig's Wife) became the first female president of the Screen Writers Guild in 1942 and served two additional terms. She was one of the most visible and vocal women in her field. She battled extreme right-wing political groups within the industry and was later blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Film buffs will delight in discovering the lives and careers of Oscar-winning film editors Anne Bauchens (who edited every Cecil B. DeMille film from 1918 to 1956) and Barbara McLean (All About Eve), producer/writer Virginia Van Upp (Gilda) and many others. Smyth's appreciation of producer/screenwriter Joan Harrison (Rebecca) removes her from the shadow of her mentor, Alfred Hitchcock.

Nobody's Girl Friday is an energetic, surprising and vital book that uncovers and celebrates the accomplishments of women who created film history from the 1920s to the 1960s. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant

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