Category: When Women Wrote Hollywood

To highlight the wonderful yet largely forgotten work of a collection of female screenwriters from the early years of Hollywood (and as a companion to the book, When Women Wrote Hollywood) we will be posting quick bits about the many films they wrote along with links to further information and clips from their works which are still accessible online. Take a few moments once or twice a week to become familiar with their names and their stories. I think you’ll be surprised at how much bold material these writers tackled at the birth of this new medium. — Rosanne Welch

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When Women Wrote Hollywood – 26 in a series – Clara Beranger

Clara Beranger (also Berenger, née Strouse, January 14, 1886 – September 10, 1956) was an American screenwriter of the silent film era and a member of the original faculty of the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Using the pseudonym of Charles S. Beranger, her first screen employment was as a freelancer, writing for the Edison, Vitagraph and Kalem companies, to whom she furnished many originals as well as continuities. Her success attracted some attention and she was appointed as a staff writer for the Fox Corporation. She wrote several scripts for the popular child star Baby Marie Osborne as well as a much-praised adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities. Beranger also wrote The Interloper for Kitty Gordon, The Bluffer for June Elvidge and The Mirror for Marjorie Rambeau, though many of these films are considered lost.[3] With Forrest Halsey, Beranger wrote the stage play, His Chinese Wife, which received good reviews and became one of the successes of the 1919–1920 season.[3]

In 1921, Clara took Frances, then twelve, and migrated to Hollywood to write for motion pictures,[1] where she signed a long contract with Cecil B. DeMille’s Famous Players-Lasky; the outfit with whom she is most associated. She wrote or contributed to more than 24 DeMille productions, and produced both Come Out of the Kitchen and Girls for Marguerite Clark; Sadie Love and Wanted: A Husband for Billie Burke; Judy of Rogue’s Harbor for Mary Miles Minter; The Fear Market for Alice Brady; The Cost for Violet Heming; Half an Hour for Dorothy Dalton; Civilian Clothes for Thomas Meighan, Notoriety for Bebe Daniels and the long-lasting classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for John Barrymore.[3] — Wikipedia 

Watch a movie by Clara Beranger

More about Clara Beranger

• Read more about this screenwriter in When Women Wrote Hollywood
• Like When Women Wrote Hollywood on Facebook
• Clara Beranger on Wikipedia
• Clara Beranger on IMDB
• Clara Beranger at the Women Film Pioneers Project

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Buy a signed copy of when Women Wrote Hollywood

 

Paperback Edition | Kindle Edition | Google Play Edition

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

To highlight the wonderful yet largely forgotten work of a collection of female screenwriters from the early years of Hollywood (and as a companion to the book, When Women Wrote Hollywood) we will be posting quick bits about the many films they wrote along with links to further information and clips from their works which are still accessible online. Take a few moments once or twice a week to become familiar with their names and their stories. I think you’ll be surprised at how much bold material these writers tackled at the birth of this new medium. — Rosanne Welch

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When Women Wrote Hollywood – 25 in a series – “Don’t Tell Everything”, Wr: Lorna Moon, Dir: Sam Wood (1921)

Don’t Tell Everything is a 1921 American silent drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gloria Swanson and Wallace Reid. Wood apparently created this film in part from outtakes left over from Cecil DeMille’s The Affairs of Anatol (1921).[1] — Wikipedia 

Marian Westover ( Gloria Swanson ) is loved by wealthy young Cullen Dale ( Wallace Reid ) and his best friend, Harvey Gilroy ( Elliott Dexter ), but the latter’s loyalty to Dale keeps him silent. After they both sustain injuries in a polo game, Cullen shows particular solicitude in caring for his friend. Cullen proposes to and is accepted by Marian, but she becomes jealous of his former girl friends, and when Jessica Ramsey ( Dorothy Cumming ) arrives and tries to capture Cullen, Marian fails in emulating her athletic prowess. Jessica invites the couple to a mountain lodge, but when Marian refuses to go Cullen sweeps her into an automobile and has a marriage ceremony performed. She returns home, and Cullen goes on to the lodge, keeping his marriage secret. A storm prevents Cullen from returning home, and Marian, in alarm, enlists the aid of Gilroy; at the lodge everything is explained to the satisfaction of all but Jessica.

This 1921 silent comedy/drama directed by Sam Wood, starring Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson. Produced by the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. The film began as an outtake sequence from Cecil B. DeMille’s The Affairs of Anatol (1921), and was expanded by director Sam Wood into a new feature. The survival status of Don’t Tell Everything (1921) is listed in the American Silent Feature Film Database as; No holdings located in archives. — Pamala Short, IMDB Information Page

More about “Don’t Tell Everything”

• “Don’t Tell Everything” on Wikipedia
• “Don’t Tell Everything” on IMDB

More about Lorna Moon

• Read more about this screenwriter in When Women Wrote Hollywood
• Like When Women Wrote Hollywood on Facebook
• Lorna Moon on Wikipedia
• Lorna Moon on IMDB
• Lorna Moon at the Women Film Pioneers Project

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Buy a signed copy of when Women Wrote Hollywood

 

Paperback Edition | Kindle Edition | Google Play Edition

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

To highlight the wonderful yet largely forgotten work of a collection of female screenwriters from the early years of Hollywood (and as a companion to the book, When Women Wrote Hollywood) we will be posting quick bits about the many films they wrote along with links to further information and clips from their works which are still accessible online. Take a few moments once or twice a week to become familiar with their names and their stories. I think you’ll be surprised at how much bold material these writers tackled at the birth of this new medium. — Rosanne Welch

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When Women Wrote Hollywood – 24 in a series – Lorna Moon (Nora Helen Wilson Low)

Lorna Moon (born Nora Helen Wilson Low; 16 June 1886 – 1 May 1930[1]) was a Scottish author and screenwriter from the early days of Hollywood.

An anecdote tells how she contacted Cecil B. DeMille and offered a critical appraisal of the screenplays of the day. He challenged her to come to Hollywood and write them herself if she thought she could do better; and by 1921 she did just that, working as a script girl and screenwriter. During her career in Hollywood she had a third child by Cecil B. DeMille’s brother William. This child, Richard, grew up unaware of his mother’s identity; in later years he discovered his parentage and wrote the memoir My Secret Mother, Lorna Moon.[2] Lorna Moon contracted tuberculosis and died in a sanatorium in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1930, aged 44.— Wikipedia 

More about Lorna Moon

• Read more about this screenwriter in When Women Wrote Hollywood
• Like When Women Wrote Hollywood on Facebook
• Lorna Moon on Wikipedia
• Lorna Moon on IMDB
• Lorna Moon at the Women Film Pioneers Project

---

Buy a signed copy of when Women Wrote Hollywood

 

Paperback Edition | Kindle Edition | Google Play Edition

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library