Dorothy Arzner: Behind The Camera (1897-1979)

If someone told you that women dominated the film industry with being directors, editors, producers, and even actresses themselves during the Silent Era and the Golden Age of Hollywood, would you believe it? One of the forgotten pioneers contributing to Hollywood’s film industry’s success was Dorothy Arzner; she was the only female director during Hollywood’s golden age. According to her IMDb bio, throughout Arzner 24 year film directing career, she created three silent movies and 14 talkie movies. Arzner found commercial success with her first film in 1927, Fashion for Women; she rose from becoming an editor to becoming a director. Dorothy Arzner was born on January 3, 1897; there have been conflicting stories about the year of her birth, Arzner’s IMDB biography voices, “Dorothy Arzner, the only woman director during the "Golden Age" of Hollywood's studio system--from the 1920s to the early 1940s. And the woman director with the largest oeuvre in Hollywood to this day--was born January 3, 1897 (some sources put the year as 1900), in San Francisco, California, to a German-American father and a Scottish mother. Raised in Los Angeles, her parents ran a café that featured German cuisine frequented by silent film stars, including Charles Chaplin and William S. Hart and director Erich von Stroheim. She worked as a waitress at the restaurant, and no one could have foreseen at the time that Arzner would be one of the few women to break the glass ceiling of directing and would be the only woman to work during the early sound era.” Dorothy Arzner was destined to become a director because she was surrounded by silent film stars in her family restaurant, not knowing she would become the only female director during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Using the same source, “Though she was the sole member of her gender to direct Hollywood pictures during the first generation of sound film, in the silent era a woman behind the camera was not unknown. A Frenchwoman directed the first movie in history. Many women were employed in Hollywood during the silent era, most frequently as scenario writers. Some research indicates that as many as three-quarters of the scenario writers during the silent era--when there was no requirement for a screenplay as there was no dialogue--were women). Indeed, there were women directors in the silent era, such as Frances Marion (though she was more famous as a screenwriter) and Lois Weber, but Arzner was fated to be the only female director to have made a successful transition to "talkies.” It wasn't until the 1930s and the verticalization of the industry, as it matured and consolidated, that women were squeezed out of production jobs in Hollywood.” Dorothy Arzner may have been the first woman and only woman in Hollywood to become a director, but there were women before her that paved the way for directors like herself. Dorothy Arzner created both silent and talkie films as the times were changing; she also changed the dynamics of women in Hollywood when working for large film studios. The Vimeo video Sophisticated: The Untold Story Of Dorothy Arzner introduced viewers into the life of Arzner from her work life to her personal life. Through accounts from scholars, viewers gained more insight into Arzner’s contributions to women in Hollywood. Iris Grossman, a talent agent, ICM, Executive, Women in Film, uttered, “I think the thing that interested me the most about Dorothy Arzner is that there was a woman in the 20’s living the life of a man.” Dorothy Arzner was a rule-breaker; she defined the times when it came to her work, she proved to others that her work and worth could match any man. Scholars provided more details through the clip; before becoming a director, Arzner was an editor for Paramount. She edited over 50 films for them; Arzner figured if she could edit films, she could direct them when she decided to leave Paramount. Dorothy wanted to leave Paramount to head to Columbia, but Paramount did not want to let her go, so they allowed her to direct her first dictionary film, Fashions for Women. Still, in 1929, she directed Paramount’s first talkie film, The Wild Party. Dorothy Arzner can also add inventor under her belt because she was the one to create the boom mic, and she became the only woman in the Directors Guild of America. Who knew all these details about Dorothy Arzner? Through her directing career, Arzner also paved the way for rising Hollywood starlets like Lucile Ball, famously known for her role as Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy, Rosalind Russell. Esther Ralston, Clara Bow, Katherine Hepburn, Merle Oberon, and only Joan Crawford. There was life out of directing for Dorothy Arzner; she wore ties and suits; she is what we called dapper; one day on a set, Dorothy met the love of her life, choreographer Marion Morgan. Even though Morgan had Dorothy’s heart, Dorothy Arzner had a weakness for young starlets, and her first true love was her work. Upcoming starlet Joan Crawford was devoted to Arzner. According to some accounts, the relationship between the two could have been romantic; Marion Morgan caught Dorothy Arzner and Crawford in bed together. Arzner had a choice to make either Joan or Morgan; since love was the important factor to Arzner, she picked Marion Morgan over Joan Crawford. Dorothy Arzner was responsible for shaping Joan Crawford’s career. Due to the choice that Arzner made between Morgan and Crawford, the relationship between Joan Crawford and Dorothy Arzner took a major hit on set. The video subtitle reads, “ To this day, Arzner has directed more features than any other woman in the studio system. Dorothy Arzner became a rising star in Hollywood, but in 1943 Dorothy Arzner walked off First Comes Courage’s set and never directed in Hollywood again. Dorothy Arzner was at the height of her career due to her being a mystery. No one knows why she retired like rising stars in Hollywood Arzner paved the way for women in Hollywood to become directors, editors, and producers. Dorothy Arzner’s story was never told until the 2014 PBS documentary Makers: Women In Hollywood; like Arzner, some women dominated the film industry during the golden age of Hollywood. When men took over, the women were pushed to the back and did not receive the credit they deserved. In the male-based documentary, Dorothy Arzner had to wear suits and ties to be a part of the Guild because it was a male-based organization. Before Dorothy Azner, Alice Guy-Blache was a filmmaker; she owed her own film production company and producer. Women were the ones that became the driving force behind the increasing of moviegoers, but when the 1950s came around, the roles of women in Hollywood declined, many actresses were typecasted in roles as being the “good girl,” “Fallen Woman,” “The Virgin'', and “The Slut”. Women’s value in Hollywood declined; women were the forgotten ones throughout the decades, but that changed in 2013 when Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Academy Award for the best director. Also, in that same year, Nina Jacobson’s The Hunger Games became an international blockbuster. In 2013, the second movie to The Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire was the highest-grossing film in 2013, women in the film were dominating in Hollywood. Women like Dorothy Arzner became the driving force behind the success stories of women directors in Hollywood. Still, like many of those women who have contributed to Hollywood’s accomplishments, they have been forgotten due to men being the dominant ones. We will never know why Dorothy Arzner retired from the height of her career. Still, her story deserves to be told once and for all because, without her, Hollywood during the silent film era would have remained silent, and Hollywood during the 1920s would not have been golden. Lastly, some of Dorothy Arzner’s films include Fashion for Women (1927), Dance, Girl, Dance (1940), The Wild Party (1929), Working Girls (1931). Get Your Man (1927), Christopher Strong (1933) The Bride Wore Red (1937), and her final movie that she directed, First Comes Courage (1943). All of her films dealt with exploring the female perspective.

Sources Used: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002188/bio.

Documentary Makers: Women In Hollywood You can watch on Amazon Videos

https://vimeo.com/51777012/description