Dorothy Arzner

Dorothy Arzner (January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979) was an American film director. Her directorial career in feature films spanned from the late 1920s into the early 1940s, a time period in which there were very few—if any—other women working in the field.

Biography

Born in San Francisco, California, Arzner grew up in Los Angeles, where her father owned a restaurant frequented by many Hollywood celebrities. After finishing high school, she enrolled at the University of Southern California with hopes of becoming a doctor. During World War I, she left school to work overseas in the ambulance corps. By the time the war ended, she decided against returning to her medical studies and, after a visit to a movie studio, decided to pursue a career as a film director.

Through connections with director William C. DeMille, Dorothy got a job at Paramount Pictures. Starting out as a script writer, she was promoted to film editor within six months and quickly mastered the job. Her first assignment as an editor was in 1922 for the renowned classic Blood and Sand, starring Rudolph Valentino. She was soon receiving accolades for the high quality of her work.

Impressed by her technique, director James Cruze employed her as a writer and editor for several of his films. Arzner had achieved a great deal of clout through this, along with her work on over fifty other films at Paramount. She eventually threatened to move to rival Columbia Studios unless given a directorial position. Paramount conceded in 1927, putting her in charge of the film Fashions for Women, which became a financial success.^[1]

However, Arzner faced significant hurdles to fully capitalize on her skills and talents. Additionally she was a lesbian unwilling to disguise her sexuality. She often dressed in men's suits and ties, although always in a skirt rather than pants. Joan Crawford once said, "I think all my directors fell in love with me; I know Dorothy Arzner did!"^{[citation needed]}

At Paramount, Arzner directed Clara Bow's first talkie, The Wild Party. To allow Bow to move freely on the set, Arzner had technicians rig a microphone onto a fishing rod, essentially creating the first boom mike.^[2]The Wild Party was a success with critics and performed well at the box office. The film, set in a women's college, introduced some of the apparent lesbian undertones and themes often cited in Arzner's work. Her films of the following three years were strong examples of Hollywood before the Production Code. These films featured aggressive, free-spirited and independent women.^{[citation needed]}

She left Paramount in 1932 to begin work as an independent director for several of the studios. The projects she helmed during this period are her best known, with the films launching the careers of many actresses, most notably Katharine Hepburn, Rosalind Russell, Sylvia Sidney and Lucille Ball. In 1936, Arzner became the first woman to join the newly formed Directors Guild of America.^[3]

For reasons never fully disclosed, Arzner stopped directing feature-length films in 1943. She continued to work in the following years, directing television commercials and Army training films. She also produced plays and, in the 1960s and 1970s, worked as a professor at the UCLA film school, teaching screenwriting and directing until her death in 1979.

Arzner died, aged 82, in La Quinta, California. She had been linked romantically with a number of actresses, but lived much of her life with her companion, choreographer Marion Morgan. For her achievements in the field of motion pictures, Arzner was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine Street.^[4]

Filmography

Director

• First Comes Courage (1943)
• Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
• The Bride Wore Red (1937)
• The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937) (uncredited)
• Craig's Wife (1936)
• Nana (1934)
• Christopher Strong (1933)
• Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
• Working Girls (1931)
• Honor Among Lovers (1931)
• Anybody's Woman (1930)
• Paramount on Parade (1930) co-director
• Sarah and Son (1930)
• Behind the Make-Up (1930) (uncredited)
• The Wild Party (1929)
• Manhattan Cocktail (1928) (lost, except for the montage sequence by Slavko Vorkapić released in 2005 on DVD Unseen Cinema)
• Get Your Man (1927)
• Ten Modern Commandments (1927)
• Fashions for Women (1927)
• Blood and Sand (1922) (additional footage) (uncredited)

See also

• Women's Cinema
• Feminism

References

1. ^ Theresa L. Geller. "Dorothy Arzner". Great Directors. Senses of Cinema. http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/arzner.html. Retrieved 2007-04-20. 
2. ^ Dorothy Arzner biodata, Theresa L. Geller, Senses of Cinema, April 2003
3. ^ "Dorothy Arzner". UCLA Film & Television Archive. http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/collections/Profiles/arzner.html. Retrieved 2007-04-20. 
4. ^ IMDb

External links

• Dorothy Arzner bibliography via UC Berkeley Media Resources Center
• Dorothy Arzner at Find-A-Grave
• Dorothy Arzner at the Internet Movie Database