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OverviewA screenwriter, novelist, labor leader, Hollywood insider, and feminist, Mary C. McCall Jr. was one of the film industry's most powerful figures in the 1940s and early 1950s. She was elected the first woman president of the Screen Writers Guild after leading the fight to unionize the industry's writers and secured the first contract guaranteeing a minimum wage, credit protection, and pay raises. Her advocacy was not welcomed by all: To screenwriters McCall was an ""avenging goddess,"" but to studio heads she was, in the words of one Hollywood executive, ""the meanest bitch in town."" And after a clash with the mogul Howard Hughes in the blacklist-era 1950s, she disappeared from the pages of Hollywood history. J. E. Smyth tells McCall's remarkable story for the first time, putting the spotlight on her trailblazing career and crucial influence. She explores McCall's life and work, from her friendships with stars such as Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and James Cagney to her authorship of the hit Maisie series about a working-class showgirl's adventures. Analyzing McCall's deft political maneuvering, Smyth offers new insight on screenwriters' struggle for equality and recognition. She also examines why McCall's legacy is unrecognized, showing how the Hollywood blacklist and entrenched sexism obscured her accomplishments. Colorful and compelling, this biography provides a powerful account of how one extraordinary woman shaped Golden Age Hollywood. Full Product DetailsAuthor: J. E. SmythPublisher: Columbia University Press Imprint: Columbia University Press ISBN: 9780231215282ISBN 10: 0231215282 Pages: 312 Publication Date: 03 September 2024 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In stock  We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately. Table of ContentsIntroduction: 1943—the Turning Point 1. Mary Jr. 2. The Pirate 3. It’s Tough Being Famous 4. A Second Chance 5. Bending the Codes 6. Breaking the Rules 7. Independence 8. The Invention of Maisie 9. Golden Girls and Brass Rings 10. A President at War 11. A Woman in the Establishment 12. The Party Is Over 13. Scarlet Woman 14. Smaller Screens 15. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography IndexReviewsIn this brilliantly written book, Smyth restores Mary C. McCall Jr. to a male-dominated history of film from which she is glaringly absent. With encyclopedic knowledge and lively and engaging prose, Smyth crafts a thorough-going portrait of McCall's life and oeuvre, documenting the challenges that women screenwriters and union leaders faced before the backlash of the 1950s ended so many of their careers. -- Carol Stabile, author of <i>The Broadcast 41: Women and the Anti-Communist Blacklist</i> Author InformationJ. E. Smyth is professor of history at the University of Warwick. She is the author or editor of several books, including Nobody’s Girl Friday: The Women Who Ran Hollywood (2018) and a new edition of Jane Allen’s novel I Lost My Girlish Laughter (2019). In 2021, she was named an Academy Film Scholar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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