The Girl from God's Country: Nell Shipman and the Silent Cinema

437 Pages·2003·4.77 MB·English

by  Kay Armatage

THE GIRL FROM GOD’S COUNTRY:
NELL SHIPMAN AND THE SILENT CINEMA
Kay Armatage
In The Girl from God’s Country, Kay Armatage reintroduces film studies
scholars to Nell Shipman, a pioneer in both Canadian and American
film, and one of proportionately numerous women from Hollywood’s
silent era who wrote, directed, produced, and acted in motion pictures.
Born and raised in British Columbia, Shipman became a contract actress
for Vitagraph Studios, starring in God’s Country and the Woman (1915) and
Back to God’s Country (1919), among other films. These action-packed
adventure melodramas, in which the heroine is called upon to rescue
her husband and defeat the villain, were immensely successful. Later,
Shipman started up her own production company to make films centred
on her screen persona, ‘the girl from God’s country.’ By the mid-1920s,
however, the formation of the large Hollywood studios and vertical inte-
gration closed down the independents, Shipman among them. Never-
theless, she continued writing until her death in 1970.
Through the use of social history, feminist film theory, and biogra-
phy, Armatage creates a portrait of a woman film pioneer. Using Ship-
man’s working life as a window to the profession, Armatage explores
the position of women in modernism, the developing film industry, and
cinematic practice of the 1920s. The Girl from God’s Country also contextu-
alizes Shipman’s work within the development of Hollywood as a locus
of artistic production as well as in relation to women filmmakers from
Europe, Australia, Russia, and the United States. This book brings Ship-
man back to life.
kay armatage is an associate professor in Cinema Studies and Wom-
en’s Studies at the University of Toronto. She is co-editor of Gendering
the Nation: Canadian Women’s Cinema (1999).
This page intentionally left blank
The Girl from God’s Country:
Nell Shipman and the
Silent Cinema
Kay Armatage
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
© University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2003
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
isbn 0-8020-4414-X (cloth)
isbn 0-8020-8542-3 (paper)
Printed on acid-free paper
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Armatage, Kay
The girl from God’s country : Nell Shipman and the silent cinema /
Kay Armatage.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0-8020-4414-X (bound) isbn0-8020-8542-3 (pbk.)
1. Shipman, Nell, 1892–1970– Criticism and interpretation. I. Title.
(cid:1) (cid:1)
pn1998.3.S55a7 2003 791.43023092 c2002-905658-6
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario
Arts Council.
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities
and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its pub-
lishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing
Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
Contents
acknowledgments vii
Introduction 3
1 Women Directors of the Silent Era: The Scholarship 32
2 Women with Megaphones 55
3 Back to God’s Country 78
4 Something New 121
5 The Girl from God’s Country 161
6 The Grub-Stake 212
7 Bits and Pieces 261
8 Tissue-Paper Tower 303
9 Naked on the Palisades 343
appendix a. biographical timeline 353
appendix b. known nell shipman filmography 355
notes 359
illustration credits 397
index 399
This page intentionally left blank
Acknowledgments
I first have to acknowledge the help of Tom Trusky, director of the
Hemingway Center of Western Studies, Boise State University, Idaho.
He was unfailingly generous with his information about Nell Shipman,
and his knowledge, assiduous research, and dedication in collecting
have been invaluable. Not only is he really fun to work with, but I also
know that he has offered equal assistance to everyone who is interested
in Shipman. Alan Virta, head of Special Collections, Albertsons Library,
Boise State University, responded immediately to each of my email
inquiries, generously filled in blanks in my knowledge, and offered
unsolicited information when he thought I needed it. The letters
included in this book are from the Nell Shipman Archive in the Special
Collections Department of Boise State University Library, and they are
reproduced with the permission of Boise State University and the Ship-
man family.
Barry, Nell Shipman’s son, and his wife, Beulah, were wonderful.
They welcomed me into their home in Glendale, California, giving me
food and a bed, and as Barry told stories to me and showed me through
his memorabilia, Beulah typed excerpts from unpublished materials.
Barry also gave me a copy of his screenplay, ‘Silent Star,’ based on his
memories of his mother. Mrs Lloyd Peters mailed me a rare copy of
her husband’s memoirs of the Shipman years at Priest Lake. David and
Marion Naar, of the Cape Charles (Virginia) Historical Society, sent me
a copy of The Story of Mr Hobbs.
Leonard Ferstman, librarian at Innis College, University of Toronto,
helped immeasurably with research. I would walk into his office with a
viii Acknowledgments
helpless look on my face, and he would find stuff for me. Anthony Slide,
archivist at the Academy of Motion Pictures, gave me time and informa-
tion, and Margaret Herrick was extremely nice and helpful. I was also
accommodated by the British Film Institute, where Karen Alexander
was particularly helpful. Eve Goldin, of Cinematheque Ontario Library,
was consistently gracious.
Caryl Flinn, Heather Murray, Kass Banning, and Joy Parr read chap-
ters as they were available. They counselled me about writing style and
gave freely from their personal libraries and their expertise. Janis Cole
helped me to edit Nell Shipman’s letters. Ian Birnie introduced me to
Cari Beauchamp, who provided many tips about research as well as her
insights into the period and the spirits of the Hollywood girls of the
period. Meredith Brody drove me around Los Angeles, mapping out the
historic sites for me. Charlie Keil gave me many email addresses of film
historians. Warren Crichlow provided me with valuable references.
Micah Rynor supported this work from the beginning, sending me clip-
pings and acting as a volunteer personal publicist for me. Shelley Stamp
and Amelie Hastings gave me the opportunity to present my last emo-
tional gasps at a conference on women film pioneers.
I also have to thank my undergraduate student researchers. Working
in an innovative program that allowed second-year students to assist in
real projects, they helped with everything. Jennifer Little used her dad’s
office equipment to scan the letters, Joseph Bistray built a Nell Shipman
web site, and Jennifer Chan and Wing Sze Tang supplied sophisticated
abstracts of articles. Carmela Murdocca gave editorial assistance.
Sherril Grace and Sandy Kybartas were generous with their insights
into Shipman’s memoirs. Emily Andrew, formerly of University of To-
ronto Press, greeted the project with enthusiasm and supplied missing
information about Canadian sources. Siobhan McMenemy, editor at
University of Toronto Press, has also been consummately professional in
her assistance. Barbara Tessman did a wonderful job of copy-editing and
helped me meet a rigorous schedule.
I have also to thank my darling daughter, Alex Armatage House, who
not only read passages and made astute comments, but also bore with
me while I neglected grocery shopping for over a year.
THE GIRL FROM GOD’S COUNTRY:
NELL SHIPMAN AND THE SILENT CINEMA