The Shocking Miss Pilgrim: A Writer in Early Hollywood PDF
Preview The Shocking Miss Pilgrim: A Writer in Early Hollywood
THE SHOCKING MISS PILGRIM THE SHOCKING MISS PILGRIM A Writer . In Early Hollywood Frederica Sagar Maas THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Copyright © 1999 by frederica Maas Published by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth. serving Bellarmine College. Berea College. Centre College of Kentucky. Eastern Kentucky University. The filson Club Historical Society. Georgetown College. Kentucky Historical Society. Kentucky State University. Morehead State University. Murray State University. Northern Kentucky University. Transylvania University. University of Kentucky. University of Louisville. and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street. Lexington. Kentucky 40508-4008 030201 0099 5432 frontispiece: Frederica Sagor in 1924 while story editor for Universal Pictures' New York office. "Death. the Last Visit" by Marie Howe originally appeared in Atlantic Monthly in 1984. Reprinted by permission. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Maas. Frederica Sagor. 1900- The shocking Miss Pilgrim: a writer in early Hollywood / frederica Sagor Maas. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-8131-2122-1 (alk. paper) I. Maas. frederica Sagor. 1900- 2. Hollywood (Los Angeles. Calif.)-Social life and customs. 3. Motion picture industry-California-Los Angeles. 4. Women screenwriters-United States-Biography. 5. Motion picture authorship. I. Title. PS3525.A1122Z474 1999 812' .52-dc21 [B] 98-49980 This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. §@ Manufactured in the United States of America To the "Swell fish" that my husband, Ernest, and I parented- creative works that never saw the light of day. Contents foreword ix Acknowledgments xi Prologue xiii family Roots 2 from Columbia to Universal 12 3 Story Editor 27 4 Purchase of The Plastic Age 41 5 My Introduction to Hollywood 50 6 Hollywood Parties 68 7 My friend. Riza 85 8 The Troublemaker 105 9 Meeting Ernest Maas 11 7 10 Honor Among Thieves 138 11 The Maases Go to Europe 152 12 "Swell fish" 163 13 The Depression Years 180 14 Marriage in Crisis 191 15 Motion Picture Peddler 210 16 World War II 219 s 17 The Desecration of Miss Pilgrim Progress 230 18 Civil War Stories Are Out 241 Epilogue 252 Index 259 Illustrations follow page 114 Foreword THIS IS A HARD INTRODUCTION TO WRITE. Thirty years ago, when I started as a film historian, early Hollywood was dismissed as a place of sin and sacrifice, a modern Sodom and Gomorrah. One author called it Hollywood Babylon. I thought this obsession with the lurid over shadowed the important and often remarkable work being done at the time. In my first book. I tried to highlight the creative achievements of a vast number of astonishingly gifted individuals. But, as with any human endeavour, there was undeniably a dark side to the community, and Frederica Sagor experienced it to the full. Working women were not val ued in the twenties and thirties to the same extent as they are today, and ambitious men often treated them disgracefully. This is a story that will make you angry. A similar story could prob ably have been told by many women in many industries at the time. I know of another manuscript. written by a woman of roughly Frederica's age, that tells of her attempt to become an art director. She was allowed to design an important set for Clarence Brown's The Signal Tower (1924). She showed such flair that she was chased back to the ranks and spent the next four decades as a script girl. Coincidentally, it was Clarence Brown's career that Frederica Sagor did so much to promote. Brown is celebrated for the films he made for Garbo and for The Yearling (1947). His silent films were among the finest of the period. When Frederica heard Universal was going to let him go and he was by far their best director-she fought the decision and bought a story ideal for his talents, The Goose Woman, by Rex Beach. The title may mean nothing to you, but it means everything to me. Forty years ago, when I had just started out as a film collector, I saw this title on a list from a film library in Coventry. I bought the eight reels on 16mm for twelve pounds, sight unseen. When I carried the parcel to my parents in the country and showed it for the first time, it confirmed all my hopes for the era I had adopted with such enthusiasm. Here was a picture
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