In 1929, when Paramount wanted to make their first talking picture, The Wild Party starring Clara Bow,
who did they trust to direct it? The prolific Dorothy Arzner,
who in the preceding two years had completed four features.
Usually seen wearing men's shirts, suits, and neckties, Arzner was open
about being a lesbian. In 1930 she made no secret of the
choreographer Marion Morgan moving in with her, a relationship that
would last more than four decades. Although Arzner's movies were always
studio fare, her Pre-Code pictures show a strong feminist streak,
examining careers, independence, class, extra-marital sex, pregnancy,
and prostitution. She helped launch the careers of or gave breakthrough
roles to Katharine Hepburn (playing an Amelia Earhart-style pilot in Christopher Strong), Rosalind Russell (Craig's Wife) and Lucille Ball (Dance, Girl, Dance).
After an illness in 1943, Arzner never again directed a feature and no
one knows exactly why. She made Army training movies and taught film at
UCLA, and she shot some Pepsi commercials, probably at the express
request of her longtime friend and rumored lover, Joan Crawford (shown together above on the set of The Bride Wore Red.) The
Directors Guild of America, which she was the first woman to join in
1936, finally honored her work in 1975, four years before her death. Women in Film
gives a directing award named for her. Judith Mayne's 1995 book Directed by Dorothy Arzner examines her life and work through a feminist, lesbian perspective.
Wow, I actually learned something from this. Thanks for the post. And the intriguing photo. None of the Joan Crawford biographies that I have read come close to discussing Ms. Crawford's bisexuality. William Mann did such an amazing job deconstructing Katharine Hepburn in Kate. Maybe it's time for him to take on Joan Crawford.
Posted by: Dean Van de Motter | January 05, 2010 at 07:18 AM