The Women Who Built Hollywood: 12 Trailblazers in Front of and Behind the Camera

by Susan Goldman Rubin

Overview

Discover the electrifying untold stories of the pioneering and groundbreaking women of Old Hollywood in this nonfiction book perfect for young movie buffs and budding feminists alike. Includes a foreword written by Marvel Studios' Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Academy Award-Winning Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter.

While recent phenomena like #OscarsSoWhite have reminded us that Hollywood can be an unfriendly place to people of color and to women, they have been an integral part of the industry from the beginning. In the early twentieth century, women from all walks of life fought against sexism and racism to succeed in Hollywood as actors, directors, costume designers, editors, and stunt women. From well-known, glamorous starlets like Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish, to under-appreciated trailblazers like Anna May Wong and Hattie McDaniel, acclaimed author Susan Goldman Rubin shows that movies wouldn’t be the same without the women who succeeded against the odds and built Hollywood from the ground up. Filled with fascinating photographs and little-known facts, this rigorously researched book begins with a foreword by Ruth E Carter, who won Academy Awards in 2019 and 2023 for her work on Marvel Studios' Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662680106
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	05/16/2023
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	520,582
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.31(h) x 0.77(d)
Lexile:	1060L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Susan Goldman Rubin is the author of more than 55 books for young people. Her titles include Sing and Shout and Degas, Painter of Ballerinas. Susan has been an instructor in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program for more than 20 years. Visit susangoldmanrubin.com.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction
 
In the early days of Hollywood, an amazingly large number of female filmmakers existed. “The doors were wide open to women,” wrote a film historian. From 1900 till the 1920s, women not only acted in movies, but they also directed, produced, edited, wrote screenplays, designed costumes, performed stunts, and ran their own companies. 
 
At that time, moviemaking wasn’t taken seriously as a business that would make money, so women grabbed opportunities to work in this new industry. They helped one another and kept the movie business thriving as films evolved from silents to talkies. Pioneering filmmakers experimented with modern equipment as they created entertainment for eager audiences. 
 
Reportedly, the first motion picture camera had been invented by Thomas Edison in 1890, and people viewed his images through a peephole. Just a few years later, he promoted the Vitascope to project images on a screen, and audiences panicked as Sea Waves rushed toward them. In France, the Lumière brothers created the Cinématographe, and their film of a train hurtling out of the screen scared audiences who ducked and screamed. Filmmakers took to the idea of moving pictures and started telling stories. 
 
The early silent movies called “flickers” were short one- and two-reelers. A single reel of film ran through a projector for eleven minutes and was displayed on a large screen. In America, the moving images appealed to millions of immigrants who couldn’t read or understand English. Connecting the written title cards with the movements of the actors helped them learn the language. 
 
They enjoyed the stories of familiar neighborhood types— policemen, gangsters, and laundrywomen. Many more refined people detested the flickers because they considered the content crude. Stage actors looked down on moviemaking as “a complete disgrace,” a sure sign of failure for out-of-work performers who needed to earn some money. Compared to the theater, flickers seemed like a cheap form of entertainment. And it was. Nickelodeons were set up in empty storefronts filled with chairs. The name came from the price of admission, a nickel.
 
However, as short one- and two-reel films became longer features, screenings were moved from noisy nickelodeons to movie palaces. These luxurious “temples of the silent drama” were furnished with rugs, chandeliers, statues, and mirrors to attract middle-class white women who might bring their husbands to the movies for a nice night out worth the price of an expensive ticket. Ladies sipped tea in the women’s lounge. Uniformed ushers showed viewers to their plush seats. Female writers and directors created appealing stories. 
 
With the invention of machinery that could record sound, a different style of movie appeared on the screen. Talkies began to replace silents in the late 1920s. The addition of sound transformed the look of movies. The art of the silent film was over. Companies grew larger and more competitive. The movie industry became big business headed by male executives and the studio system began. The “Big Five” studios—MGM, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Fox, and RKO— controlled every aspect of production in the 1930s and 1940s. 
 
Yet ambitious women filmmakers pursued their careers during these changes as well as the epic events of the time: the women’s suffrage movement (1848–1920), the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882– 1943), the Jim Crow era (1890s 1964), World War I (1914–1918), the Spanish flu pandemic (1918–1920), and the Great Depression (1929– 1933). Women carried on to make Hollywood known throughout the world. Who were these remarkable women who loved making movies and built Hollywood?

Editorial Reviews

03/20/2023

Attentively recounting their impact on the film industry, Rubin (Madame Alexander) centers intersectionally diverse pioneering women from 1900 to 1940, including Dorothy Emma Arzner, a queer film director; Hattie McDaniel, the first Black person to win an Academy Award; and Chinese American actor Anna May Wong. A foreword by Ruth E. Carter, the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, praises the women discussed for their bravery and asserts that “because they dared to dream, I was able to.” Rubin notes in a brief introduction that “moviemaking wasn’t taken seriously” as a lucrative opportunity, a widely held belief that allowed women to pursue jobs in film. Carefully researched chapters chronicle the highlights of each subject’s accomplishments while also providing historical context surrounding the time they lived in and how significant events—the Great Depression, Jim Crow, world wars, and widespread sickness—impacted their careers. Illuminating b&w photographs feature throughout, providing behind-the-scenes glimpses into the women’s professional lives and elevating the timely appeal of this worthy telling. A beginning note addresses era-specific language and phrases used. Extensive back matter concludes. Ages 12–up. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2023 Eureka! Nonfiction Childrens’ Honor Award
A 2024 CCBC Choice 

"In The Women Who Built Hollywood, Susan Goldman Rubin profiles 12 female powerhouses who made big contributions when movies were a new American art form in the early 20th century...Replete with archival black-and-white photos, this galvanic book gestures at the secret to so many of its subjects' long careers in Hollywood, both on-screen and behind the scenes." —Shelf Awareness

"With a clearly written narrative bolstered by delightful, behind-the-scenes photography, the book not only delves into the histories of 12 women who played various professional roles in the industry, but examines how historical events like world wars, the Great Depression, the 1918 influenza pandemic, and Jim Crow impacted their careers. The racism some of these women faced is described with thoughtfulness and accuracy...An accessible, well-researched book highlighting pioneering women creatives." —Kirkus Reviews

"Rubin provides a well-researched, smoothly written account of each woman’s life, achievements, and legacy, while well-chosen quotes from the women and their contemporaries bring their voices into the narrative. An informative, enjoyable account of women's contributions to the early history of Hollywood movies." —Booklist

"Carefully researched chapters chronicle the highlights of each subject’s accomplishments while also providing historical context surrounding the time they lived in and how significant events—the Great Depression, Jim Crow, world wars, and widespread sickness—impacted their careers. Illuminating b&w photographs feature throughout, providing behind-the-scenes glimpses into the women’s professional lives and elevating the timely appeal of this worthy telling." —Publishers Weekly

"An illuminating collective biography that goes behind the scenes to shed light on 12 groundbreaking women who made their mark on film and early cinema...The writing is succinct and accessible and will inspire readers to do more research. This book has multiple entry points and will interest fans of untold histories and film. Every profile is accompanied by ­multiple gorgeous, ­black-and-white archival photos...Well-researched, the work is heavily sourced with extensive notes, bibliography, and ­index. Rubin takes extra care to preface the book with a note on the derogatory terms used during the time period...A fascinating and browsable collective ­biography that will inspire further ­research." —School Library Journal

“These women did not just build Hollywood, they contributed to its longevity. They were breaking ground and breaking stereotypes. They were role models. They were a founding generation of women in Hollywood who helped future generations not only exist but have the powerful and diverse voice that they have now.” —Academy Award-Winning Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter, Marvel Studios' Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

From the Publisher

2023-02-08
A look at trailblazing women of early Hollywood.

This title covers the early days of Hollywood, from 1900 to 1940, presenting women who not only left their marks, but opened doors for those who would follow. The subjects include Mary Pickford, beloved as America’s Sweetheart; Frances Marion, one of the highest paid screenwriters of the time; Dorothy Emma Arzner, a successful director who was in a same-sex life partnership with choreographer Marion Morgan; Margaret Booth, the first person to receive the title of “film editor”; and Helen Holmes, action star and stuntwoman. In addition to these White women, the book includes women of color such as Fredi Washington, a light-skinned Black actor who pushed back against racism in the mainstream film industry; Hattie McDaniel, the first Black person to win an Academy Award; and Anna May Wong, the first world-famous Chinese American film star. With a clearly written narrative bolstered by delightful, behind-the-scenes photography, the book not only delves into the histories of 12 women who played various professional roles in the industry, but examines how historical events like world wars, the Great Depression, the 1918 influenza pandemic, and Jim Crow impacted their careers. The racism some of these women faced is described with thoughtfulness and accuracy. An afterword reflects on progress still to be made.

An accessible, well-researched book highlighting pioneering women creatives. (note on terms and subjects, note on Anna May Wong, author’s note, where to see films, bibliography, source notes, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews