Dorothy Arzner (January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979) was a pioneering American film director. Her directorial career in feature films spanned from the late 1920s into the early 1940s, a time period in which there were very few—if any—other women working in the field.

Biography

Born in San Francisco, California, Arzner grew up in Los Angeles, where her father owned a restaurant frequented by many Hollywood celebrities. After finishing high school, she enrolled at the University of Southern California with hopes of becoming a doctor. During World War I, she left school to work overseas in the ambulance corps. By the time the war ended, she decided against returning to her medical studies and, after a visit to a movie studio, decided to pursue a career as a film director.

Through connections with director William C. DeMille, Dorothy got a job at Paramount Studios. Starting out as a script writer, she was promoted to film editor within six months and quickly mastered the job. Her first assignment as an editor was in 1922 for the renowned classic Blood and Sand, starring Rudolph Valentino. She was soon receiving accolades for the high quality of her work.

Impressed by her technique, director James Cruze employed her as a writer and editor for several of his films. Arzner had achieved a great deal of clout through this, along with her work on over fifty other films at Paramount. She eventually threatened to move to rival Columbia Studios unless given a directorial position. Paramount conceded in 1927, putting her in charge of the film Fashions for Women, which became a financial success.[1]

However, Arzner faced significant hurdles to fully capitalize on her skills and talents. In addition to being a woman, she was a lesbian who was unwilling to disguise her sexuality (she often dressed in men's suits and ties, although always in a skirt rather than pants). Joan Crawford once said, "I think all my directors fell in love with me; I know Dorothy Arzner did!" Nonetheless, her innovative ideas and approach put her in high demand as a director.

Arzner directed Paramount's first talkie in 1929, The Wild Party, which starred Clara Bow. To allow Bow to move freely on the set, Arzner had technicians rig a microphone onto a fishing rod, essentially creating the first boom mike.[2] The Wild Party was a success with critics and performed well at the box office. The film, set in a women's college, introduced some of the apparent lesbian undertones and themes often cited in Arzner's work. Her films of the following three years were strong examples of Hollywood before the Production Code. These films featured aggressive, free-spirited and independent women.

She left Paramount in 1932 to begin work as an independent director for several of the studios. The projects she helmed during this period are her best known, with the films launching the careers of many actresses, most notably Katharine Hepburn, Rosalind Russell, and Lucille Ball. In 1936, Arzner became the first woman to join the newly formed Directors Guild of America. [3]

For unclear reasons, Arzner stopped directing feature-length films in 1943. She continued to work in the following years, directing television commercials and Army training films. She also produced plays and, in the 1960s and '70s, worked as a professor at the UCLA film school, teaching screenwriting and directing until her death in 1979.



Ida Lupino (February 4, 1918[1] – August 3, 1995) was an English film actress, director, and a pioneer in the field of women filmmakers.

Early life

Lupino was born in Camberwell, London (allegedly under a table during a World War I zeppelin raid), the daughter of actress Connie O'Shea (aka: Connie Emerald) and music hall entertainer, Stanley Lupino, one of the Lupino family.

Career rise

Encouraged to enter show-business by both her parents and a first cousin once-removed, Lupino Lane, Ida Lupino made her first film appearance in 1931, in The Love Race, and worked for several years playing minor roles.

It was after her appearance in The Light That Failed in 1939 that Lupino was taken seriously as a dramatic actress. Her parts improved during the 1940s and she began to describe herself as "the poor man's Bette Davis". While working for Warner Brothers, Lupino would also refuse parts that Davis had rejected, and earned herself suspensions.

During this period, Lupino became known for her hard boiled roles and appeared in such films as They Drive by Night (1940) and High Sierra (1941). She acted regularly and was in high demand throughout the 1940s without becoming a major star.

In 1947, Lupino left Warner Brothers to become a free-lance actress. Notable films around that time include Road House and On Dangerous Ground.

Directing

It was during a suspension in the late 1940s that Lupino began studying the processes behind the camera. Her first directing job came around when Elmer Clifton fell ill during the filming of Not Wanted, a 1949 movie which she co-wrote.

Lupino often joked that if she had been the "poor man's Bette Davis" as an actress, then she had become the "poor man's Don Siegel" as a director. From the early 1950s she began directing films, mostly melodramas, and was one of the few women of her era to achieve success in this field. In 1952, Lupino was invited to become the "fourth star" in Four Star Productions by Dick Powell, David Niven and Charles Boyer, after Joel McCrea and Rosalind Russell dropped out.

She directed Outrage in 1950, and tackled the extremely controversial subject (at that time) of rape. In addition to acting in many films noir, Lupino also directed The Hitch-Hiker (1953). This movie was the first film noir directed by a woman.

Lupino continued acting throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and her directing efforts during these years were almost exclusively television productions such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, The Donna Reed Show, Gilligan's Island, 77 Sunset Strip, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, The Rifleman, Bonanza, The Untouchables, The Fugitive, and Bewitched.

From January 1957 through September 1958, Lupino starred with her husband, Howard Duff, in the CBS comedy Mr. Adams and Eve, in which they played husband and wife film stars named Howard Adams and Eve Drake. Later in her career, Lupino guest starred on numerous television programs, before retiring at the age of 60 after making her final film appearance in 1978.

Awards

The second woman to be admitted to the Directors Guild of America (following Dorothy Arzner), Ida Lupino has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to the fields of television and motion pictures. They are located at 1724 Vine Street and 6821 Hollywood Boulevard.