Frances Marion

Frances Marion
Marion directing The Love Light, which she also wrote, 1920
Born
Marion Benson Owens

(1888-11-18)November 18, 1888
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedMay 12, 1973(1973-05-12) (aged 84)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • director
  • journalist
  • author
Years active1912–1972
Spouses
Wesley de Lappe
​
​
(m. 1906; div. 1910)​
Robert Pike
​
​
(m. 1911; div. 1917)​
Fred Thomson
​
​
(m. 1919; died 1928)​
George Hill
​
​
(m. 1930; div. 1933)​

Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens; November 18, 1888[1] – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist, and author. She is said to be one of the most famous female screenwriters of the 20th century. During her career, she wrote over 325 scripts.[2] She was the first writer to win 2 Academy Awards. In her early career, she wrote many different silent movie scenarios scenarios for Mary Pickford. After that, she wrote many sound movies.

Famous movies

Year Title Featured Stars Notes
1912 The New York Hat Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish Contributing writer
1915 Camille Clara Kimball Young, Paul Capellani, Robert Cummings Scenario
A Girl of Yesterday Mary Pickford, Frances Marion, Glenn L. Martin Actress
1916 The Foundling Mary Pickford, Mildred Morris, Gertrude Norman Writer
The Gilded Cage Alice Brady, Montagu Love, Alec B. Francis Scenarist/writer
1917 A Little Princess Katherine Griffith, Mary Pickford, Norman Kerry, ZaSu Pitts, Theodore Roberts Writer
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Mary Pickford, Eugene O'Brien Writer
The Poor Little Rich Girl Mary Pickford, Madlaine Traverse, Charles Wellesley, Gladys Fairbanks Writer
1918 Stella Maris Mary Pickford Photoplay
How Could You, Jean? Mary Pickford Scenario
M'Liss Mary Pickford Writer
Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley Mary Pickford, William Scott, Kate Price Writer
The Temple of Dusk Sessue Hayakawa, Jane Novak, Louis Willoughby, Mary Jane Irving Writer
1919 The Cinema Murder Marion Davies, Eulalie Jensen, Anders Randolf, Reginald Barlow Scenario
Anne of Green Gables Mary Miles Minter Writer
1920 Pollyanna Mary Pickford Adaptation
The Flapper Olive Thomas, Warren Cook Screenplay, story
Humoresque Gaston Glass, Vera Gordon, Alma Rubens Scenario
The Restless Sex Marion Davies, Ralph Kellard Writer
1921 The Love Light Mary Pickford, Evelyn Dumo Director, story (uncredited)
Just Around the Corner Margaret Seddon, Lewis Sargent, Sigrid Holmquist Director, scenario
1922 The Primitive Lover Constance Talmadge, Harrison Ford Scenario
The Toll of the Sea Anna May Wong, Kenneth Harlan, Beatrice Bentley Scenario (uncredited), story
1923 The Famous Mrs. Fair Myrtle Stedman, Huntley Gordon Adaptation, screenplay
The Song of Love Norma Talmadge, Joseph Schildkraut, Arthur Edmund Carewe Director, screenplay
1924 Secrets Norma Talmadge Adaptation
Cytherea Alma Rubens, Constance Bennett, Norman Kerry, Lewis Stone, Irene Rich Adaptation
The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln George A. Billing, Ruth Clifford, George K. Arthur, Louise Fazenda Story, screenplay
1925 Stella Dallas Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Lois Moran Adaptation
A Thief in Paradise Doris Kenyon, Ronald Colman, Aileen Pringle Adaptation
Thank You Alec B. Francis, Jacqueline Logan Writer
Lightnin' Jay Hunt, Wallace MacDonald Writer
1926 The Scarlet Letter Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson Adaptation, scenario, titles
The Winning of Barbara Worth Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky Adaptation
Son of the Sheik Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Bánky, Montagu Love, Karl Dane, George Fawcett Adaptation
1927 The Red Mill Marion Davies Adaptation, screenplay
Love John Gilbert, Greta Garbo Continuity
Madame Pompadour Dorothy Gish Writer
1928 The Wind Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Montagu Love, Dorothy Cumming Scenario
The Awakening Vilma Bánky, Walter Byron Story
Bringing Up Father J. Farrell MacDonald, Polly Moran, Marie Dressler Writer
1929 Their Own Desire Norma Shearer, Belle Bennett, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery, Helene Millard Screenplay
1930 Min and Bill Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery Dialogue, scenario
The Big House Robert Montgomery, Wallace Beery, Chester Morris, Lewis Stone Dialogue, story
Won the Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Good News Mary Lawlor, Stanley Smith Scenario
The Rogue Song Lawrence Tibbett, Catherine Dale Owen Writer
Anna Christie Greta Garbo, Charles Bickford, George F. Marion, Marie Dressler Writer
1931 The Secret Six Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Ralph Bellamy, Marjorie Rambeau Dialogue, screenplay
The Champ Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich, Roscoe Ates Story
Won the Academy Award for Best Story
1932 Blondie of the Follies Marion Davies, Robert Montgomery, Billie Dove Screenplay, story
Emma Marie Dressler, Richard Cromwell, Jean Hersholt, Myrna Loy Story
1933 Peg o' My Heart Marion Davies, Onslow Stevens, J. Farrell MacDonald Adaptation
Dinner at Eight Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Billie Burke Screenplay
The Prizefighter and the Lady Myrna Loy, Max Baer, Walter Huston, Primo Carnera, Jack Dempsey Story
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story
Going Hollywood Marion Davies, Bing Crosby, Fifi D'Orsay, Stuart Erwin Story (uncredited)
Secrets Mary Pickford, Leslie Howard Writer
1936 Camille Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore Screenplay
Riffraff Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy Screenplay, story
Poor Little Rich Girl Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, Jack Haley, Gloria Stuart, Michael Whalen, Claude Gillingwater Writer
1937 Knight Without Armour Marlene Dietrich, Robert Donat Adaptation
Love from a Stranger Ann Harding, Basil Rathbone Adaptation
1940 Green Hell Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Vincent Price, Joan Bennett, Alan Hale Sr., George Sanders, John Howard Original story, screenplay

Published works

  • Minnie Flynn. NY: Boni and Liveright, 1925; free via google books and Hathi Trust
  • The Secret Six. NY: Grosset & Dunlap, 1931 (novelization of her own screenplay of The Secret Six)
  • Valley People. NY: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1935
"The book’s portrayal of the community as isolated inbreds bent on self-destruction and domination understandably ruffled many feathers"[3][4][5]
  • How to Write and Sell Film Stories. NY: Covici-Friede, 1937
  • Molly, Bless Her. NY: Harper & Brothers, 1937
  • Westward The Dream. Garden City NY: Doubleday and Company, 1948
  • The Passions of Linda Lane. NY: Diversey Publications, 1949 [paperback; revised edition of Minnie Flynn]
  • The Powder Keg. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1953
  • Off With Their Heads!: A Serio-Comic Tale of Hollywood (via Internet Archive (registration required)) NY: The Macmillan Company, 1972 memoir

References

  1. ↑ Beauchamp, Cari (1997). Without Lying Down. University of California Press. pp. 22–37. ISBN 978-0-520-21492-7.
  2. ↑ Kwong, Jess. "17 Women Who Made History — That You've Never Heard Of". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Valley People".
  4. ↑ STAFF, REGISTER (May 16, 2021). "Rebecca Yerger, Memory Lane : Napa County's literary legacy". The Napa Valley Register. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  5. ↑ Strauss, Harold (August 4, 1935). "A Portrait Gallery of Village People; VALLEY PEOPLE. By Frances Marion. 282 pp. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock. $2". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 25, 2024.

Other websites

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frances Marion.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.