In the earliest days of movie history, women played key roles on screen and behind the scenes. Dwight Cleveland, author of Cinema On Paper: The Graphic Genius of Movie Posters (Assouline) is helping to document their contributions with a curated collection of lobby cards, circulated by the filmmakers to promote the movies.
In an interview with RogerEbert.com, Cleveland discussed his collection and the women who made the movies of the silent era.
Who were some of the women who played important roles as directors and screenwriters in the silent film era, and what films should people see to get to know them?
Alice Guy-Blaché was the first woman to direct a film (“La Fée aux Choux” in 1896). Lois Weber was the first American woman auteur and the most important producer, director, screenwriter, and actress in early cinema. Dorothy Arzner was the first woman to direct a talking picture, “The Wild Party” (1929). Frances Marion, one of the most prolific screenwriters during the 1920s and 30s and the first writer to win two Academy Awards (“The Big House,” 1930, and “The Champ,” 1931). Ruth Roland was a powerhouse serial producer and actress who performed her own stunts during the 19-teens and 20s. Anita Loos was the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood and the author of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” in 1925. Frederica Sagor Maas was the youngest Head of Story Editing at a major film studio (Universal) in 1923. There are over 1,000 remarkable women behind the camera represented in my collection.
Where were these films made, and who produced them?
Edison was located in West Orange, NY and his early competitors started out in nearby Fort Lee, NJ. There was an initial migration to Florida to address the need for reliable lighting, and then to California to escape Edison’s crippling efforts to protect his patents. Everything was unregulated in those days, and the early pioneers were making it up as they went along. This was a boon for women because if you could deliver in any capacity in the filmmaking process, you were hired. Women played a literary role (screenwriting, adaptation, continuity, titles) in 75 percent of the films represented in my collection.
What are lobby cards, and what role did they play in letting ticket-buyers know what to expect?
They generally came in sets of 8 and measure 11″ x 14″ (some very early silents were 8″ x 10″). These were meant to be viewed up close and were displayed in cases or on easels in theatre lobbies. One is a Title card, and seven are Scene cards, and they gave patrons a visual taste of what the film was about.
What do they tell us about film history?
85 percent of silent films are lost due to their nitrate film stock, which was highly combustible, so, in most cases, my lobby cards are the only tangible evidence that the films ever existed. And the Scene cards are the only photographic evidence of the narrative itself. I envision a new A.I. endeavor in which all the data collected on these films in which women played a role behind the camera can teach us more about the female gaze during the nascent years of cinema. Given how prolific these women were, there are countless untold stories and patterns to discover.
How did you get interested in them, and where do you find them?
After 40 years of collecting, I stumbled on Dorothy Arzner’s name while researching my book, Cinema on Paper: The Graphic Genius of Movie Posters. That was in 2018. So, Covid-19 was a blessing for me, affording me the uninterrupted time to go deeper and then to purchase the three largest known collections and merge them with my own. I assembled 25,000 silent-film lobby cards and distilled them down to 10,000 today, in which women played leadership roles beyond acting.
Do you have one or two that you considered “eureka” finds, unexpected sources, near-impossible rare examples?
Most of these are one-of-a-kind because of their frailty, uselessness after serving their purpose of advertising, and their miraculous survival of paper drives during WWI & WWII. I’ve always loved the color saturation of early film paper, so here are a few examples.
Do you try to see all the movies promoted by the cards?
Yes! Turner Classic Movies and The Criterion Collection are easily accessible online. My favorite in-person venues are: the gold-standard Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone, Italy; The Nitrate Picture Show at the George Eastman Museum; and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
