Eddie Muller’s Dark City Dames, available from Amazon.

Women have been integral to the history and creation of the American film industry. Their attendance at films by 1910 gave the fledgling business respectability, exploding its popularity. Female participation in its workforce allowed it to keep the production line flowing as women created new fields like casting and costume design, while remaining a potent force in each of its major creative professions. The popularity of women behind and in front of the camera turned moving pictures from middling studios into major factories.

Moviemaking attracted women for the same reasons it lured men: higher salaries, more creative possibilities, and especially leadership and power opportunities. Both sexes turned to the new field looking to support family, earn a living, find adventure. Over the decades, many determined, dramatic dames left their marks on moviemaking and acting, luring intrepid writers to tell their riveting stories. In the last few years, several biographies have documented the achievements and eccentricities of some of these accomplished women, who fought the system to bring dynamism and strong characters to the screen. Most of these females were more daring, dishy, and strong than the characters they sometimes portrayed onscreen, fighting the system and society mores to demonstrate true courage, smarts, and balls. Continue reading →