Silent Feminists: America's First Women Directors

by Anthony Slide

American women who contributed their talent to the silent film industry are still largely unrecognized today. In The Silent Feminists, Anthony Slide shows how "[d]uring the first three decades of its existence, the American film industry was, in many ways, a woman's world." His work documents the lives and careers of America's first women directors and provides an introduction to the subject of women in the American silent-film industry. He highlights a number of female pioneers, including Alice Guy Blache, Lois Weber, Margery Wilson, Mrs. Wallace Reid, Frances Marion, and Dorothy Arzner. With this book he continues to unveil the history of the women who, with little recognition, helped pave the way for females in the film business today.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Womens Studies, Feminism

190 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 1996

Reviews

[Matthew Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthony Slide is an excellent writer; not too academic, not too "folksy." Regardless, his research abilities are stellar, and this book is ample evidence of that. Some people might regard this volume as a little short, which I suppose it is, but nonetheless, it is an outstanding primer. I had never heard of the majority of these women directors. Some produced propaganda, some produced art. Some were astonishingly talented, some were relatively mediocre. But all are historically fascinating, and one wishes that there were more books full stop (and not just of this high calibre) that examine the history of women's contribution to both early and recent cinema. Ten out of ten stars and recommended without reservation.

[reveurdart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seminal work.

[Cullen Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating! Anthony Slide has done exactly what film historians should be doing: he has researched a highly neglected topic (early female film directors), and conveys the information in a manner that is not overly academic nor overly chatty. It is concise, precise, detailed, and insightful. The only sad thing about reading the book is realizing that almost every film mentioned has been lost.

[Ally McCulloch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of valuable information on otherwise unheard of female directors. He also lists the usual suspect such as Alice Guy-Blache and Dorothy Arzner. He repeats information from his other books, but that is okay. He is just being thorough. Despite some of the recycled information, there is lots of new information with a great bibliography that will help further research.

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit sketchy, but lots of names of early women directors. Great starter book on the topic.