Book excerpt from the introduction of “Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema” by Cheryl Robson
“Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema” (Supernova Books, 2016) is not just a book about women working in film during the silent film era. The term “silent” also refers to the silencing and eradication of the tremendous contribution that women have made to the development of the motion picture industry. Why have women such as Alice Guy-Blaché, the creator of narrative cinema, been written out of film history? Why have so many women working behind the scenes in film been rendered “invisible” and “silent” for so long?
As researchers have recently discovered, women were a significant part of the commercial success of cinema both in their appreciation of the new art form as the majority of ticket-buyers and as consumers of cinema-related products such as hair care and make-up. Their likes and dislikes not only influenced which films were made and which stars were cast but also the kind of costumes, make-up and hair styles which the actors wore.
This book is an explicit challenge to cultural commentators and film historians — to shout as loud as they can about the incredible contributions of women in film. Chapter upon chapter names and celebrates fantastically talented women whose work has gone unrecognized and unappreciated for too long. The Women Film Pioneers Project at Columbia University must be credited with undertaking and compiling much of the research to date. Their website provides a wealth of information for those who wish to learn more or contribute to the project.
In our recent global overview of women film directors, Celluloid Ceiling: women film directors breaking through (eds. Gabrielle Kelly and Cheryl Robson), we provided many examples of women all over the world finding it easier to produce and direct films when a film industry was in its infancy. As film industries mature and become more profitable, men seem to dominate, taking on the main production and decision-making roles, while women are excluded.
We see this process in action across the various geographies and crafts which are explored in this book. What is now undeniable is that from the earliest days of cinema, women involved in the suffrage movement, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Guy-Blaché, Lois Weber and many more were involved in making films of all kinds, whether documentary or narrative, educational or commercial, offering a female perspective on the world. Remarkably, they were able to achieve success as filmmakers in greater numbers than we see in the so-called liberal age of today. During the 1930s, economic downturn, technological change and a less forgiving moral climate created a more difficult environment for women to work in. The categorization of jobs together with increasing control by male-led trade unions limited the mobility of workers to move up the career ladder. Despite this, a few women did remain at the forefront of both technical innovation and artistic expression as well as pushing the boundaries of what was considered acceptable on-screen. In 1923, an article in The Business Woman detailed a range of around thirty different jobs that women carried out in the motion picture industry from actress to secretary, costume designer to script girl, film editor to laboratory worker, set designer to casting director, department manager to director, publicity to producer.
There were real pioneers like Nell Shipman who broke away from the studio system, becoming one of the first independent filmmakers and there were those who were able to successfully navigate the system, subverting it from within, such as Mary Pickford and Dorothy Arzner.
Well-known female directors such as Jane Campion and Kathryn Bigelow may be seen as today’s “pioneers” but they are standing on the shoulders of generations of women filmmakers, whose contributions to both the art and the business of filmmaking, have gone before. This book goes some way to providing recognition, beyond the realms of academia, to the notable achievements of a small number of the real pioneers working in the nascent years of the motion picture industry. But there is much more to discover about this fascinating period of cinematic history and more work to be done.
We hope this book acts as inspiration for future creators of content, whatever their gender, to express themselves visually in new media, overcoming the many challenges which remain. We invite them to be as dauntless as the women filmmakers in this book, to unleash their unique perspectives on the world and let their talents shine brightly.
“Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema” was released in the UK in April and in August in the U.S. You can find it bookstores and on Amazon.
Cheryl Robson began her career at the BBC. She has produced and directed corporate films and documentaries including the multi award-winning Rock ’n’ Roll Island which has been shown at festivals in the UK and USA. An award-winning playwright, she co-founded and ran The Women’s Theatre Workshop before establishing an independent publishing company. She launched The Virginia Prize for Fiction in 2009 which promotes emerging women novelists.
