Harriette Underhill | |
|---|---|
 Underhill in 1925 | |
| Born | 1877 |
| Died | May 18, 1928 New York City, US |
| Occupation | Writer and film critic |
Harriette Underhill (1877-1928) was an American film critic for the New-York Tribune and its successor the New York Herald Tribune . She was the most prominent American female film critic of the silent film era. [1]
Underhill was born in Troy, New York and came to New York City not long after marrying (at age 16 according to older reports of her life). She then played minor parts in some theatre productions, including in the original chorus for the popular musical Florodora . Her father Lorenzo Underhill was a sportswriter, and she turned to journalism after his death, taking over her father's sports column at the New-York Tribune in 1908, first writing about horse and dog shows. Sometime after seeing her first movie, The Coward (1915), she asked to start writing film reviews. [1] This was when films were first starting to get reviews in newspapers. [2] She also wrote for film and general magazines. [3]
Underhill was severely injured in 1919 when she was hit by a car, but continued to write. She succeeded to Virginia Tracy's film column at the Tribune. She died at her home in Manhattan on May 18, 1928, after a month-long illness, though she continued to write until the day she died, even dictating copy to her doctor and nurse.
Film scholar Richard Abel, writing in 2020 for the Women Film Pioneer Project at Columbia University, described Underhill as a "a perceptive, intelligent film critic and a compelling stylist." [4] Her sway in Hollywood was apparent from the fact that numerous stars visited her in her final illness. [1] [5] [3]
In 1923, Screenland magazine canvassed top film critics to identify the ten best movies ever made. Every critic except Underhill included The Birth of a Nation (which was already controversial at the time of its release) in their list. [6] Of director D. W. Griffith, she once said he "is the most uneven director; some of his pictures are good and some are terrible." [2]
Underhill was married and divorced thrice per her obituary. [7] [8] In a 1925 interview she said "I've been married thousands of times, perhaps because I've always loved anything with an element of chance or danger." [2] [9]
Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan was an American actress, producer and entrepreneur. Born in Texas to Irish immigrant parents, Guinan decided at an early age to become an entertainer. After becoming a star on the New York stage, the repercussions of her involvement in a weight loss scam motivated her to switch careers to the film business. Spending several years in California appearing in numerous productions, she eventually formed her own company.
Ida Estelle Taylor was an American actress who was the second of world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey's four wives. With "dark-brown, almost black hair and brown eyes," she was regarded as one of the most beautiful silent film stars of the 1920s.
Frances Marion was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis and Anita Loos. During the course of her career, she wrote over 325 scripts. She was the first writer to win two Academy Awards. Marion began her film career working for filmmaker Lois Weber. She wrote numerous silent film scenarios for actress Mary Pickford, before transitioning to writing sound films.
Rolf Armstrong was an American commercial artist specializing in glamorous depictions of female subjects. He is best known for his magazine covers and calendar art. In 1960 the New York Times dubbed him the “creator of the calendar girl.” His commercial career extended from 1912 to 1960, the great majority of his original work being done in pastel.
Grace Cunard was an American actress, screenwriter and film director. During the silent era, she starred in over 100 films, wrote or co-wrote at least 44 of those productions, and directed no fewer than eight of them. In addition, she edited many of her films, including some of the shorts, serials, and features she developed in collaboration with Francis Ford. Her younger sister, Mina Cunard, was also a film actress.
Marion Fairfax was an American screenwriter, playwright, actress, and producer.
Adela Nora Rogers St. Johns was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She wrote a number of screenplays for silent movies, but is best remembered for her groundbreaking exploits as "The World's Greatest Girl Reporter" during the 1920s and 1930s and her celebrity interviews for Photoplay magazine.
Constance Lindsay Skinner was a Canadian writer, critic, historian and editor best known for having conceived the Rivers of America Series for the publisher Farrar & Rinehart.
Spite Marriage is a 1929 American synchronized sound comedy film co-directed by Buster Keaton and Edward Sedgwick and starring Keaton and Dorothy Sebastian. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. It is the second film Keaton made for MGM and his last film without audible dialogue, although he had wanted it to be a "talkie" or full sound film. Keaton later wrote gags for some up-and-coming MGM stars like Red Skelton, and from this film recycled many gags, some shot-for-shot, for Skelton's 1943 film I Dood It.
Eve Unsell was an American screenwriter. She wrote for more than 90 films between 1914 and 1933.
Bradley King was the pen name of Josephine McLaughlin. She was a screenwriter who wrote 56 scripts for films between 1920 and 1947. All but one of her 40 silent films are lost, but most of her 20 or so sound films still exist.
Eve Southern was an American film actress. She appeared in 38 films from 1916 to 1936. In 1930 she was selected by portrait artist Rolf Armstrong as one of the film industry's 16 "screen beauties".
May Mann, born May Vasta Randall, was a Hollywood columnist and freelance writer. She wrote a syndicated column about Hollywood gossip and wrote articles on celebrities for fan magazines. Her "Going Hollywood" column was syndicated to 400 newspapers, and contributed to movie magazines Movie Mirror, Silver Screen, Movie Teen, Screenland, and Photoplay. Her columns often featured photos of herself with the celebrity she profiled. She befriended several celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and wrote books about Elvis Presley, Clark Gable, and Jayne Mansfield. She was known as "Hollywood Date Girl" since she wrote about parties that she attended with Hollywood celebrities.
Elizabeth Pickett Chevalier (1896-1984), known earlier in her career as Elizabeth Pickett, was an American writer best known for her 1942 novel, the bestseller Drivin' Woman, which was promoted as a novel in the vein of Gone with the Wind. In her earlier career, she was also a silent short-film director and a screenwriter who wrote scenarios and titles for Fox Film Corporation.
Professional Sweetheart is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic comedy directed by William A. Seiter from a screenplay by Maurine Watkins. It stars Ginger Rogers in her first film for RKO Radio Pictures, with Norman Foster, ZaSu Pitts and Frank McHugh. The film is a satire of the radio industry.
Cordelia D. "Delight" Evans was an American entertainment writer, editor, and film critic who was most widely known for her career as the editor of Screenland Magazine. Before accepting her career-making position at Screenland, Evans worked for Photoplay Magazine for six years. Screenland and Photoplay were both popular fan magazines that allowed fans to connect with movies outside the theaters. Some of the magazines' content consisted of movie reviews, movie promotions, and spreads of popular actors and actresses. Evans first started working for Screenland Magazine in October 1924 where she wrote reviews for various iconic films of that time. In 1929, Evans was promoted to Editor of the magazine. Nine years later in 1938, her success and ambitious attitude lead her to her own radio program, Food Secrets of the Movie Stars.
Matilda Beatrice deMille was an English-American play broker, screenwriter, playwright, theater actress and entrepreneur. She had a part in founding Paramount Pictures. Her sons were pioneering filmmakers Cecil B. DeMille and William C. deMille.
He's a Honey is a 1932 short musical comedy film directed by Walter Graham. It stars Harry Barris and features Helen Mann, Eleanor Hunt, and Edgar Kennedy. Its working title was Wedding Night.
Gladys Hall was an American journalist. She began her career writing poetry and articles for fan magazines. She wrote a syndicated column, "The Diary of a Professional Movie Fan," in the 1920s, and interviewed movie stars for such fan magazines as Photoplay, Modern Screen, and Screenland. "The public", she once said, "don't want their stars torn down, they want to believe in them, like Santa Claus."
Kate Corbaley was a pioneering American screenwriter and development executive active from the silent era through her death in the 1930s.