"There are ninety of us here, all career-bound in pictures but in the tadpole stage. The majority are extra girls on the break for the big chance...There is an odd sprinkling of stenographers, script girls, assistant cutters, designers, a librarian or two and one honest-to-goodness writer who has actually had her name on screen credits." From the 1938 novel "I Lost My Girlish Laughter" by Jane Allen (reissued in 2019)

Jane Allen was a pseudonym for writers Silvia Schulman, the originator of the novel's raw material, and Jane Shore, Schulman's collaborator who helped polish the manuscript. Schulman worked at RKO Studios and MGM before landing a job as producer David O. Selznick's personal secretary. The position demanded constant attention to Selznick's professional and personal life.

Schulman had writing ambitions of her own, however. She left Selznick's employ and used her experiences as the basis for "I Lost My Girlish Laughter". The novel is told from the POV of Madge Lawrence, personal secretary to a self-important producer named Sidney Brand - a thinly disguised portrait of Selznick. The story is told in a series of letters written by Madge, office memos, telegrams, and gossip column items; a format that makes for a quick read. "I Lost My Girlish Laughter" was a bestseller when released but no movie studio picked it up for adaptation. When her two marriages failed, Schulman supported herself and her two children by working as an interior designer and building contractor. While I enjoyed reading her novel, I wish Silvia Schulman had written a non-fiction memoir as well. I'm sure she had many fascinating stories to tell.

If you watched the Oscars on February 9th, you saw Academy president David Rubin and Tom Hanks announce that the Academy Museum finally has an opening date set for December 14th, 2020. The museum recently unveiled its 1,000 seat state-of-the-art theater and exhibits are being put in place. The website is also a work-in-progress but you can go to AcademyMuseum.org to see pics and membership info.

One last item related to Hollywood history - Peter Brosnan's 2016 documentary "The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille". Currently free for Amazon Prime members, the doc tells of Brosnan's thirty-year odyssey to recover the set for DeMille's 1923 production of "The Ten Commandments", buried in the Guadalupe dunes some 150 miles north of Hollywood. Brosnan interviewed as many of the original participants as he could find. Even if you are not a DeMille fan, the doc is worth watching for what it reveals about the silent era.



Here's the latest article from the Drama Movies site at BellaOnline.com.

Lampedusa Film Review
Although the tidal wave of refugees landing on Lampedusa's shores has receded, the island still witnesses tragedies at sea. The emotional toll exacted on first responders is illustrated in "Lampedusa", a two-part television drama produced in Italy and starring Claudio Amendola.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art306848.asp

Please visit dramamovies.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Drama Movies. Follow me on Twitter @ AngelaKPeterso1.


Angela K. Peterson, Drama Movies Editor
http://dramamovies.bellaonline.com

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