Mary C. McCall Jr.: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Most Powerful Screenwriter

In this lively biography of Mary C. McCall (1904–1986), Smyth (Nobody’s Girl Friday), a history professor at the University of Warwick, recounts the screenwriter’s pursuit of gender equity in Hollywood. McCall elbowed her way into the film industry after Warner Bros. agreed to let her write dialogue for their adaptation of her 1932 debut novel, The Goldfish Bowl. Once in the business, she put a feminist spin on the B movies she was assigned to write. Smyth points out that for the Maisie film series, McCall reimagined the “alluring, sexualized” protagonist of Wilson Collison’s 1935 novel Dark Dame as a working-class everywoman. Smyth notes that McCall frequently endured crass comments from producers and received less pay than her male colleagues. These industry-wide problems motivated McCall’s organizing efforts on behalf of the fledgling Screen Writers Guild, and she served as president of the organization in the ’40s and ’50s. Though McCall is likely unfamiliar to most readers, her wit and swagger will grab their attention (during a labor relations meeting with Paramount executive Y. Frank Freeman, she blew cigarette smoke in his face and asked if his name was a rhetorical question), and Smyth makes a strong case that McCall’s contributions to the film industry have been unjustly overlooked. It’s a commanding reconsideration of a largely forgotten Hollywood power player. (Sept.)