Early Hollywood – THE 2ND SEX & THE 7TH ART: WOMEN DIRECTORS IN FILM

One of the first narrative films, La Fée aux Choux, was shot by a secretary for Léon Gaumont, ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ (1873-1968), who asked to use the company camera (a device considered used for observational purposes or as Gaumont referred to it, “simply a toy”) on weekends to do some shooting.

Guy-Blaché became a fixture of what would become the Gaumont Film Company and moved with her husband to head up their division in America. Later they would form their own studio in New Jersey Solax Studios which she would helm.

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Where to watch her films:

FANDOR

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AMAZON (PRIME-STREAMING)

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Read more about her:

BOOKS
Alice Guy Blaché: Lost Visionary of the Cinema by Alison McMahan
The Memoirs of Alice Guy Blaché by Roberta and Simone Blaché
ONLINE
Alice Guy cinema pioneer
Be Natural – a movie being made about Alice
Biography
Blog
National Women’s History Museum
Women’s Film Pioneer Project
Wikipedia

FILMOGRAPHY (from imdb):

1920Vampire

1920Tarnished Reputations (as Alice Blaché)

1918The Great Adventure

1917Behind the Mask (as Alice Blaché)

1917When You and I Were Young (as Alice Guy Blaché)

1917House of Cards (as Alice Guy Blaché)

1917A Man and the Woman (as Alice Blaché)

1917The Empress (as Alice Guy Blaché)

1917/IIThe Adventurer

1916The Ocean Waif (Short) (uncredited)

1916What Will People Say?

1915My Madonna (as Alice Blaché)

1915The Song of the Wage Slave (as Alice Blaché)

1915The Vampire (as Alice Blaché)

1915The Heart of a Painted Woman (as Alice Guy-Blaché)

1914The Tigress (unconfirmed)

1914The Lure

1914The Woman of Mystery (as Alice Blaché)

1914The Monster and the Girl (as Alice Blaché)

1914The Dream Woman (as Alice Blaché)

1914Beneath the Czar (as Alice Blaché)

1913Shadows of the Moulin Rouge (as Alice Blaché)

1913The Rogues of Paris (as Alice Blaché)

1913The Little Hunchback (Short)

1913A Terrible Night (Short)

1913The Pit and the Pendulum

1913Matrimony’s Speed Limit (Short) (uncredited)

1913Blood and Water

1913/IA House Divided (Short) (uncredited)

1913Dick Whittington and his Cat (unconfirmed)

1913Burstup Holmes’ Murder Case (Short)

1913Burstup Holmes (Short)

1912The Woman Behind the Man (Short)

1912The Finger Prints (Short)

1912Hearts Unknown (Short)

1912The Girl in the Arm-Chair (Short)

1912/IThe Face at the Window (Short)

1912Making an American Citizen (Short) (uncredited)

1912A Fool and His Money (Short)

1912Canned Harmony (Short) (unconfirmed)

1912Treasures on the Wing (Short)

1912Playing Trumps (Short)

1912Phantom Paradise (Short)

1912The Blood Stain (Short)

1912Fra Diavolo (Short)

1912Micky’s Pal (Short) (uncredited)

1912In the Year 2000 (Short)

1912Souls in the Shadow (Short) (unconfirmed)

1912The Wooing of Alice (Short) (unconfirmed)

1912The Reformation of Mary (Short)

1912The Detective’s Dog (Short)

1912Child of the Tenements (Short) (unconfirmed)

1912Falling Leaves (Short) (unconfirmed, uncredited)

1912The Animated Bathtub (Short)

1912Blighted Lives (Short) (unconfirmed)

1912God Disposes (Short) (unconfirmed)

1912Hubby Does the Washing (Short) (unconfirmed)

1912A Terrible Lesson (Short) (unconfirmed)

1912Mrs. Cranston’s Jewels (Short) (unconfirmed)

1912/IMignon (Short)

1912His Musical Soul (Short)

1911Five O’Clock Tea (unconfirmed)

1911Road Leads Home (unconfirmed)

1911The Cure (unconfirmed)

1911The Little Rangers (unconfirmed)

1911The Violin Maker of Nuremberg (Short)

1911His Mother’s Hymn (Short) (unconfirmed)

1911Greater Love Hath No Man (Short)

1911Cupid and the Comet (Short) (unconfirmed)

1911Rose of the Circus (Short)

1911A Midnight Visitor (Short)

1911Put Out (Short)

1911Out of the Arctic (Short)

1911A Costly Pledge (Short)

1911Love’s Test (Short)

1911Corinne in Dollyland (Short)

1911Mixed Pets (Short)

1911Ring of Love (Short)

1911His Best Friend (Short)

1911A Reporter’s Romance (Short)

1911The Girl and the Burglar (Short)

1911The Nightcap (Short)

1910Mrs. Richard Dare (Short)

1910The Pawnshop (Short)

1910Two Suits (Short)

1910Lady Betty’s Strategy (Short)

1910What Is to Be, Will Be (Short)

1910One Touch of Nature (Short)

1910Her Father’s Sin (Short)

1910A Widow and Her Child (Short)

1910A Fateful Gift (Short)

1910The Sergeant’s Daughter (Short)

1910A Child’s Sacrifice (Short) (unconfirmed)

1907Course à la saucisse (Short)

1907Déménagement à la cloche de bois (Short)

1907Fanfan la Tulipe (Short)

1907L’enfant de la barricade (Short)

1907Le ballon dirigeable ‘Le patrie’ (Documentary short)

1907Madam’s Fancies (Short) (unconfirmed)

1907The Glue (Short)

1907The Rolling Bed (Short)

1907A Four-Year-Old Heroine (Short)

1907The Irresistible Piano (Short)

1907Reformation (Short)

1906Á la recherche d’un appartement (Short)

1906Conscience de prêtre (Short)

1906Course de taureaux à Nîmes (Short) (co-director)

1906Effets de mer (Short)

1906L’honneur du corse (Short)

1906La chaussette (Short)

1906La fée printemps (Short)

1906La hiérarchie dans l’amour (Short)

1906La messe de minuit (Short)

1906La pègre de Paris (Short)

1906La régiment moderne (Short)

1906La vérité sur l’homme-singe (Short)

1906La vie du marin (Short)

1906Le fantassin Guignard (Short)

1906Le fils du garde-chasse (Short)

1906Le Noël de Monsieur le curé (Short)

1906Les dragons de Villars (Short)

1906Les Druides (Short)

1906Le songe du pêcheur (Short)

1906Mireille (Short) (co-director)

1906Pauvre pompier (Short)

1906Un cas de divorce (Short)

1906Une course d’obstacle (Short)

1906Une histoire roulante (Short)

1906Un soulier pour un jambon

1906Voyage en Espagne (Short)

1906The Drunken Mattress (Short)

1906La crinoline (Short)

1906La femme collante (Short)

1906La voiture cellulaire (Short)

1906Madame Ducordon, concierge (Short)

1906Medor douche son maître (Short)

1906Sealed Lips (Short)

1906J’ai un hanneton dans mon pantalon (Short)

1906La conquête de Trottin (Short)

1906La femme du masque (Short)

1906Le cochon de lait (Short)

1906Questions indiscrètes (Short) (unconfirmed)

1906The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (Short)

1906The Consequences of Feminism (Short)

1906The Stepmother (Short) (unconfirmed)

1905À la cabane bambou (Short)

1905Au poulailler! (Short)

1905C’est une ingénue (Short)

1905Cake-walk nègre (Short)

1905Chez le dentiste (Short)

1905Chien jouant à la balle (Short)

1905Clown, chien et ballon (Short)

1905Comment on dort à Paris! (Short)

1905Cucurbitacée (Short)

1905Douaniers et contrebandiers (Short)

1905Dranem Performs ‘The True Jiu-Jitsu’ (Short)

1905Espagne (Documentary short)

1905Être légume (Short)

1905Five O’Clock Tea (Short)

1905Jeune homme et le trottin (Short)

1905L’enfant du cordonnier (Short)

1905La charité du prestidigitateur (Short)

1905La fifille à sa mère (Short)

1905La malagueña et le torero (Short)

1905La mattchiche (Short)

1905La paimpolaise (Short)

1905La polka des trottins (Short)

1905La statue (Short)

1905Le bébé embarrassant (Short)

1905Le boléro cosmopolite (Short)

1905Le coq dressé de Cook et Rilly (Short)

1905Le képi (Short)

1905Le lorgnon accusateur (Short)

1905Le pantalon coupé (Short)

1905Le pavé (Short)

1905Le petit Grégoire (Short)

1905Le petit panier (Short)

1905Le plateau (Short)

1905Le rire du nègre (Short)

1905Les maçons (Short)

1905Le tango (Short)

1905Lilas blanc (Short)

1905Miss Helyett: Air du portrait (Short)

1905On est poivrot, mais on a du coeur (Short)

1905Peintre et ivrogne (Short)

1905Polin, l’anatomie du conscrit (Short)

1905Robert Macaire et Bertrand (Short)

1905Roméo pris au piège (Short)

1905Saharet, boléro (Short)

1905Si ça t’va (Short)

1905Une noce au lac Saint-Fargeau (Short)

1905Viens, poupoule (Short)

1905Villa dévalisée (Short)

1905Esmeralda (Short)

1905Allumeur-Marche (Short)

1905Les p’tits pois (Short)

1905My Quay’s Hole (Short)

1905V’la le rétameur (Short)

1905Valsons

1904Après la fête (Short)

1904Cambrioleur et agent (Short)

1904Cible humaine (Short)

1904Clown en sac (Short)

1904Comment on disperse les foules (Short)

1904Concours de bébés (Short)

1904Culture Intensive (Short)

1904Départ pour les vacances (Short)

1904Duel tragique (Short)

1904Électrocutée (Short)

1904Erreur de poivrot (Short)

1904Gage d’amour (Short)

1904L’assassinat du courrier de Lyon (Short)

1904L’attaque d’une diligence (Short)

1904L’oiseau envolé (Short)

1904La faim … l’occasion … l’herbe tendre (Short)

1904La gavotte de la reine (Short)

1904La leçon de pipeau (Short)

1904La rêve du chasseur (Short)

1904Le crime de la Rue du Temple (Short)

1904Le jour du terme (Short)

1904Le monolutteur (Short)

1904Le pompon malencontreux (Short)

1904Le reveil du jardinier (Short)

1904Les bienfaits du cinématographe (Short)

1904Les cambrioleurs de Paris (Short)

1904Les deux rivaux (Short)

1904Les enfants du miracle (Short)

1904Les secrets de la prestidigitation dévoilés (Short)

1904Le testament de Pierrot (Short)

1904Lui (Short)

1904Magie noire (Short)

1904Mauvais coeur puni (Short)

1904Militaire et nourrice (Short)

1904Paris la nuit (Short)

1904Pâtissier et ramoneur (Short)

1904Rafle de chiens (Short)

1904Rapt d’enfant par les Romanichels (Short)

1904Scènes directoire (Short)

1904Tentative d’assassinat en chemin de fer (Short)

1904The Enchanted Bean (Short)

1904The Legend of St. Nicholas (Short)

1904Transformations (Short)

1904Triste fin d’un vieux savant (Short)

1904Vieilles estampes (Short)

1904La première cigarette (Short)

1904Pierrot, Murderer (Short)

1903Cake-walk de la pendule (Short)

1903Comme on fait son lit on se couche (Short)

1903Compagnons de voyage encombrants (Short)

1903Enlèvement en automobile et mariage précipité (Short)

1903Faust et Méphistophélès (Short)

1903How Monsieur Takes His Bath (Short)

1903Illusionniste renversant (Short)

1903Jocko musicien (Short)

1903La chasse au cambrioleur (Short)

1903La main du professeur Hamilton ou le roi des dollars (Short)

1903La mouche (Short)

1903La poule fantaisiste (Short)

1903La valise enchantée (Short)

1903Le fiancé ensorcelé (Short)

1903Le liqueur du couvent (Short)

1903Les apaches pas veinards (Short)

1903Les aventures d’un voyageur trop pressé (Short)

1903Les braconniers (Short)

1903Les surprises de l’affichage (Short)

1903Le voleur sacrilège (Short)

1903Lutteurs américains (Short)

1903Modelage express (Short)

1903Ne bougeons plus (Short)

1903Nos bons étudiants (Short)

1903Potage indigeste (Short)

1903Répétition dans un cirque (Short)

1903Secours aux naufragés (Short)

1903Service précipité (Short)

1902A Peculiar Cabinet (Short)

1902Bonsoir m’sieurs dames (Short)

1902Danse excentrique (Short)

1902Danse fantaisiste (Short)

1902Danse mauresque (Short)

1902En faction (Short)

1902Farces de cuisinière (Short)

1902Fruits de saison (Short)

1902Intervention malencontreuse (Short)

1902L’équilibriste (Short)

1902La cour des miracles (Short)

1902La dent recalcitrante (Short)

1902La fiole enchantée (Short)

1902La gavotte (Short)

1902La gigue (Short)

1902La première gamelle (Short)

1902Le lion savant (Short)

1902Le marchand de ballons (Short)

1902Le pommier (Short)

1902Les chiens savants (Documentary short)

1902Les clowns (Short)

1902Les malabares, acrobats (Documentary short)

1902Midwife to the Upper Classes (Short)

1902Miss Lina Esbrard, danseuse cosmopolitaine et serpentine (Short)

1902Pour secouer la salade (Short)

1902Quadrille réaliste (Short)

1902Trompé mais content (Short)

1901A House Demolished and Rebuilt (Short)

1901Charmant froufrou (Short)

1901Danses basques (Short)

1901Folies masquées (Short)

1901Frivolité (Short)

1901Hussards et grisettes (Short)

1901Lavatory moderne (Short)

1901Lecture quotidienne (Short)

1901Les vagues (Short)

1901Pas de colombine (Short)

1901Scène d’amour (Short)

1901Scène d’ivresse (Short)

1901Tel est pris qui croyait prendre (Short)

1901Vendetta (Short)

1900Arrivée d’Arléquin (Short)

1900Arrivée de Pierette et Pierrot (Short)

1900Au bal de Flore (Short)

1900Avenue de l’opéra (Short)

1900Badinage (Short)

1900Ballet japonais (Short)

1900Bataille d’oreillers (Short)

1900Bataille de boules de neige (Short)

1900Chapellerie et charcuterie mécanique (Short)

1900Chez le Maréchal-Ferrant (Short)

1900Chez le photographe (Short)

1900Chirurgie fin de siècle (Short)

1900Coucher d’une Parisienne (Short)

1900Dance de l’ivresse (Short)

1900Danse des saisons (Short)

1900Danse du papillon (Documentary short)

1900Danse du pas des foulards par des almées (Short)

1900Danse du voile (Short)

1900Danses (Short)

1900Danse serpentine (Documentary short)

1900Dans les coulisses (Short)

1900Déclaration d’amour (Short)

1900Gavotte directoire (Short)

1900Guillaume Tell (Short)

1900L’angélus (Short)

1900L’arléquine (Short)

1900L’écossaise (Short)

1900L’Habanera (Short)

1900La concierge (Short)

1900La danse du ventre (Short)

1900La fée aux choux, ou la naissance des enfants (Short)

1900La paysanne (Short)

1900La petite magicienne (Short)

1900La poupée noire (Short)

1900La reine des jouets (Short)

1900La source (Short)

1900La tarentelle (Short)

1900Le bébé (Short)

1900Leçon de danse (Short)

1900Le départ d’Arlequin et de Pierrette (Short)

1900Le lapin (Short)

1900Le marchand de coco (Short)

1900Le matelot (Short)

1900Le Polichinelle (Short)

1900Le sang d’Adonis donnant naissance à la rose rouge (Short)

1900Little Tich and His Funny Feet (Short) (as Alice Guy Blaché)

1900Marché à la volaille (Short)

1900Mort d’Adonis (Short)

1900Pas de grâce (Short)

1900Pas des éventails (Short)

1900Pas du poignard (Short)

1900Pas Japonais (Short)

1900Retour des champs (Documentary short)

1900Saut humidifié de M. Plick (Short)

1900Suite de la danse (Short)

1900Sydney’s joujoux (Short)

1900Une rage de dents (Short)

1900Valse directoire (Short)

1900Valse lente (Short)

1900Vénus et Adonis (Short)

1899Au cabaret (Short)

1899Courte échelle (Short)

1899Danse serpentine par Mme. Bob Walter (Short)

1899Erreur judiciaire (Short)

1899L’aveugle (Short)

1899La bonne absinthe (Short)

1899/ILa descente de croix (Short)

1899La mauvaise soupe (Short)

1899/ILa résurrection (Short)

1899Le chiffonnier (Short)

1899/ILe crucifiement (Short)

1899Le déjeuner des enfants (Short)

1899Les dangers de l’alcoolisme (Short)

1899Le tondeur de chiens (Short)

1899Le tonnelier (Short)

1899Mésaventure d’un charbonnier (Short)

1899Monnaie de lapin (Short)

1899Transformations (Short)

1899Un lunch (Short)

1899Entrée Et Sortie De La Mine (Documentary short)

1898Déménagement à la cloche de bois (Short)

1898Jésus devant Pilate (Short)

1898Je vous y prrrrends! (Short)

1898L’aveugle fin de siècle (Short)

1898L’entrée à Jérusalem (Short)

1898L’utilité des rayons x (Short)

1898La cène (Short)

1898La crèche à Bethléem (Short)

1898La flagellation (Short)

1898La fuite en Égypte (Short)

1898Le chemin de croix (Short)

1898Leçons de boxe (Short)

1898Le jardin des oliviers (Short)

1898Les farces de Jocko (Short)

1898Scène d’escamotage (Short)

1898Surprise d’une maison au petit jour (Short)

1897Au réfectoire (Short)

1897Baignade dans le torrent (Short)

1897Ballet libella (Documentary short)

1897Chez le magnétiseur (Short)

1897Coucher d’Yvette (Short)

1897Danse fleur de lotus (Documentary short)

1897En classe (Short)

1897Idylle (Short)

1897Idylle interrompue (Short)

1897L’arroseur arrosé (Short)

1897L’aveugle (Short)

1897Le cocher de fiacre endormi (Short)

1897Leçon de danse (Short)

1897Le pêcheur dans le torrent (Short)

1897Le planton du colonel (Short)

1897Les cambrioleurs (Short)

1897Une nuit agitée (Short)

1897France et Russie (Short)

1896La fée aux choux (Short)

Universal Studios had nine women directors on their studio lot in the nineteen teens including one of the most highly paid and successful directors (male or female) of the time, LOIS WEBER (1879-1939).

She directed social dramas with an insight to the realities suffered by women. Where Are My Children?, an early feature film directed by Weber, tackled the controversial subject of birth control.

More to add to this “bite-sized blog” – please send us a comment!

Where to watch her films:

FANDOR

YOU TUBE

AMAZON (PRIME-STREAMING)

AMAZON (DVDs for PURCHASE)

THE 2ND SEX & THE 7TH ART: WOMEN DIRECTORS IN FILM

Female filmmakers: Investigating their works, history and advocacy in the U.S. from 1896-present.

Tag / Early Hollywood

Bite-sized blog post: Dorothy Davenport

Where to watch her films:

Read more about her:

FILMOGRAPHY (from imdb):

Bite-sized blog post: Alice Guy-Blaché

Where to watch her films:

Read more about her:

FILMOGRAPHY (from imdb):

Bite-sized blog post: Lois Weber

Where to watch her films:

Read more about her:

FILMOGRAPHY (from imdb):