Dorothy Arzner

Birth Name:

Dorothy Arzner

Birth Place:

San Francisco, California, United States

Profession

Director, Editor, Writer, Script department

Became a cutter and editor at Realart Studio, soon rising to the rank of chief editor
Early in her career, she worked on several films with her mentor, director James Cruze
Her first job in the film industry was typing scripts for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which later became Paramount
Quote: "I was not dependent on the movies for my living, so I was always ready to give the picture over to some other director if I couldn't make it the way I saw it․ Right or wrong, I believe this was why I sustained so long--twenty years․"
Quote: "No one gave me trouble because I was a woman․ Men were more helpful than women․"
Her films were the subjects of some of the earliest feminist film criticism and generally emphasized women's relationships with one another
Spent fifteen years of her lengthy film directing career as a doctor
After deciding to leave Hollywood, she made training films for the Women's Army Corps, produced a radio program and worked in theater production
At the behest of Joan Crawford, she made fifty commercials for Pepsi
Taught filmmaking at the Pasadena Playhouse and the University of California Los Angeles

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