The Shocking Miss Pilgrim: A Writer in Early Hollywood [Hardcover]

Frederica Sagor Maas (Author)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Scholarly Book Services Inc (Jun 27 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0813121221
ISBN-13: 978-0813121222
Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.5 x 1.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 499 g
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #31,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > British & Irish > Contemporary
- #10 in Books > Entertainment > Movies > Industry
- #24 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > United States

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

Frederica Sagor Maas's life encompasses nearly the entire 20th century (she was born in early July 1900), and during the early years of the Hollywood film industry, she was as fierce a competitor for success as any man. Miss Sagor, still a student at Columbia College, was hired by Universal Pictures as an assistant story editor in 1920, when the job basically entailed attending Broadway plays and determining whether the studio should buy the film rights. Because her boss was an alcoholic, she soon found herself in complete charge of the story department. But she wanted to write screenplays herself, so she went to Hollywood and landed a job adapting a novel called The Plastic Age, which Preferred Pictures had acquired as a perfect vehicle for the "It Girl," Clara Bow.

In The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, Frederica--who met and married filmmaker Ernest Maas in 1927--shows how, despite her screenwriting abilities, her career in motion pictures was stymied by her outspoken disagreements with studio bosses, and how many of those around her gave into debauchery. (At one party, she reports, "undressed, tousled men chased naked women, shrieking with laughter. Included in this orgy was Ray Long, Mr. Hearst's representative; Harry Rapf, my own producer; and even the immaculate Irving Thalberg--all drunk, drunk, drunk.") Her memoir's prose has a charming tone, perfectly matching her Jazz Age exploits, which take up the bulk of the story. She also discusses the decline of the Maas's careers, which they finally abandoned after the Second World War, but not before writing a musical (called The Shocking Miss Pilgrim) for Betty Grable. The best passages concern Frederica's adventures in a young industry that was still discovering itself, such as her part in the creation of a motion picture legend: newly arrived actress Lucille LeSueur came up to her one day and said, "I like the way you dress. You dress like a lady. I need that. I want to be dressed right. Smart. I figured you could help." One shopping expedition later, and Joan Crawford was taking her first steps toward stardom. --Ron Hogan

From Publishers Weekly

"This is a story that will make you angry," warns Brownlow, a noted film historian. Maas, a screenwriter during the 1920s, '30s and '40s, delivers on that promise. In 1920, she answered a New York Times classified ad from Universal Pictures, becoming, at age 23, Universal's N.Y.C. story editor. In 1925, she arrived in Hollywood, turned down a screen test and instead scripted a Clara Bow vehicle, The Plastic Age. Installed in the MGM writers' bungalow, she tackled a rewrite of Dance Madness (1926) but proved so "ignorant of studio politics" that she was labeled a "troublemaker" by producer Harry Rapf. After her 1927 marriage to script writer and producer Ernest Maas, the couple survived the coming of sound films, the Depression and various earthquakes, but dry scripting spells and the constant theft of their ideas, stories and credits led them to quit the business. In 1950 she "bid farewell, without tears, to the Hollywood screen industry that had so entangled and entrapped me in its web of promises." Maas trashes Hollywood legends, recalling Louis B. Mayer as "a very fearful, insecure man"; Clara Bow dancing nude on a tabletop; Jeanne Eagels squatting to urinate in the midst of a film set; and Marion Davies commenting on her affair with Hearst: "I'm a slave, that's what. A toy poodle." In this memorable tell-all, rise-and-fall memoir, Maas brings the gimlet hindsight of Julia Phillips's You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again to early Hollywood, and the results are thoroughly captivating. Photos. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Amazon.com: 3.8 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A forgotten era..., April 8 2000

By L. Alper - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The Shocking Miss Pilgrim: A Writer in Early Hollywood (Hardcover)

It's hard to believe the world described by Frederica Sagor Maas in her memoir "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim" existed within the lifetimes of people alive today. So many of those who were once household names are now forgotten, so many of the places changed irrevocably.

Yet many of Ms. Maas' experiences & views will come as quite a surprise to the younger generation who tend to think they invented sex, drugs & partying. It's a revelation to hear a woman born in 1900, talking about herself at 20 state "I considered sex something natural like eating or getting dressed. Once it was over, it was over."

For a lifelong LA resident (now in exile) like myself, the greatest pleasure of this book was reading about what life was like in the entertainment capital at the beginning of it's reign. Now decrepit apartment houses described when they were desirable addresses; crowded urban corridors that were once sylvan wildlife areas! What surprises lurk here for those who know LA well!

For the general reader, the memoir moves along well, with Ms. Maas' tart comments always enlivening the recollections. The writing style is sparse & not especially descriptive as you would expect from someone who got her start writing scenarios for silent film. I did feel the book could benefit from some fleshing out; entire decades pass in a few paragraphs, the section describing the making of the film the book is entitled after is only a few pages long, & there were many experiences mentioned that would have benefitted from more description. But I guess at nearly 100 the past must often seem a film at fast forward & Ms. Maas' memory is to be commended!

This book is a valuable addition to the memoirs from the Golden Age of Film. It is especially valuable because it's from someone who was not viewing the industry from the heights but rather from the trenches. I salute Frederica Sagor Maas for having the honesty & clear-sightedness to produce this autobiography & for living the life she has led.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shocking Revelations, Aug 9 2008

By Charles Bradley - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The Shocking Miss Pilgrim: A Writer in Early Hollywood (Hardcover)

"The Shocking Miss Pilgrim" is an entertaining and informative read for film buffs,
history fans, and many others. After I heard Hersey Felder sing "Back Bay Polka" in
the musical review "Gershwin Alone", I traced the song to the Betty Grable movie
with the same title as this book. At the time of the movie's release, George
Gershwin had been dead almost two decades. Supposedly, the songs were previously unpublished Gershwin material. Maas claims some were written
by studio composers.

There are many episodes of early Hollywood, featuring nice people and some of the
really rottens. Many ring true, and some smell false. Maas outlived most of the
people she describes as evil or weak, so they can not complain or sue.

It is not literature, and it is not history, but it provides some interesting
scenes that might be of interest to historians, or to gossips. Some reviewers
have labeled the author "left-wing". There are a few scattered political comments
and a few concentrated pages, but conservatives need not fear an attack on their
beliefs. Maas is after specific Hollywood powers.

The dust jacket cover photo is striking. Serious photographers might want to
learn about the other work of the photographer.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood at its best...and worst from one of its first, Oct 23 1999

By Jennifer Conway (dolphin@fast.net) - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The Shocking Miss Pilgrim: A Writer in Early Hollywood (Hardcover)

Extraordinary story from many angles: that of a bright, young female writer in the Twenties who could have risen to the top of her profession and should have, were it not for the jealous men who got in her way. That of a woman who was there when Hollywood was still a dirt road and saw it all. That of an emancipated woman who celebrates her independence in every sense of the word. That of a brilliant screenwriting couple permanently scarred by the McCarthy Witchhunts. I would have wished for more on her (and Ernest's) life after Hollywood. Did they stay in touch with Hollywood friends? How did their lives change? Reminds me a bit of today's crop of downsized millions forced to rechart their lives and who face the formidable barrier of age discrimination. Wonderful book! And by a near-centenarian, yet! What a salute to life after 50!!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 11 reviews 3.8 out of 5 stars