The cover is what drew me to this book. I went in completely blind with regards to the subject matter. Thankful for the eye catching cover & great story.

J. E. Smyth, Mary C. McCall Jr. The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Most Powerful Screenwriter, Columbia University Press, September 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

J.E. Smyth has written a detailed, dense and illuminating account of Mary C. McCall’s life as a feminist, novelist, screen writer, labor leader, activist on behalf of screen writers, first leader of the Screenwriters’ Union and her continuing role there. At the same time, the information about other screen writers and activists, the studios and business of producing films is massive.

Sometimes this amount of detail makes the book a difficult read. However, Mary McCall is an immense and motivating figure in the landscape of film production, unionisation, and studio politics, so that together with the explanation and exposure of Hollywood figures and the general history of political change this an engaging read. The content is so interesting that it is worth being enticed back to the book on repeat occasions so as to ingest the story that, while revolving around McCall, is a wide-ranging political exposure of sexism, anti-unionism, blacklisting and power.

The 1940s and early 1950s were McCall’s era. Until the blacklisting of Hollywood activists resulted in her joining the other stalwarts whose momentum and history was lost, this politically strong and exuberant made history – a history that deserved to be remembered. Finally, this has happened, and happily at the competent hand of J. E. Smyth. She has also written about McCall’s personal life – a life that often cannot be equated with her feminist ideals. This adds a dimension to the story which is so valuable - the narrative presents a real person who grapples with the conflict between family responsibilities and a work ethic that determined her commitment to the wider concerns she had with workers’ rights. Mary McCall’s personal life does not overtake her political story but adds to the poignancy of that story in this sensitive, detailed and insightful biography.

Mary McCall’s commitment to working on behalf of her members, circumnavigating the pitfalls with determination and intelligence makes a great story. Her work as a novelist and screen writer makes reading about her life even more fascinating. I am glad to have this work to return to, not only for McCall’s story, but for valuable information about this era in Hollywood and screenwriters’ fight to have the importance of their work recognised.

“Chapter 2: The Pirate” attracted my interest first. However, sadly, this chapter begins by crediting this woman’s rise to her love affair with a powerful man: who merely played a pirate in a movie. There was a 16-year difference between them, so she sold her body to enter the film industry, and thus to eventually “make it” as its temporary monopolist. “Chapter 3: It’s Tough Being Famous” explains that her marriage made her instantaneously-famous, and her birthing their first child increased this fame. By the end of this chapter, she has leisurely written some stories, takes a break, and then returns to the “typewriter”, after deciding on an “open marriage”. And then they decided to divorce. They were married between around 1927-32; though they might have continued to be open-married; that part of the story was not clearly delivered. “Chapter 4” begins with the claim that she was living frugally between her stories being published, ignoring the large allowance her divorce settlement would have granted her. This was during the Depression, but a movie star was hardly this period’s victim. Meanwhile, “50 percent of screenwriters made less than $4,000 a year”. Then, her husband (new or old) got a new top job, and brought her with him back to Hollywood. Meanwhile, she called a producer who was a contact to query about adapting one of her short stories. He instead asked if she “had ‘anything in the trunk to suit a blonde girl named Jean Muir.’” This Muir happened to be “a fellow alumna of the Dwight School of Englewood”, who was a Broadway and Hollywood star. McCall happened to have written an “unpublishable” story called The Lady Surrender that was “a perfect antidote to Wallis’s censorship woes in the post-Code era. Wallis initially offered her $2,100, but she raised it to $3,000 and had him hire her at $300 a week in April and May…” In other words, because her husband was famous, she managed to sell an “unpublishable” story, and was paid more than over 50% of writers at this time. This is a very depressing story, and I have to exit this review at this time. I know this is pretty much the only way a “woman” has “made it” in Hollywood, and why I didn’t… But I don’t really want to know much more about this prostitution of femininity.
--Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Summer 2024 issue

This book was a great read, full of brilliant information and a fascinating life of someone who many people won’t know! Felt a bit lumbered at times, but it was worth plodding through.

As someone who knows nothing about Mary C McCall Jr, this was a great read, super informative, and what a life.

This was very dense, but I feel that without all the information it would be lacking in the story and journey in Mary's life.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for my E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

So so interesting! I’ve always wanted to know more about famous screenwriter and legend Mary McCall. I absolutely cannot wait to learn more about her story and I know lovers of Hollywood and movie buffs will as well. Will be sharing much more soon.