Essays

Margaret Turnbull

Delahousse, Sarah

The year 1920 marked a significant career move for Margaret Turnbull. An article in the September 4 issue of Moving Picture World announced that she was chosen to write scenarios for the newly created Famous Players-Lasky studios in Islington, England. Her career with the studio up to this point was prolific; the article credits her with writing or adapting approximately sixty screenplays. She was also credited with writing novels and plays, and the article claimed that her diverse background enhanced her aptitude for “adapting the work of British writers for the screen” (66). One notable play was “Classmates” that she cowrote in 1907 with William deMille. This work was likely a significant success because it was made into a film in 1914. DeMille also joined Famous Players-Lasky in that year along with Turnbull’s brother Hector, who would gain fame a year later as the main screenwriter on The Cheat (1915). Thus, Turnbull had important connections at the studio’s Scenario Department in Hollywood.

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Academic Units
Film
Libraries
Series
Women Film Pioneers Project
Published Here
October 15, 2019