Essays

Anita Loos

Ruvoli, JoAnne

In 1917, Photoplay reported that “The most important service that Anita Loos has so far rendered the screen is the elevation of the subcaption [sic], first to sanity then to dignity and brilliance combined.” Further, the article went on, Loos had so convinced D. W. Griffith of the value of the intertitle, and he called her “The most brilliant young woman in the world” (148). A prolific writer who appeared in the press in a manner as glamorized as the stars she wrote for, Anita Loos wrote over one hundred and fifty scripts in her thirty years as a Hollywood screenwriter and elevated intertitles to an art. She is best remembered not only for defining the silent era personas of stars like Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and the Talmadge sisters, Constance and Norma, but for also creating the character of Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a 1925 novel adapted to films in 1928 and 1953.

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