Frances Marion

Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens; November 18, 1888^[1] – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist, and author. She is said^{[by whom?]} to be one of the most famous female screenwriters of the 20th century. During her career, she wrote over 325 scripts.^[2] She was the first writer to win 2 Academy Awards. In her early career, she wrote many different silent movie scenarios scenarios for Mary Pickford. After that, she wrote many sound movies.

Frances Marion
Marion directing The Love Light, which she also wrote, 1920
Born	Marion Benson Owens (1888-11-18)November 18, 1888 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died	May 12, 1973(1973-05-12) (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations	Screenwriter director journalist author
Years active	1912–1972
Spouses	Wesley de Lappe ​ ​ (m. 1906; div. 1910)​ Robert Pike ​ ​ (m. 1911; div. 1917)​ Fred Thomson ​ ​ (m. 1919; died 1928)​ George Hill ​ ​ (m. 1930; div. 1933)​

Famous movies

Year	Title	Featured Stars	Notes
1912	The New York Hat	Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish	Contributing writer
1915	Camille	Clara Kimball Young, Paul Capellani, Robert Cummings	Scenario
	A Girl of Yesterday	Mary Pickford, Frances Marion, Glenn L. Martin	Actress
1916	The Foundling	Mary Pickford, Mildred Morris, Gertrude Norman	Writer
	The Gilded Cage	Alice Brady, Montagu Love, Alec B. Francis	Scenarist/writer
1917	A Little Princess	Katherine Griffith, Mary Pickford, Norman Kerry, ZaSu Pitts, Theodore Roberts	Writer
	Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm	Mary Pickford, Eugene O'Brien	Writer
	The Poor Little Rich Girl	Mary Pickford, Madlaine Traverse, Charles Wellesley, Gladys Fairbanks	Writer
1918	Stella Maris	Mary Pickford	Photoplay
	How Could You, Jean?	Mary Pickford	Scenario
	M'Liss	Mary Pickford	Writer
	Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley	Mary Pickford, William Scott, Kate Price	Writer
	The Temple of Dusk	Sessue Hayakawa, Jane Novak, Louis Willoughby, Mary Jane Irving	Writer
1919	The Cinema Murder	Marion Davies, Eulalie Jensen, Anders Randolf, Reginald Barlow	Scenario
	Anne of Green Gables	Mary Miles Minter	Writer
1920	Pollyanna	Mary Pickford	Adaptation
	The Flapper	Olive Thomas, Warren Cook	Screenplay, story
	Humoresque	Gaston Glass, Vera Gordon, Alma Rubens	Scenario
	The Restless Sex	Marion Davies, Ralph Kellard	Writer
1921	The Love Light	Mary Pickford, Evelyn Dumo	Director, story (uncredited)
	Just Around the Corner	Margaret Seddon, Lewis Sargent, Sigrid Holmquist	Director, scenario
1922	The Primitive Lover	Constance Talmadge, Harrison Ford	Scenario
	The Toll of the Sea	Anna May Wong, Kenneth Harlan, Beatrice Bentley	Scenario (uncredited), story
1923	The Famous Mrs. Fair	Myrtle Stedman, Huntley Gordon	Adaptation, screenplay
	The Song of Love	Norma Talmadge, Joseph Schildkraut, Arthur Edmund Carewe	Director, screenplay
1924	Secrets	Norma Talmadge	Adaptation
	Cytherea	Alma Rubens, Constance Bennett, Norman Kerry, Lewis Stone, Irene Rich	Adaptation
	The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln	George A. Billing, Ruth Clifford, George K. Arthur, Louise Fazenda	Story, screenplay
1925	Stella Dallas	Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Lois Moran	Adaptation
	A Thief in Paradise	Doris Kenyon, Ronald Colman, Aileen Pringle	Adaptation
	Thank You	Alec B. Francis, Jacqueline Logan	Writer
	Lightnin'	Jay Hunt, Wallace MacDonald	Writer
1926	The Scarlet Letter	Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson	Adaptation, scenario, titles
	The Winning of Barbara Worth	Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky	Adaptation
	Son of the Sheik	Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Bánky, Montagu Love, Karl Dane, George Fawcett	Adaptation
1927	The Red Mill	Marion Davies	Adaptation, screenplay
	Love	John Gilbert, Greta Garbo	Continuity
	Madame Pompadour	Dorothy Gish	Writer
1928	The Wind	Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Montagu Love, Dorothy Cumming	Scenario
	The Awakening	Vilma Bánky, Walter Byron	Story
	Bringing Up Father	J. Farrell MacDonald, Polly Moran, Marie Dressler	Writer
1929	Their Own Desire	Norma Shearer, Belle Bennett, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery, Helene Millard	Screenplay
1930	Min and Bill	Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery	Dialogue, scenario
	The Big House	Robert Montgomery, Wallace Beery, Chester Morris, Lewis Stone	Dialogue, story Won the Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
	Good News	Mary Lawlor, Stanley Smith	Scenario
	The Rogue Song	Lawrence Tibbett, Catherine Dale Owen	Writer
	Anna Christie	Greta Garbo, Charles Bickford, George F. Marion, Marie Dressler	Writer
1931	The Secret Six	Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Ralph Bellamy, Marjorie Rambeau	Dialogue, screenplay
	The Champ	Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich, Roscoe Ates	Story Won the Academy Award for Best Story
1932	Blondie of the Follies	Marion Davies, Robert Montgomery, Billie Dove	Screenplay, story
	Emma	Marie Dressler, Richard Cromwell, Jean Hersholt, Myrna Loy	Story
1933	Peg o' My Heart	Marion Davies, Onslow Stevens, J. Farrell MacDonald	Adaptation
	Dinner at Eight	Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Billie Burke	Screenplay
	The Prizefighter and the Lady	Myrna Loy, Max Baer, Walter Huston, Primo Carnera, Jack Dempsey	Story Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story
	Going Hollywood	Marion Davies, Bing Crosby, Fifi D'Orsay, Stuart Erwin	Story (uncredited)
	Secrets	Mary Pickford, Leslie Howard	Writer
1936	Camille	Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore	Screenplay
	Riffraff	Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy	Screenplay, story
	Poor Little Rich Girl	Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, Jack Haley, Gloria Stuart, Michael Whalen, Claude Gillingwater	Writer
1937	Knight Without Armour	Marlene Dietrich, Robert Donat	Adaptation
	Love from a Stranger	Ann Harding, Basil Rathbone	Adaptation
1940	Green Hell	Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Vincent Price, Joan Bennett, Alan Hale Sr., George Sanders, John Howard	Original story, screenplay

Published works

• Minnie Flynn. NY: Boni and Liveright, 1925; free via google books and Hathi Trust
  • wikisource:Minnie Flynn
• The Secret Six. NY: Grosset & Dunlap, 1931 (novelization of her own screenplay of The Secret Six)
• Valley People. NY: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1935

"The book’s portrayal of the community as isolated inbreds bent on self-destruction and domination understandably ruffled many feathers"^[3][4][5]

• How to Write and Sell Film Stories. NY: Covici-Friede, 1937
• Molly, Bless Her. NY: Harper & Brothers, 1937
• Westward The Dream. Garden City NY: Doubleday and Company, 1948
• The Passions of Linda Lane. NY: Diversey Publications, 1949 [paperback; revised edition of Minnie Flynn]
• The Powder Keg. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1953
• Off With Their Heads!: A Serio-Comic Tale of Hollywood (via Internet Archive (registration required)) NY: The Macmillan Company, 1972 memoir