Without Lying Down

Director: Bridget Terry
USA. 2000.
65 minutes. B&W and Color.

"I've spent my life searching for a man to look up to without lying down."

- Frances Marion

And what a life it was! From 1915-1939, Frances Marion was one of the most powerful talents in the movie industry. In one of the most liberating eras for women in film, she wrote more than 200 movies and was the world's highest paid screenwriter - man or woman. Hollywood moguls competed for her stories. Stars like Pickford, Garbo, Gable, Gish, Valentino, and Dressler brought her characters to life. Scripting such classics as The Champ, Poor Little Rich Girl, Anna Christie, Min and Bill, The Big House, Camille, and The Scarlet Letter, Marion became the first screenwriter to win two Oscars®.

Now, Frances Marion's fascinating life and times come alive in this insightful documentary narrated by acclaimed actresses Uma Thurman and Oscar®-winner Kathy Bates - who gives voice to the screenwriter's own words taken from her letters, diaries and memoirs. Footage from more than twenty of Marion's movies align with commentary by pre-eminent silent film historian Kevin Brownlow, critic Leonard Maltin and Marion's celebrated biographer, Cari Beauchamp. Interviews with current women filmmakers reflect on the legacy left to them by Marion and the pioneering women of early Hollywood who did it all "without lying down." A bonus feature on this video is the wonderful and rarely seen classic, A Little Princess starring Mary Pickford and ZaSu Pitts with a script by Frances Marion!

Without Lying Down. Narrated by Uma Thurman and Kathy Bates as the voice of "Frances Marion." Executive Producer: Hugh M. Hefner in association with UCLA Film & Television Archive. Music by Glenn A. Jordan. Original Photography by Eric Anderson. Edited by Tamera Daugherty, Eve Gage. Based in part on Without Lying Down by Cari Beauchamp. © 2000 Chaise Lounge Productions, LLC and UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Bonus Features

A Little Princess. Script by Frances Marion from a story by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Piano Score by Jon Mirsalis. © 2001 Milestone Film & Video. DVD only: Stills Gallery

 

Reviews

"Amazing! This breezy celebration of Frances Marion's formidable talents also examines the roles powerful women played in the early days of the film industry." - Mark Dawidziak, Cleveland Plain Dealer

"The resonant, multilayered tale of women film pioneers emerges as a fresh source of inspiration." -Nancy Randle, Los Angeles Times

"Fascinating! Insightful! Kathy Bates reads with a strong bright voice, evoking real feeling for Frances Marion and her vigorous outlook." -Julie Salamon, New York Times