A very nice person sent me a book, Movie Mavens, on women writers in the early film industry. There were a lot of women to choose from but this woman’s writing style was described as snappy and controversial, just the type of woman I like. Before 1914 newspapers didn’t have popular movie review columns. The first well known and influential writer to do this was a woman, and her name was Francis Peck, AKA Mae Tinee, AKA Mae Tinée.
(As a reminder I do not know these men. They are messaging a satirical Facebook profile of me as a conservative.)
“You seem to have handled the abortion just fine” is absolutely the line this needs to end on, but you should know, he’s sent pages more rambling about the evils of my “abortion.” If you ever need a conservative man to yell at you, clearly that is the way to reel them in.
I spent way too much (but still not enough) time reading old newspapers of her writings and I’ve clipped some of my favorites for you to see. First up is her review of the pro-eugenics movie S.O.S:
Her response to angry fan mail directed at her and the ages of actresses:
A quote on wages and suffrage from her interview with Nana Bryant:
A review of a movie she, sorry-didn’t like:
The survey I mentioned above where stars share what they like, and what they like in the opposite sex:
One of the contests she created:
This picture caption she wrote:
A suggestion she gave to an aspiring screenwriter:
In case you’ve gotten to the end and you haven’t caught it, Mae Tinée is a wordplay for matinee. I won’t tell you how long it took me to figure that out. It’s such a good name that another woman took over movie reviews using the name of Mae Tinée after Frances. Something else worth noting is Mae’s current claim to fame. With the uploading of her old reviews to Rotten Tomatoes in 2021, she ruined the perfect score rating of the movie Citizen Kane.
Like Mae said…
As always, I would appreciate you heart reacting this post for me. More engagement means more people might see my work. ♥️
If you can afford it, can you please subscribe? I love doing this and I really want to be able to continue, but I’m struggling right now with how little Facebook pays. Paid subscriptions are only $5 a month and you get the added benefit of additional stories only paid subscribers can see. A little bit from all of you makes this possible.
I should note that besides what I personally pulled from old papers, the majority of my research is from one guy, so thanks Richard!
Sources:
Chicago Tribune article clippings
Frances Peck Richard Abel
Menus for Movieland Richard Abel
Movie Mavens Richard Abel
Queer Way of Feeling: Girl Fans and Personal Archives of Early Hollywood Diane Anselmo
I might be your new biggest fan but probably not your biggest new fan. That this dude was so self-centered that he never realized he was being trolled is so sad that it’s not funny. Can you imagine living with an idiot like that?
BTW, my checking account is overdrawn but I will try to throw some financial support your way down the row. ❤️
My wife’s breasts often grow larger when discussing pioneering women in film.