Marguerite Bertsch | |
|---|---|
 Marguerite Bertsch, from a 1914 publication | |
| Born | December 14, 1889 New York City, US |
| Died | 1967 (aged 77) |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter and director |
Marguerite Bertsch (December 14, 1889 – 1967) was an American screenwriter and film director who worked in the early days of film. Her 1917 text How to Write for Moving Pictures: A Manual of Instruction and Information reflected and influenced the screenwriters of the era.[1] In the early days of film it was not uncommon for "scenario writers" to be women and she was among those who, beginning in 1916, also directed films.[2] However, she would later be called one of the "forgotten women" of silent film as the non-acting women of early film largely became obscure.[3] Prints of two films that Bertsch had worked on as a screenwriter were rediscovered in the Netherlands, at the Nederlands Filmmuseum. These newly discovered films, The Diver and The Troublesome Step-Daughter, and the 1914 film A Florida Enchantment, are currently the only films from Bertsch's career that have been recovered. The rest are presumed to be lost.[4]
- ^ Somerville, Siobhan B. (2002). "The Queer Career of Jim Crow: Racial and Sexual Transformation in A Florida Enchantment." In Bean, Jennifer M.; Negra, Diane. A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. pp. 256-257. ISBN 0822329999.
- ^ Women Filmmakers in Early Hollywood by Karen Ward Mahar, pgs 182-183
- ^ Robert and Frances Flaherty by Robert J. Christopher, pg 419
- ^ "Marguerite Bertsch – Women Film Pioneers Project". wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-11.