Rosanne Welch

2 weeks ago | scriptmag.com | Rosanne Welch

The Lunts and Barrymores may be more famous as theatrical families, but during their heyday, Dorothy Davenport’s parents, Alice and Harry, were also staples of the vaudeville circuit and expanded into motion pictures. Alice Davenport appeared in many films with Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand, and Harry appeared in more than 150 films through the 1950s.

2 months ago | scriptmag.com | Rosanne Welch

Film studies courses often still fawn all over Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith. Rather than wallowing in the racist messages of Birth of a Nation, professors should focus on the work of Lois Weber, whose use of screenwriting in her activism lends continued relevance to her work. In an era where we bask in the social justice messages of Get Out, by writer-director Jordan Peele, it seems only right to connect the dots from Weber to Peele. So, to celebrate this 50th column, we’re celebrating Weber.

Mar 21, 2025 | scriptmag.com | Rosanne Welch

In a career that first challenged - and then outlasted the Hays Code - Kathryn Scola succeeded in writing the kind of defiant women that major stars like Barbara Stanwyck longed to play – and often did. Born in New Jersey in 1891 to immigrant parents (her mother from Ireland/ father from Italy) Scola saw women struggle financially in her early life.

Feb 19, 2025 | scriptmag.com | Rosanne Welch |DrRosanne Welch

Born just 4 years after the end of the Civil War in Boonville, Missouri, the scripts Julie Crawford Ivers wrote (and sometimes directed) often tackled issues of prejudice. After the war, her family emigrated to Los Angeles. As with many female creatives in this era, Ivers used her screenplays to highlight women’s issues from forced marriage to domestic abuse to prejudice.

Dec 18, 2024 | scriptmag.com | Rosanne Welch

The surname DeMille (or de Mille) brings up thoughts of the famous line from Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler’s Sunset Boulevard “Mr. de Mille, I’m ready for my close up” which references silent screen director Cecil. Perhaps people remember his brother, William, who started as a playwright and became a Hollywood director and joined 3rd wife Clara Beranger in founding the film school at the University of Southern California.