BREAKING INTO THE MOVIES

New York: The James A. McCann Company, 1921. First edition. Near fine in very good jacket.. First printing, in the scarce original dust jacket, of this guide for ambitious amateurs by the author of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES and the most successful screenwriter of her era. Loos's second book, co-written with director John Emerson, her collaborator and sometime disastrous husband; the pair had previously published HOW TO WRITE PHOTOPLAYS. In later life, Loos would look back on her partnership with Emerson with clear eyes in her fairly devastating memoirs, describing the disillusionment of going after a "man of brains" only to discover that she was "smarter than he was." BREAKING INTO THE MOVIES is a witty, forceful, and de-mystifying guide for the amateur hoping to enter the 1920s film world in any capacity, behind or in front of the camera. It includes the authors' full scenario for RED HOT ROMANCE (1922), "played as a romantic melodrama, but...intended as a satire upon this very type of story," along with a wealth of practical insider information and occasional forays into entertaining anecdote, both accurate and less so. Loos, for example, tells the inspiring tale of how "At the age of fourteen she sent her first scenario to Griffith; for a miracle, it was accepted...Soon after this she paid a personal visit to the Griffith studios and became the youngest scenario editor in the world." Though indeed young — and in 1912, the first woman to be made a Hollywood staff scriptwriter — she was closer to 24 than 14 at the time of this sale to Griffith; she would later revise her age in the story downward still further, to 12, for effect: Loos was a great editor of the little details, a brilliant storyteller, and always a master of effect. 7.25'' x 5''. Original glossy scarlet cloth lettered in black. In original unclipped ($1.50) dust jacket. Illustrated with seven black and white photographs, including frontispiece. [10], 115, [1] pages. Small bookseller label mounted to front paste-down. Minor bumping to boards. Several small closed tears and chips to dust jacket corners and spine ends; 1'' chip to lower edge of front panel; mild soil and creasing. (Inventory #: 40090)