Ethel Doherty (February 2, 1889 – August 12, 1974) was an American
screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
, writer, and educator active primarily in the 1920s and 1930s.
Biography
Doherty, a native of Los Angeles County, was the daughter of Alonzo Doherty (a dentist) and Sara Armsden; she spent time in California and Arizona as a child.
She began working as a history teacher in Los Angeles public schools, but by night she busied herself writing scenarios and screenplays with her friend
Louise Long
Louise Long (October 15, 1886 – July 14, 1966) was an American screenwriter, educator, author, and film editor active primarily in the 1920s and 1930s.
Biography
Long, a native of Central City, Nebraska, was the daughter of Noah Long and Loi ...
, who she met while attending the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
.
Frustrated with their lack of success at selling their stories, they taught themselves
shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...
and stenography and got jobs at Paramount (then
Famous Players–Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and t ...
). At night, they'd spend their time learning how to edit films.
They eventually worked their way into editing roles at
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
, making $15 a week, before moving into screenwriting at $450 a week. Doherty's first big picture was the screen adaptation of Zane Gray's ''
The Vanishing American
''The Vanishing American'' is a 1925 American silent Western film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by George B. Seitz and starred Richard Dix and Lois Wilson, recently paire ...
'' in 1925. Doherty and Long worked on a number of scripts together over the courses of their careers, although they also wrote many screenplays on their own.
They worked steadily in film through the late 1930s before deciding to turn their interests to writing magazines and novels (including 1938's ''The Seeds of Time''). The two continued to live and work together in Laguna Beach.
Selected filmography
* ''
The Vanishing American
''The Vanishing American'' is a 1925 American silent Western film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by George B. Seitz and starred Richard Dix and Lois Wilson, recently paire ...
'' (1925)
* ''
Behind the Front
''Behind the Front'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Black Eyed Peas released on June 30, 1998 through Interscope Records and will.i.am Music Group.
Background
Most of the tracks were demos for the ''Grass Roots'' album, wi ...
Rough House Rosie
''Rough House Rosie'' is a 1927 American silent romantic comedy film produced and released by Paramount Pictures and directed by Frank Strayer. The film is a starring vehicle for Clara Bow who was then Paramount's most popular actress. Reed How ...
'' (1927)
* ''
Hula
Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form accompanied by chant (oli) or song (Mele (Hawaiian language), mele). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of t ...
'' (1927)
* ''
Figures Don't Lie
''Figures Don't Lie'' is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and written by Ethel Doherty, Grover Jones, Louise Long, Herman J. Mankiewicz, and B. F. Zeidman. The film stars Esther Ralston, Richard Arlen, Ford ...
'' (1927)
* ''
Honeymoon Hate
''Honeymoon Hate'' is a lost film, lost 1927 American silent film, silent romantic comedy film directed by Luther Reed and written by Doris Anderson, Ethel Doherty, Herman J. Mankiewicz, George Marion Jr., and Alice Muriel Williamson, A.M. Willi ...
'' (1927)
* '' The Showdown'' (1928) (adaptation)
* ''
The Fifty-Fifty Girl
''The Fifty-Fifty Girl'' is a lost 1928 American silent comedy film directed by Clarence Badger and starring Bebe Daniels and James Hall as co-owners of a gold mine.Take Me Home'' (1928)
* '' His Private Life'' (1928)
* ''
Manhattan Cocktail
A Manhattan is a cocktail made with whisky, whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. While rye whisky, rye is the traditional whiskey of choice, other commonly used whiskies include Canadian whisky, bourbon whiskey, bourbon, blended whiskey, and ...
'' (1928)
* ''
Marquis Preferred
''Marquis Preferred'' is a 1929 silent film comedy directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Adolphe Menjou. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Cast
*Adolphe Menjou - Marquis d'Argenville
* Nora Lane - Peggy Winton
* Chester Con ...
'' (1929)
* ''
Innocents in Paris
''Innocents in Paris'' is a 1953 British-French international co-production comedy film produced by Romulus Films, directed by Gordon Parry and starring Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, Claire Bloom, Margaret Rutherford, Claude Dauphin, and Jimmy ...
The Saturday Night Kid
''The Saturday Night Kid'' is a 1929 American pre-Code romantic comedy film about two sisters and the man they both want. It stars Clara Bow, Jean Arthur, James Hall, and in her first credited speaking role, Jean Harlow. The film was based on ...
Men Are Such Fools
''Men are Such Fools'' is a 1938 American romantic comedy directed by Busby Berkeley and written by Norman Reilly Raine and Horace Jackson. The film stars Wayne Morris, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart, Hugh Herbert, Johnnie Davis, and Penny Sin ...
'' (1932) (continuity)
* ''
Sailor Be Good
''Sailor Be Good'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by James Cruze and written by Ethel Doherty, Viola Brothers Shore and Ralph Spence. Starring Jack Oakie, Vivienne Osborne, George E. Stone, Max Hoffman Jr. and Lincoln Stedman ...
'' (1933)
* ''
Home on the Range
"Home on the Range" is a classic cowboy song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (also spelled Highley) of Smith County, Kansas, wrote the lyrics as the poem "My Western Home" in 1872 or 1873 ...