Lucita Squier (sometimes credited as Lucita Squier Williams) was an American screenwriter active during Hollywood's silent era. She wrote more than 50 scripts during the course of her career, working in the U.S., Britain, and Russia.

Biography

Lucita was born in Buffalo, New York, to George Squier and Lucinda Lilliendahl. Her family had been wealthy thanks to the Mexican railroads they owned, but they lost most of their money during the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

, as she would later recount. She grew up speaking Spanish and vacationing in Mexico, attending school in New York City. At one point, she was the only girl attending the exclusive

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , count ...

. After getting a job as a secretary in Hollywood through her family's connection to

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

, she began writing scripts for

Marshall Neilan Marshall Ambrose "Mickey" Neilan (April 11, 1891 – October 27, 1958) was an American actor. Early life Born in San Bernardino, California, Neilan was known by most as "Mickey." Following the death of his father, the eleven-year-old Mickey N ...

's company, where she became lifelong friends with

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

. At the time, newspapers reported that with the release of her first script, ''

Bits of Life ''Bits of Life'' is a 1921 American film produced and directed by Marshall Neilan. The cast included Lon Chaney and Noah Beery, Sr. For her performance in this film, Anna May Wong received her first screen credit. It is notable as an early an ...

'', she was the youngest scenario writer to have a produced film under her belt. After heading back to New York City, she met and married journalist

Albert Rhys Williams Albert Rhys Williams (September 28, 1883 – February 27, 1962), commonly known by his middle name, pronounced "Reece," was an American journalist, labor organizer, and publicist. He is most famous for writing memoirs in favor of the 1917 Oct ...

, and the pair later lived in

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

for seven years. After their son was born, she moved to San Francisco, where she focused on raising her family. She made an attempt to break back into movies, which didn't pan out as script structure had changed with the advent of talkies. After her husband died, she moved to Boston. She died in November 1980, and was survived by her son. Squier appeared posthumously as one of the Witnesses in Warren Beatty’s 1981 film ''

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

''.

Selected filmography

*''The Third Life of Mullah'' (1928) (lost) *''Tons of Money'' (1926) * ''

A Daughter of Love ''A Daughter of Love'' is a 1925 British silent drama film directed by Walter West and starring Violet Hopson, John Stuart and Jameson Thomas.Low p.153 Cast * Violet Hopson as Mary Tannerhill * John Stuart as Dudley Bellairs * Jameson Th ...

'' (1925) * ''

Straws in the Wind ''Straws in the Wind'' is a 1924 British silent drama film directed by Bertram Phillips and starring Betty Ross Clarke, Queenie Thomas and Fred Paul. Cast * Betty Ross Clarke as The Wife * Queenie Thomas as The Woman * Fred Paul as The Hu ...

'' (1924) * ''

The Royal Oak The Royal Oak is the English oak tree within which the future King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House. C ...

'' (1923) * ''

A Gamble with Hearts ''A Gamble with Hearts'' is a 1923 British silent crime film produced by Master Films, directed by Edwin J. Collins and starring Milton Rosmer, Madge Stuart, and Olaf Hytten. The film was adapted from a novel by Anthony Carlyle. Cast * Milton ...

'' (1923) * '' Penrod'' (1922) * ''

'' (1921)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Squier, Lucita American women screenwriters Horace Mann School alumni 1889 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American screenwriters