Sarah Y. Mason (March 31, 1896 – November 28, 1980) was an American screenwriter and

script supervisor A script supervisor (also called continuity supervisor or script) is a member of a film crew who oversees the continuity of the motion picture including wardrobe, props, set dressing, hair, makeup and the actions of the actors during a scene. The ...

.Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). ''Silent Film Necrology.'' McFarland,

Biography

Mason was born Sarah Yeiser Mason in

Pima, Arizona Pima is a town in Graham County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 2,387, up from 1,989 in 2000. The estimated population in 2018 was 2,512. Pima is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Area ...

. She and her husband

Victor Heerman Victor Eugene Heerman (August 27, 1893 – November 3, 1977) was an English-American film director, screenwriter, and film producer.Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). ''Silent Film Necrology.'' McFarland, After writing and directing short comedies ...

won the Academy Award for best screenplay adaptation for their adaptation for the 1933 film '' Little Women'', based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott. After that success, she and Heerman were the first screenwriters involved in early, never-produced scripts commissioned for what would become MGM's ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1940 film). Mason's career is also notable as she was the very first

in Hollywood, having invented the craft of

film continuity In fiction, continuity is a consistency of the characteristics of people, plot, objects, and places seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time. It is relevant to several media. Continuity is particularly a concern in the production of ...

when the industry switched from

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

talkies A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

.Schallert, Edwin (February 4, 1929)
Wow of a sound film on screen.
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''Staff report (April 7, 1929). Rivoli To Have 'Fancy Baggage.' '' Baltimore Sun'' She and Heerman married in 1921. She died at age 84 in Los Angeles and was cremated. Victor and Sarah had two children, Catharine Anliss Heerman, an artist and teacher of art in Southern California who was previously married to record producer

Lester Koenig Lester Koenig (December 3, 1917 – November 20, 1977) was an American screenwriter, film producer, and founder of the jazz record label Contemporary Records. Biography Koenig was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the son of Minna (Harli ...

; and Victor, Jr., a successful breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.Daily Racing Forum: "Heerman, prominent bloodstock agent, dies at 89"
July 11, 2014 The Academy Award for ''Little Women'' remains with the family.

Partial filmography

*''

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'' (1918) (continuity) *''

Bound in Morocco ''Bound in Morocco'' is a 1918 American silent action romantic comedy film starring Douglas Fairbanks. Fairbanks produced and wrote the film's story and screenplay (under the pseudonym Elton Thomas), and Allan Dwan directed. The film was produced ...

'' (1918) (continuity) *''

The Poor Simp ''The Poor Simp'' is a 1920 American silent comedy film directed by Victor Heerman and starring Owen Moore, Nell Craig Nell Craig (June 13, 1891 – January 5, 1965) was an American actress. Partial filmography * '' The Triflers'' (1920) ...

'' (1920) (scenario) *'' Held In Trust'' (1920) (scenario) *''

The Chicken in the Case ''The Chicken in the Case'' is a 1921 American silent comedy film directed by Victor Heerman and starring Owen Moore, Vivia Ogden and Teddy Sampson. Plot As described in a film magazine review, Steve Perkins decides to borrow Winnie, the new ...

'' (1921) * ''

A Divorce of Convenience ''A Divorce of Convenience'' is a 1921 American silent comedy film directed by Robert Ellis and starring Owen Moore, Katherine Perry and Nita Naldi.Munden p.191 Cast * Owen Moore as Jim Blake * Katherine Perry as Helen Wakefield * George Less ...

'' (1921) * '' The Girl from Nowhere'' (1921) * '' Modern Matrimony'' (1923) * '' Backstage'' (1927) *''

Cradle Snatchers ''Cradle Snatchers'' is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by Howard Hawks. The picture is based on the 1925 Russell Medcraft and Norma Mitchell stage play of the same name that starred Mary Boland, Edna May Oliver, Raymond Hackett, ...

'' (1927) (scenario) *''

The Broadway Melody ''The Broadway Melody'', also known as ''The Broadway Melody of 1929'', is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the first musicals to feature a Technicolor seque ...

'' (1929) (continuity) *'' Alias Jimmy Valentine'' (1928) (continuity) *'' Little Women'' (1933) (screenplay) *''

The Age of Innocence ''The Age of Innocence'' is a 1920 novel by American author Edith Wharton. It was her twelfth novel, and was initially serialized in 1920 in four parts, in the magazine '' Pictorial Review''. Later that year, it was released as a book by D. App ...

'' (1934) (screenplay) *'' Imitation of Life'' (1934) (uncredited) *'' The Little Minister'' (1934) (screenplay) *'' Break of Hearts'' (1935) (screen play) *''

Magnificent Obsession ''Magnificent Obsession'' is a 1929 novel by American author Lloyd C. Douglas. It was one of four of his books that were eventually made into blockbuster motion pictures, the other three being '' The Robe'', '' White Banners'' and ''The Big Fisher ...

'' (1935) (screenplay) *'' Stella Dallas'' (1937) (screenplay) *'' Golden Boy'' (1939) (screenplay) *'' Pride and Prejudice'' (1940) (uncredited) *''

Meet Me in St. Louis ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' is a 1944 American Christmas film, Christmas musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with Summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith famil ...

'': 1944 (uncredited) *'' Little Women'' (1949) (screenplay) *'' A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob'' (1941) (uncredited) *''

'' (1954) (based upon the screenplay by)

References

External links

*
Sarah Y. Mason
at the Women Film Pioneers Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Sarah Y. 1896 births 1980 deaths American script supervisors Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Women film pioneers American women screenwriters 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American screenwriters