Liberating Hollywood: Women Directors and the Feminist Reform of 1970s American Cinema

While I watched many movies during the 1970's, I was not especially aware of the fact that very few were directed by women. Who knew? Liberating Hollywood brings out a chapter in film history that is necessary in understanding the evolution of modern cinema.As someone interested in the legal system’s application to inequities based on gender, the analysis of why the law was unable to address the numerical anomaly of 163 female to 4,127 male members of the Director's Guild was enlightening.It seems that a perfect storm of an unsympathetic judge, conflicted attorneys and the peculiar nature of the directing profession conspired to deny a just legal solution. During those years, while women firefighters and longshore-people among others obtained equal access to their professions, women directors did not.One would have thought that a liberal place like Hollywood, would have been a champion of this movement, but this book proves, it fell short. Many other reasons for this failure are explored, but I found the legal explanation especially compelling. In general, this was a good look at the lack of women directors, especially from the point of view of the women directors themselves.I’m sure the research that went into this book began long prior to the #metoo era, but it is a great slice of history showing how woman directors coped in a hostile environment.

Crackling with intelligence, humor, and irresistible behind-the-scenes detail, Maya Montañez Smukler brings fresh perspective to an era in cinema history that produced some of the great filmmakers of all time. Smukler renders the unique experience of 16 legendary women directors so vividly, what is otherwise a must-read for film history students becomes a universally appealing dramatic story that should be—and most likely will be—adapted into a film itself. I agree 100% with NY Times film critic Manohla Dargis that this book "is an exciting and topical examination of a transformative group of female filmmakers" whose work and grit inspires the rest of us to never give up.

"One of the challenges of writing a history of women directors in Hollywood is balancing the push and pull between stark discrimination and progress, often of the smallest kind." ~ Maya Montañez SmuklerIn "Liberating Hollywood," Ms. Montañez Smukler does a masterful job distilling this comprehensive history into a balanced and engaging page-turner. Women still have a long way to go in Hollywood (and beyond), but we're on our way -- even though the progress feels painfully slow.