Women in Film Atlanta hosted a screening for Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in July. The movie represents a series honoring the women who shaped the early years of American cinema. “Without Lying Down, Frances Marion and the Power of Women in Hollywood” is narrated by Uma Thurman. Kathy Bates is the voice of Frances Marion. The original documentary examines the development of filmmaking through Marion, the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood, male or female, for more than two decades. The lauded Marion was also the first female writer to grab an Oscar and worked with such classic stars as Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Rudolph Valentino, Gary Cooper, and the Barrymores. A character, Marion’s caustic wit endeared her to close friends. While she never complained about the industry “that fed me caviar,” Marion joked that she had “spent her whole life searching for a man I could look up to... without lying down.”

Part of a month long tribute to female film pioneers, the movie premiered at the Macquarium Building, and the series began on cable in August.