Anita Loos

Screenwriter

About

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Also Known As
Corinne Anita Loos
Birth Place
Mt. Shasta, Sissons, California, USA
Born
April 26, 1888
Died
August 18, 1981
Cause of Death
Heart Attack

Biography

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Actress and journalist turned teenage scenarist who landed a contract with Biograph in 1912. Loos earned a reputation for writing satirical intertitles and, during the sound era, breezily cynical dialogue. She enjoyed a fruitful association with D.W. Griffith and played a significant role in the early career of Douglas Fairbanks. Loos is best known for her 1925 comic novel, "Gentlemen Pr...

Filmography

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The Women (2008)
Source Material
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
Contr to dial
I Married an Angel (1942)
Screenwriter
Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
Screenwriter
They Met in Bombay (1941)
Screenwriter
When Ladies Meet (1941)
Screenwriter

Photos & Videos

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0 Photos
Hold Your Man (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Be A Pal!
0 Photos
0 Photos
Hold Your Man (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Can't Tell A Banker From A Bum

Family & Companions

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Frank Pallma Jr
Husband
Married and divorced in 1915.
John Emerson
Husband
Director. Married from June 15, 1919 to his death in 1956.
Richard Sale
Husband
Writer, director. Divorced.

Bibliography

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"The Talmadge Girls"
Anita Loos (1978)
"Cast of Thousands"
Anita Loos, Grosset & Dunlap (1977)
"Kiss Hollywood Goodbye"
Anita Loos (1974)
"A Girl Like I"
Anita Loos (1966)

Biography

Actress and journalist turned teenage scenarist who landed a contract with Biograph in 1912. Loos earned a reputation for writing satirical intertitles and, during the sound era, breezily cynical dialogue. She enjoyed a fruitful association with D.W. Griffith and played a significant role in the early career of Douglas Fairbanks. Loos is best known for her 1925 comic novel, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," which she adapted for the screen and stage. Her second husband was director John Emerson (1875-1956) and her third, writer-director Richard Sale.

Filmography

 

Writer (Feature Film)

The Women (2008)
Source Material
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
Contr to dial
I Married an Angel (1942)
Screenwriter
Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
Screenwriter
They Met in Bombay (1941)
Screenwriter
When Ladies Meet (1941)
Screenwriter
Susan and God (1940)
Screenwriter
The Women (1939)
Screenwriter
Another Thin Man (1939)
Contract Writer
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
Contract Writer
Mama Steps Out (1937)
Screenwriter
Saratoga (1937)
Screenplay and Original story
San Francisco (1936)
Screenwriter
Riffraff (1936)
Screenwriter
Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935)
Screenwriter
The Girl from Missouri (1934)
Original Screenplay
Hold Your Man (1933)
Screenwriter
Hold Your Man (1933)
Story
The Barbarian (1933)
Screenplay and dial
Midnight Mary (1933)
Original Story
The Struggle (1932)
Screenplay story by
Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Screenwriter
Blondie of the Follies (1932)
Dial
The Fall of Eve (1929)
Story
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928)
Scen
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928)
Titles
Stranded (1927)
Story
Publicity Madness (1927)
Story
Learning To Love (1925)
Scen
Learning To Love (1925)
Story
Three Miles Out (1924)
Scen
Dulcy (1923)
Scen
Red Hot Romance (1922)
Scen
Polly of the Follies (1922)
Scen
Red Hot Romance (1922)
Story
Polly of the Follies (1922)
Story
Mama's Affair (1921)
Scen
Woman's Place (1921)
Story
The Branded Woman (1920)
Scen
Dangerous Business (1920)
Scen
The Perfect Woman (1920)
Scen
In Search of a Sinner (1920)
Scen
The Love Expert (1920)
Scen
The Love Expert (1920)
Story
The Perfect Woman (1920)
Story
Getting Mary Married (1919)
Story
The Isle of Conquest (1919)
Scen
A Temperamental Wife (1919)
Scen
Oh, You Women (1919)
Scen
A Virtuous Vamp (1919)
Scen
Oh, You Women (1919)
Story
Under the Top (1919)
Story
Let's Get a Divorce (1918)
Adaptation
Come on in (1918)
Scen
Good-Bye, Bill (1918)
Scen
Hit-the-Trail Holliday (1918)
Scen
Wild and Woolly (1917)
Scen
The Americano (1917)
Scen
Reaching for the Moon (1917)
Scen
In Again--Out Again (1917)
Scen
A Daughter of the Poor (1917)
Scen
Down to Earth (1917)
Scen
Down to Earth (1917)
Titles
The Americano (1917)
Titles
The Social Secretary (1916)
Scen
American Aristocracy (1916)
Story
The Wharf Rat (1916)
Scen
Stranded (1916)
Scen
The Little Liar (1916)
Scen
Intolerance (1916)
Titles
The Wharf Rat (1916)
Story
His Picture in the Papers (1916)
Scen
The Wild Girl of the Sierras (1916)
Scen
The Deadly Glass of Beer (1916)
Screenwriter
A Ten-Cent Adventure (1914)
Screenwriter
The Hunchback (1914)
Screenwriter
The Sisters (1914)
Screenwriter
The Gangsters of New York (1914)
Screenwriter
A Lesson in Mechanics (1914)
Screenwriter
Billy's Rival (1914)
Screenwriter
When the Road Parts (1914)
Screenwriter
The Lady and the Mouse (1913)
Screenwriter
The Mistake (1913)
Screenwriter
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
Screenplay
The Telephone Girl and the Lady (1912)
Screenwriter
The New York Hat (1912)
Screenwriter

Producer (Feature Film)

Dangerous Business (1920)
Producer
The Love Expert (1920)
Producer
A Temperamental Wife (1919)
Supervisor
Come on in (1918)
Producer

Writer (Special)

Happy Birthday (1956)
Play As Source Material ("Happy Birthday")

Special Thanks (Special)

Happy Birthday (1956)
Play As Source Material ("Happy Birthday")

Life Events

Videos

Movie Clip

Hold Your Man (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Be A Pal! Following shortly upon the opening, tight comedy with Clark Gable as hustler Eddie caught running a street scam, diving into the apartment where Jean Harlow bathes, gamely providing cover when his mark and a cop (Henry B. Walthall, Jack Cheatham) arrive in pursuit, in MGM's Hold Your Man, 1933.
Hold Your Man (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Can't Tell A Banker From A Bum Clever opening bit with Clark Gable in hustler mode, encountering venerable Henry B. Walthall on an MGM city street, then Garry Owen at a pawn shop, Sam Wood directing from an original screenplay by Howard Emmett Rogers and Anita Loos, in Hold Your Man, 1933, also starring Jean Harlow.
Hold Your Man (1933) -- (Movie Clip) The Cutest Suburbs Jean Harlow as party girl Ruby brings Stuart Erwin as her devoted semi-sugar daddy beau to a night club, where she has subterfuge in mind, and we find out she’s been visiting in hopes of meeting con-man Clark Gable, who’s a regular, and who finally turns up, in MGM”s Hold Your Man, 1933, Louise Beavers the washroom lady.
Midnight Mary (1933) -- (Movie Clip) A Girl's Gotta Live Loretta Young (title character), awaiting her sentence in a murder trial, is recalling years past via the spines of court record books, including meeting her pal Bunny (Una Merkel) and her future employer-boyfriend, hoodlum Leo (Ricardo Cortez), in Midnight Mary, directed by William A. Wellman.
Red-Headed Woman (1932) -- (Movie Clip) Husbands Just Love Being Surprised With May Robson as her Aunt Jane, the first appearance by Leila Hyams as Irene, wife of businessman Bill (Chester Morris), whom we know is this very minute being seduced by his brazen new office gal “Red” (Jean Harlow), leading to confrontation, in director Jack Conway’s Red-Headed Woman, 1932.
Red-Headed Woman (1932) -- (Movie Clip) I'm In The Big Leagues Having successfully gotten herself caught fooling around with her boss by his wife, Red (Jean Harlow) plotting and undressing with somewhat shocked pal Sally (Una Merkel), then summoned by her boss's father (Lewis Stone) in MGM's Red-Headed Woman, 1932.
Red-Headed Woman (1932) -- (Movie Clip) She Doesn't Need To Know Office girl "Red" (Jean Harlow), who's contrived to visit boss Bill (Chester Morris) at home while his wife's away, goes into full seduction mode, in director Jack Conway's Red-Headed Woman, 1932.
Midnight Mary (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Her Vicious Criminal Career From the top, Frank Conroy the prosecutor and top-billed Loretta Young the accused title character, the outcome not looking good as her trial ends, Charley Grapewin the philosophical but gaff-prone clerk with her awaiting a verdict, in Midnight Mary, 1933, from MGM and William A. Wellman.
Midnight Mary (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Who Might That Lovely Lady Be? We know that knockout lady gambler Mary (Loretta Young) and coat check babe Bunny (Una Merkel) both work for gangsters, so we know something’s up at the casino, as we meet sophisticate Tom (Franchot Tone) and dyspeptic buddy Sam (Andy Devine), in MGM’s Midnight Mary, 1933.
San Francisco (1936) -- (Movie Clip) Let's See Your Legs Still in the opening scenes, New Year's Eve 1905, dignified Mary (Jeanette MacDonald) gets past floor-boss Babe (Harold Huber) to popular club owner Blackie (Clark Gable), who causes her to pass out, early in MGM's San Francisco, 1936.
San Francisco (1936) -- (Movie Clip) Did You Say Smart? In 1905, club owner Blackie (Clark Gable) sparring with childhood pal Tim (Spencer Tracy) whom we shortly learn is "Father" Tim, then approached by civic leaders about running for office, in MGM's San Francisco, 1936.
San Francisco (1936) -- (Movie Clip) By Your Applause Mary (Jeanette MacDonald) wins the talent contest, intending to raise funds for the political campaign of her unlucky old pal and employer Blackie (Clark Gable) who rejects the money she's won, and darn sure seems to cause the 1906 earthquake, in MGM's San Francisco, 1936.

Trailer

Susan and God - (Original Trailer) A flighty socialite neglects her family to promote a new religious group in Susan and God (1940) starring Joan Crawford, directed by George Cukor.
Mama Steps Out - (Original Trailer) Alice Brady is a dizzy society matron running wild on the Riviera in Mama Steps Out (1937).
Midnight Mary - (Original Trailer) Loretta Young is an abused orphan who sinks into a life of crime in the pre-code drama Midnight Mary (1933).
When Ladies Meet (1941) - (Original Trailer) A female novelist doesn't realize her new friend is the wife whose husband she's trying to steal in When Ladies Meet (1941).
Blossoms In The Dust - (Original Trailer) Greer Garson plays the real-life Texas heroine Edna Gladney in this MGM Technicolor drama.
I Married An Angel - (Original Trailer) Some husbands say it but Nelson Eddy means it literally in his final pairing with Jeanette MacDonald, I Married An Angel (1942).
San Francisco - (Re-issue Trailer) A beautiful singer and a battling priest try to reform a Barbary Coast saloon owner in the days before the big earthquake in San Francisco (1936), starring Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy.
Riffraff - (Original Trailer) Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy play young marrieds in the fishing business who run afoul of the law in Riffraff (1935).
Biography of a Bachelor Girl - (Original Trailer) Ann Harding had a fling with Edward Everett Horton. For some reason she wants people to know in Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935).
Saratoga - (Original Trailer) In her last movie, Saratoga (1937), Jean Harlow plays a horse breeder's daughter who falls for bookie (Clark Gable).
They Met In Bombay - (Original Trailer) Rival jewel thieves on the run find love in the Far East in They Met In Bombay (1941) starring Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell.

Companions

Frank Pallma Jr
Husband
Married and divorced in 1915.
John Emerson
Husband
Director. Married from June 15, 1919 to his death in 1956.
Richard Sale
Husband
Writer, director. Divorced.

Bibliography

"The Talmadge Girls"
Anita Loos (1978)
"Cast of Thousands"
Anita Loos, Grosset & Dunlap (1977)
"Kiss Hollywood Goodbye"
Anita Loos (1974)
"A Girl Like I"
Anita Loos (1966)
"Breaking Into the Movies"
Anita Loos and John Emerson (1921)
"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"
Anita Loos (1921)
"How to Write Photoplays"
Anita Loos and John Emerson (1919)

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