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Tracing the transformation of the film industry into a legitimate \"big businessof the 1920s, and explaining the fate of the female filmmaker during the silent era, Mahar demonstrates how industrial growth and change can unexpectedly open--and close--opportunities for women.

Women flourished as producers, directors, screenwriters, and editors in the first quarter-century of the film industry. But by 1925 their presence in all but screenwriting was severely diminished. The argument of this essay is that the process of gendering the industry ultimately closed studio doors to female filmmakers. As studios moved from the artistic and entrepreneurial stage, conducive to the perceived qualities of women, to the corporate stage, the needs of the industry became masculinized and women were excluded. This process is explored by examining the assumptions regarding gender inherited by the early movie industry and the context in which gender was discussed within the industry, and by asking whether explicit assumptions about the fitness of women and men were ever factors in determining what and who a filmmaker should be.

IN JULY OF 1923 PHOTOPLAY PROFILED Grace Haskins, \"Girl Producer.\" At the age of twenty-two Haskins earned her moniker by writing, directing, and producing her first film, Just Like a Woman. In the space of five years Haskins moved from working in a Hollywood hotel, to answering fan mail, to \"talking herself into a job in the cutting room,\" and then becoming a continuity writer. All the while her ultimate aim was to direct, but \"she knew enough of the game to know that no producer was ever going to give her her chance. Not for a long, long time, anyway.\" Not one to give up, Haskins turned to \"several moneyed men,\" \"dusted off\" a scenario she was working on, and secured a deal with independent distributor W. W. Hodkinson. With check in hand Haskins collected a company of actors, found a ready-made set, and began making her film. Suddenly \"people who had assured her that she couldn't, possibly, hope for success, began to take an unwelcome interest in the proceedings.\" Damaging rumors surfaced, but Haskins persevered. Just Like a Woman reached the screen on March 18, 1923. 1