SassMouthDames

In the second instalment of an original series, clues lead Terry and Margaret to a beer garden in downtown Los Angeles. Terry spots a dame wearing Kay's necklace. Did she steal it? Meanwhile, Ivy, Fiona, and Dolly try decode a poorly written letter.

Stenographers is a Sass Mouth Dames production, written and directed by Megan McGurk.

Starring:

Clara Higgins is Terry Nolan and Jewel Dame

Jennifer O'Meara is Fiona Clarke and Client

Jeanne Sutton is Margaret O'Donnell

Olympia Kiriakou is Ivy Miller and Waitress

M. Shawn is Dolly DePeyster and Cici Pine

Megan McGurk is Kay Carroll and Alice Lawson

Art Design by Clara Higgins

Sound editing and Special Effects by Dan McAuley

A heart-shaped locket. Bad grammar. A beer garden.

After a stenographer goes missing, the women in the office investigate the clues.

Join us for the first instalment of a spy caper set in 1934.

Stenographers is a Sass Mouth Dames production, written and directed by Megan McGurk.

Starring:

Clara Higgins is Terry Nolan and Jewel Dame

Jennifer O'Meara is Fiona Clarke and Client

Jeanne Sutton is Margaret O'Donnell

Olympia Kiriakou is Ivy Miller and Waitress

M. Shawn is Dolly DePeyster and Cici Pine

Megan McGurk is Kay Carroll and Alice Lawson

Art Design by Clara Higgins

Sound editing and Special Effects by Dan McAuley

Linda Christian could have been Hollywood royalty, and not just because she was discovered by Errol Flynn and married to Tyrone Power. An internationally educated woman who spoke six languages, Linda was talented and a tastemaker. She could have had a career similar to Anita Colby, a former model who became 'Feminine Director' at Selznick studio, developing stars such as Ingrid Bergman and Jennifer Jones. Linda is a standout in each film she made, especially in the delightful MGM musical Athena from 1954. Unfortunately, Hollywood never figured out what to do with her.

After twenty years in front of a camera, Loretta Young walked out of her contract with Twentieth Century Fox and became a freelance star. Darryl Zanuck blackballed her as a result, which lead to months without any script offers. She began her independent film career in Columbia studio, because Harry Cohn was one filmmaker brazen enough to defy Zanuck. Loretta made two pictures: The Doctor Takes a Wife (with Ray Milland) and He Stayed for Breakfast (with Melvyn Douglas). Both pictures were critical and commercial successes and established her facility with light comedy.

After Virginia Bruce walked out on her contract with Metro, she made on of the biggest gems of her career starring in Universal's update to a classic starring Claude Rains. Unlike the Invisible Man, Virginia's character isn't driven mad by her power of invisibility. Instead, she finds out how the other half lives. Disembodied, she can settle scores, and get men to listen to her rather than focus on her beauty. Curt Siodmak created a glorious satire about being a woman in a man's world.

In 1935, Marlene Dietrich was at a turning point in her career. Paramount studio had decided to end her professional collaboration with director Josef von Sternberg. Marlene needed to prove that she could carry a picture without her reported 'Svengali'. She renewed her contract with a provision that she would have Ernst Lubitsch as director, but he was made head of studio production and had no time to direct. Marlene chose Frank Borzage as a replacement. With Gary Cooper cast as co-star, the picture was a critical and commercial success, and demonstrated that Marlene had a knack for light romantic comedy.

Claire, Lois, and Cash finish replacement costumes for the screen test in Goldwyn's studio. Meanwhile, Helen and Gail sneak into Monogram's lot as extras to find out what Dmitri has planned. An unexpected visitor to Claire's shop gums up the works. Join us for the story's conclusion.

Mannequins is written and directed by Megan McGurk

Starring:

Clara Higgins as Claire Delahunt and Lilyan Tashman

Jennifer O'Meara as Lois Kenny

Jeanne Sutton as Helen Flaherty

Olympia Kiriakou as Gail Lindstrom

M. Shawn as Princess Casimir (Cash)

Megan McGurk as Miriam Thorndyke and Frances Goldwyn

Art design by Clara Higgins

Sound editing and special effects by Dan McAuley

Dress designer Claire, along with her fitter, Lois, and mannequins Helen, Gail, and Cash have worked hard getting ready for the screen test in Goldwyn studio. Our story picks up three days before the screen test. When the ladies return from lunch, twenty costumes have disappeared. Was it the fashion pirates? Or was it Dmitri Cosmo, the shady costumer from Monogram?

Mannequins is written and directed by Megan McGurk.

Starring:

Clara Higgins as Claire Delahunt and Lilyan Tashman

Jennifer O'Meara as Lois Kenny

Jeanne Sutton as Helen Flaherty

Olympia Kiriakou as Gail Lindstrom

M. Shawn as Princess Casimir (Cash)

Art design by Clara Higgins

Sound editing and special effects by Dan McAuley

Dress designer Claire Delahunt is invited to audition for a contract as head designer in Goldwyn studio. Will she be able to beat the competition from Dmitri Cosmo, the costumer from Monogram on Poverty Row?

Our story opens in January, 1934.

Mannequins is a Sass Mouth Dames production, written and directed by Megan McGurk.

Starring:

Clara Higgins as Claire Delahunt and Lilyan Tashman

Jennifer O'Meara as Lois Kenny

Jeanne Sutton as Helen Flaherty

Olympia Kiriakou as Gail Lindstrom

M. Shawn as Princess Casimir

Megan McGurk as Frances Goldwyn

Art design by Clara Higgins

Sound editing and special effects by Dan McAuley

By the time Patricia Neal signed with Warners in 1948, the studio system had changed. Contract players were no longer given time to develop in smaller parts until they learned the craft. Jack Warner built so much publicity around Neal as the next Bette Davis and the greatest thing since Garbo, that when her second picture.The Fountainhead, did middling business, he took it out on her(instead of Rand's turgid dialogue). Warners dropped Pat's option three years into a seven-year contract. But during production, Pat met the love of her life. She was with Gary Cooper for almost four years. Decades later, when she was in despair, the love she had for Cooper brought her peace through a reconciliation with Rocky and Maria Cooper.