Login
Login

Marion Orth

{{short description|American screenwriter}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Marion Orth

| birth_name = Marion F. Smidl

| birth_date = December 5, 1900

| birth_place = Illinois, USA

| death_date = {{death date and age|1984|12|1|1900|12|5}}

| death_place = California, USA

| occupation = Screenwriter

| years_active = 1918–1944

| spouse = Edward Orth

}}

Marion Orth (December 5, 1900 – December 1, 1984) was an American screenwriter of the silent and sound eras of Hollywood. She was a frequent collaborator of director Lois Weber.

Biography

Orth began her career as a playwright and magazine writer, publishing in Breezy Stories as early as 1917.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/274826653/?terms=%22marion+orth%22|title=19 Jan 1930, 22 - The Morning Call at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-30}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/s/s6038.htm#A153685|title=Stories, Listed by Author {{!}} Marion Orth|website=www.philsp.com|access-date=2019-05-16}} In 1920, she moved from Chicago to Los Angeles at the invitation of Lois Weber, who had purchased the film rights to two of Orth's stories, "The Price of a Good Time" (filmed in 1917) and "Borrowed Clothes" (filmed in 1918). Orth went on to write several films with and for Weber, including A Midnight Romance, To Please One Woman, Too Wise Wives, and The Blot.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rU7WBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22marion+orth%22&pg=PA176|title=Lois Weber in Early Hollywood|last=Stamp|first=Shelley|date=2015-05-02|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=9780520960084|language=en}}

In 1923, she signed a seven-picture contract at Universal as a scenarist; her efforts at the studio included work on The Price of Pleasure and Dorothy Arzner's The Wild Party.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9FggAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22marion+orth%22&pg=PA50|title=Scenario Bulletin Digest|date=June 1923|pages=14|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/456316195/?terms=%22marion+orth%22|title=7 Mar 1925, 20 - The Ottawa Citizen at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-30}} She also wrote a string of films for Fox. In 1934, she began writing for Monogram Pictures.

In 1938, she settled a lawsuit with Republic for releasing a 1937 film called Circus Girl based on her novel. Orth was awarded $10,000.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/485511179/?terms=%22marion+orth%22|title=26 May 1938, 1 - The Coos Bay Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-30}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/485511187/|title=26 May 1938, 2 - The Coos Bay Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-30}}

Orth's apparently final film was released in 1944.{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Person/107008-Marion-Orth?sid=819b5057-14d3-417b-89cb-8566c2d2ae5f&sr=5.29479&cp=1&pos=0&isMiscCredit=false|title=AFI{{!}}Catalog: Marion Orth|website=catalog.afi.com|access-date=2019-05-16}}

Selected filmography

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orth, Marion}}

Category:1900 births

Category:1984 deaths

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:American women screenwriters

Category:Screenwriters from Illinois

Category:20th-century American screenwriters