Cecilia Ager
Encyclopedia
Cecelia Ager was an American film critic
and star reporter for Variety
and the New York Post Magazine
. Married for 57 years to songwriter Milton Ager
, she was mother to two daughters, Laurel Bentley and journalist
Shana Alexander
. Ager was known as "the coed" for her wit and the ukulele she carried on social occasions. She married Milton Ager four months after meeting him; Mayor Jimmy Walker
of New York, also a songwriter, presided at the wedding in his office.
She was the first female reporter for Variety, and was known as one of the best dressed women in America. Ager was the movie critic for the New York newspaper PM
and a contributor to the New York Times and several national magazines. Her sense of style became an asset to advance her work as a writer. It has been said that "she used fashion as her entry into examining the constricting roles women were asked to play, in real life and onscreen.”
Her astute and often wittily-written articles and reviews of films showed her a champion for quality and a keen-eyed observer of American culture. Among the first critics to take notice of the importance of Orson Welles’s
1941 film Citizen Kane
, she wrote for PM: “Before Citizen Kane, it’s as if the motion picture were a slumbering monster, a mighty force stupidly sleeping, lying there…awaiting a fierce young man to come kick it to life, to rouse it, shake it, awaken it to its potentialities.... Seeing it, it’s as if you never really saw a movie before.”
Cecelia's aunt was Anzia Yezierska
, known for her sensitive writing about the immigrant Jewish experience in New York. Anzia's uncle, Meyer Yeziersky/Max Mayer was the first of his family to immigrate to the US. Anzia arrived in 1901 after the rest of the family had joined him in adopting his first name as their surname in the US. Her success with novels and a film encouraged her niece and grandniece.
Ager died in Los Angeles in 1981 after suffering a stroke.
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
and star reporter for Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
and the New York Post Magazine
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
. Married for 57 years to songwriter Milton Ager
Milton Ager
Milton Ager was an American composer.Ager was born in Chicago, Illinois, the sixth of nine children. Leaving school with only three years of formal high-school education, he taught himself to play the piano and embarked on a career as a musician. After spending time as an accompanist to silent...
, she was mother to two daughters, Laurel Bentley and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
Shana Alexander
Shana Alexander
Shana Alexander was an American journalist, born Shana Ager in New York City on October 6, 1925. Although she became the first woman staff writer and columnist for Life magazine, she was best known for her participation in the "Point-Counterpoint" debate segments of 60 Minutes with conservative...
. Ager was known as "the coed" for her wit and the ukulele she carried on social occasions. She married Milton Ager four months after meeting him; Mayor Jimmy Walker
Jimmy Walker
James John Walker, often known as Jimmy Walker and colloquially as Beau James , was the mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932...
of New York, also a songwriter, presided at the wedding in his office.
She was the first female reporter for Variety, and was known as one of the best dressed women in America. Ager was the movie critic for the New York newspaper PM
PM (newspaper)
PM was a leftist New York City daily newspaper published by Ralph Ingersoll from June 1940 to June 1948 and bankrolled by the eccentric Chicago millionaire Marshall Field III....
and a contributor to the New York Times and several national magazines. Her sense of style became an asset to advance her work as a writer. It has been said that "she used fashion as her entry into examining the constricting roles women were asked to play, in real life and onscreen.”
Her astute and often wittily-written articles and reviews of films showed her a champion for quality and a keen-eyed observer of American culture. Among the first critics to take notice of the importance of Orson Welles’s
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
1941 film Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
, she wrote for PM: “Before Citizen Kane, it’s as if the motion picture were a slumbering monster, a mighty force stupidly sleeping, lying there…awaiting a fierce young man to come kick it to life, to rouse it, shake it, awaken it to its potentialities.... Seeing it, it’s as if you never really saw a movie before.”
Cecelia's aunt was Anzia Yezierska
Anzia Yezierska
Anzia Yezierska was a Polish-American novelist born in Maly Plock, Poland.- Personal life :Anzia Yezierska was born in the 1880s in Maly Plock to Bernard and Pearl Yezierski. Her family immigrated to America around 1890, following in the footsteps of her eldest brother Meyer, who arrived to the...
, known for her sensitive writing about the immigrant Jewish experience in New York. Anzia's uncle, Meyer Yeziersky/Max Mayer was the first of his family to immigrate to the US. Anzia arrived in 1901 after the rest of the family had joined him in adopting his first name as their surname in the US. Her success with novels and a film encouraged her niece and grandniece.
Ager died in Los Angeles in 1981 after suffering a stroke.