Clara Beranger
Encyclopedia
Clara Berenger was an American screenwriter of the silent film era and a member of the original faculty of the USC School of Cinematic Arts
.
After graduating from Goucher College
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1907, Clara went into journalism, writing for various popular magazines and devoting time to study the stage. She married Albert Berwanger with whom she had a daughter, Frances Berwanger in 1909. When she began to write, Frances would change her name to Beranger.
, Vitagraph
and Kalem
companies, to whom she furnished many originals as well as continuities. Her success attracted some attention and she was appointed as a staff writer for the Fox Corporation. She wrote several scripts for the popular child star Baby Marie Osborne as well as a much-praised adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities. Beranger also wrote The Interloper for Kitty Gordon, The Bluffer for June Elvidge and The Mirror for Marjorie Rambeau, though many of these films are considered lost. With Forrest Halsey
, Beranger wrote the stage play, His Chinese Wife, which received good reviews and became one of the successes of the 1919–1920 season.
's Famous Players-Lasky
; the outfit with whom she is most associated. She wrote or contributed to more than 24 DeMille productions, and produced both Come Out of the Kitchen and Girls for Marguerite Clark
; Sadie Love and Wanted a Husband for Billie Burke
; Judy of Rogues Harbor for Mary Miles Minter
; The Fear Market for Alice Brady
; The Cost for Violet Heming; Half an Hour for Dorothy Dalton
; Civilian Clothes for Thomas Meighan
, Notoriety for Bebe Daniels
and the long-lasting classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide
for John Barrymore
.
From an interview with Louella Parson in 1922:
, the Pulitzer Prize
-winning play about a young woman who discovers that she’s married to a man who is already married. Not as famous today as Cecil, and though most of his silents have been lost, William is still considered one of the silents' most respected directors. Miss Lulu Bett shows a delicate touch in the telling of an impoverished spinster's misfortunes in a small town.
William had other affairs including Lorna Moon who had borne him a son out of wedlock, and with another screenwriter, Olga Printzlau
; but he genuinely fell in love with Clara who had tolerated it all. In June 1926, William to the surprise of his wife, announced that he wanted a divorce. Anna refused him and took their daughters, Agnes
and Margaret, to Europe for a long trip. When the family returned, William announced that he had given up Beranger and would try again with his wife, but this arrangement only lasted about a year. Anna never recovered from the divorce, and took the children to live in New York permanently. William DeMille (50) and Clara Beranger (42) would be married in Albuquerque, New Mexico
on August 14, 1928 in the drawing room aboard "The Chief", a transcontinental special train.
After marrying into the DeMille dynasty, Beranger would continue to write, including Craig's Wife (1928) for Irene Rich
and This Mad World (1930) for Kay Johnson
. William would lose everything in the Depression and unhappily rely on Beranger to support him, until Beranger asked Cecil DeMille to employ him to write scenarios.
and Good Housekeeping
, and writer of inspirational books. Beranger's largest impact would be as one of the original faculty of USC School of Cinematic Arts
which had begun in 1929 as a collaboration between the University of Southern California
and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
. Also among the original faculty were actors Douglas Fairbanks
and Mary Pickford
, directors D.W. Griffith and Ernst Lubitsch
, and producers Irving Thalberg
and Darryl Zanuck. Cecil would endow the Drama Department, to which William would be appointed as Director, at last allowing him to exploit his education and skills as a teacher and director.
Beranger was a large proponent of the idea that Hollywood had a responsibility to teach the next generation of artists, and would write a much-used text Writing for the Screen in 1950 and continue to lecture on screenwriting for the rest of her life. She suffered a heart attack and died in 1956.
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
.
Biography
Born Clara Strouse in Baltimore, Maryland to Benjamin and Fannie (Kahn) Strouse. Benjamin and his brothers had emigrated from Germany and opened a dry-goods store in Indiana.After graduating from Goucher College
Goucher College
Goucher College is a private, co-educational, liberal arts college located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson in unincorporated Baltimore County, Maryland, on a 287 acre campus. The school has approximately 1,475 undergraduate students studying in 31 majors and six interdisciplinary...
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1907, Clara went into journalism, writing for various popular magazines and devoting time to study the stage. She married Albert Berwanger with whom she had a daughter, Frances Berwanger in 1909. When she began to write, Frances would change her name to Beranger.
Freelance
Using the pseudonym of Charles S. Beranger, her first screen employment was as a freelancer, writing for the EdisonMotion Picture Patents Company
The Motion Picture Patents Company , founded in December 1908, was a trust of all the major American film companies , the leading film distributor and the biggest supplier of raw film stock, Eastman Kodak...
, Vitagraph
Vitagraph Studios
American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. By 1907 it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros...
and Kalem
Kalem Company
The Kalem Company was an American film studio founded in New York City in 1907 by George Kleine, Samuel Long , and Frank J. Marion.The company immediately joined other studios in the Motion Picture Patents Company that held a monopoly on production and distribution...
companies, to whom she furnished many originals as well as continuities. Her success attracted some attention and she was appointed as a staff writer for the Fox Corporation. She wrote several scripts for the popular child star Baby Marie Osborne as well as a much-praised adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities. Beranger also wrote The Interloper for Kitty Gordon, The Bluffer for June Elvidge and The Mirror for Marjorie Rambeau, though many of these films are considered lost. With Forrest Halsey
Forrest Halsey
Forrest Halsey was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 66 films between 1913 and 1942.He was born in Roseville, Newark, New Jersey, and died in Los Angeles County, California.-Selected filmography:...
, Beranger wrote the stage play, His Chinese Wife, which received good reviews and became one of the successes of the 1919–1920 season.
The Famous Players-Lasky
In 1921, Clara took Frances, then twelve, and migrated to Hollywood to write for motion pictures, where she signed a long contract with Cecil B. DeMilleCecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created on July 19, 1916 from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company -- originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays -- and Jesse L...
; the outfit with whom she is most associated. She wrote or contributed to more than 24 DeMille productions, and produced both Come Out of the Kitchen and Girls for Marguerite Clark
Marguerite Clark
Marguerite Clark was an American stage and silent film actress.-Early life and theater:Born to a farming family in Avondale, Cincinnati, Ohio, Clark was educated at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Cincinnati...
; Sadie Love and Wanted a Husband for Billie Burke
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
; Judy of Rogues Harbor for Mary Miles Minter
Mary Miles Minter
Mary Miles Minter was an American film actress of the silent film era.-Early life and rise to stardom:Born Juliet Reilly in Shreveport, Louisiana, Minter was the daughter of Broadway actress Charlotte Shelby...
; The Fear Market for Alice Brady
Alice Brady
Alice Brady was an American actress who began her career in the silent film era and survived the transition into talkies. She worked up until six months before her death from cancer in 1939...
; The Cost for Violet Heming; Half an Hour for Dorothy Dalton
Dorothy Dalton
Dorothy Dalton was an American silent film actress and stage personality who worked her way from a stock company to a movie career. Beginning in 1910, Dalton was a player in stock companies in Chicago and Holyoke, Massachusetts. She joined the Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation vaudeville circuits...
; Civilian Clothes for Thomas Meighan
Thomas Meighan
Thomas Meighan was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading man roles opposite popular actresses of the day including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he commanded $10,000 a week....
, Notoriety for Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent movie era as a child actress, became a star in musicals like 42nd Street, and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain...
and the long-lasting classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920 film)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1920 horror silent film, produced by Famous Players-Lasky and released through Paramount/Artcraft. The film is based upon Robert Louis Stevenson's novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and starring actor John Barrymore.The film was directed by John S....
for John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
.
From an interview with Louella Parson in 1922:
I will be out in California when Mr. DeMille begins operations. Under my old contract I furnished eight continuities a year; now that I work only for William DeMille I only write four. That gives me an opportunity to see my work through from the story to the screen. It makes it possible for me to go over my script scene by scene with the producer, so he can make the picture with almost no changes. In the old days I had to keep my nose to the grindstone continually so as to finish the eight pictures in time for the different directors for whom I was writing."
William DeMille
In 1921 Beranger met her future husband William DeMille and work on the adaptation of Miss Lulu BettMiss Lulu Bett
Miss Lulu Bett is a 1920 novel by American writer Zona Gale, and later adapted for the stage. Gale received the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her work...
, the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning play about a young woman who discovers that she’s married to a man who is already married. Not as famous today as Cecil, and though most of his silents have been lost, William is still considered one of the silents' most respected directors. Miss Lulu Bett shows a delicate touch in the telling of an impoverished spinster's misfortunes in a small town.
William had other affairs including Lorna Moon who had borne him a son out of wedlock, and with another screenwriter, Olga Printzlau
Olga Printzlau
Olga Printzlau was an American screenwriter. She wrote for 69 films between 1915 and 1933.She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:...
; but he genuinely fell in love with Clara who had tolerated it all. In June 1926, William to the surprise of his wife, announced that he wanted a divorce. Anna refused him and took their daughters, Agnes
Agnes de Mille
Agnes George de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors...
and Margaret, to Europe for a long trip. When the family returned, William announced that he had given up Beranger and would try again with his wife, but this arrangement only lasted about a year. Anna never recovered from the divorce, and took the children to live in New York permanently. William DeMille (50) and Clara Beranger (42) would be married in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
on August 14, 1928 in the drawing room aboard "The Chief", a transcontinental special train.
After marrying into the DeMille dynasty, Beranger would continue to write, including Craig's Wife (1928) for Irene Rich
Irene Rich
Irene Rich was an American actress who worked in both silent films and talkies.-Career:Born Irene Luther in Buffalo, New York, Rich worked for Will Rogers, who used her in eight pictures, including Water Water Everywhere , The Strange Boarder , Jes' Call Me Jim , Boys Will Be Boys and The Ropin'...
and This Mad World (1930) for Kay Johnson
Kay Johnson
Kay Johnson was an American actress who performed on the stage and in Hollywood films.-Family:Catherine Townsend Johnson was born in Mount Vernon, New York in 1904. Her father was architect Thomas R. Johnson who designed several noteworthy buildings in the New York City...
. William would lose everything in the Depression and unhappily rely on Beranger to support him, until Beranger asked Cecil DeMille to employ him to write scenarios.
USC School of Cinematic Arts
Baranger would retire from writing pictures in 1934, though she remained a frequent contributor to magazines such as LibertyLiberty (1924-1950)
Liberty was a weekly, general-interest magazine, originally priced at five cents and subtitled, "A Weekly for Everybody." It was launched in 1924 by McCormick-Patterson, the publisher until 1931, when it was taken over by Bernarr Macfadden until 1942. At one time it was said to be "the second...
and Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the...
, and writer of inspirational books. Beranger's largest impact would be as one of the original faculty of USC School of Cinematic Arts
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
which had begun in 1929 as a collaboration between the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
. Also among the original faculty were actors Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....
and Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, directors D.W. Griffith and Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
, and producers Irving Thalberg
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and his extraordinary ability to select the right scripts, choose the right actors, gather the best production staff and make very profitable films.-Life and...
and Darryl Zanuck. Cecil would endow the Drama Department, to which William would be appointed as Director, at last allowing him to exploit his education and skills as a teacher and director.
Beranger was a large proponent of the idea that Hollywood had a responsibility to teach the next generation of artists, and would write a much-used text Writing for the Screen in 1950 and continue to lecture on screenwriting for the rest of her life. She suffered a heart attack and died in 1956.
Filmography
- Memories of His Youth (1913, scenario)
- The Master Mind (1914, scenario)
- Cameo Kirby (1914, uncredited)
- The Galley Slave (1915, scenario)
- Princess Romanoff (1915, scenario)
- From the Valley of the Missing (1915, scenario)
- Anna KareninaAnna Karenina (1915 film)Anna Karenina is a 1915 silent drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starring Betty Nansen. The film is considered to be lost. It was the first American adaptation of the novel by Leo Tolstoy.-Cast:* Betty Nansen - Anna Karenina...
(1915, writer) - Her Mother's Secret (1915/I, scenario, uncredited)
- Mary MorelandMary MorelandMary Moreland is a 1917 silent drama film starring stage actress Marjorie Rambeau and released through Mutual Film. A lost film-Cast:*Marjorie Rambeau - Mary Moreland*Robert Elliott - Thomas Maughm*Jean La Motte - Mrs. Daisy Maughm...
(1917) - The Mirror (1917)
- The Slave Market (1917, scenario)
- The Greater WomanThe Greater WomanThe Greater Woman is a 1917 silent film drama starring Broadway actress Marjorie Rambeau in her first motion picture beginning a 40 year screen career. Mutual Film released the film and Frank Powell directed. A lost film.-Cast:...
(1917, unconfirmed) - The Dormant Power (1917, writer)
- The Debt (1917, writer)
- Motherhood (1917/I, writer)
- The Golden Wall (1918)
- The Interloper (1918)
- Appearance of Evil (1918, scenario)
- Winning Grandma (1918, scenario)
- The Way Out (1918, scenario)
- Milady o' the Beanstalk (1918, scenario)
- The Voice of Destiny (1918, screenplay)
- The Love Net (1918, writer)
- By Hook or Crook (1918, writer)
- The Beloved Blackmailer (1918, writer)
- Dolly Does Her Bit (1918, writer)
- The Grouch (1918/I, scenario)
- The Little Intruder (1919)
- The Hand Invisible (1919)
- Heart of Gold (1919)
- The Praise Agent (1919, scenario)
- Phil-for-Short (1919, scenario)
- Hit or Miss (1919, scenario)
- The Unveiling Hand (1919, scenario)
- The Bluffer (1919, screenplay)
- Dust of Desire (1919, story, writer)
- Wanted: A HusbandWanted: A HusbandWanted: A Husband is a 1919 silent film comedy starring Billie Burke. It was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount-Artcraft. The film is based on a short story Enter D'Arcy by Samuel Hopkins Adams. The relatively unknown and forgotten Lawrence C...
(1919, writer) - Sadie LoveSadie LoveSadie Love is a 1919 silent film comedy produced Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount-Artcraft. It is based on a 1915 stage play by Avery Hopwood which starred a young Marjorie Rambeau. Billie Burke is the star in the film version and John S. Robertson directed. This is a lost film...
(1919, writer) - Bringing Up Betty (1919, writer)
- The Firing Line (1919, writer)
- Girls (1919, writer)
- Come Out of the Kitchen (1919, writer)
- Half an Hour (1920)
- White Youth (1920, story)
- Flames of the Flesh (1920, story)
- Blackbirds (1920, writer)
- Civilian Clothes (1920, writer)
- The Cost (1920, writer)
- Judy of Rogue's HarborJudy of Rogue's HarborJudy of Rogue's Harbor is a 1920 silent film drama directed by William Desmond Taylor and starring Mary Miles Minter. The film is taken from the novel Judy of Rogue's Harbor by Grace Miller White. It was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Realart and Paramount Pictures...
(1920, writer) - The Fear Market (1920, writer)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920 film)Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1920 horror silent film, produced by Famous Players-Lasky and released through Paramount/Artcraft. The film is based upon Robert Louis Stevenson's novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and starring actor John Barrymore.The film was directed by John S....
(1920/I) - Miss Lulu BettMiss Lulu BettMiss Lulu Bett is a 1920 novel by American writer Zona Gale, and later adapted for the stage. Gale received the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her work...
(1921, adaptation) - Exit the Vamp (1921, screenplay, story)
- The Gilded Lily (1921, story)
- The Wonderful Thing (1921, writer)
- A Heart to Let (1921, writer)
- Sheltered Daughters (1921, writer)
- Her Husband's TrademarkHer Husband's TrademarkHer Husband's Trademark is a 1922 silent drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gloria Swanson.-Cast:* Gloria Swanson - Lois Miller* Richard Wayne - Allan Franklyn* Stuart Holmes - James Berkeley* Lucien Littlefield - Slithy Winters...
(1922, story) - ClarenceClarence (1922 film)Clarence is a silent comedy drama, based on a play by Booth Tarkington, produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. It was directed by William C. deMille and starred Wallace Reid in his penultimate screen appearance. The play starred Alfred Lunt, in Reid's part,...
(1922, writer) - Nice People (1922, writer)
- Bought and Paid ForBought and Paid ForBought and Paid For is a 1922 silent film drama produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. William C. deMille directed and Agnes Ayres is the starring actress. It is based on a play by George Broadhurst performed on Broadway in 1911 with Julia Dean and revived 1921...
(1922, writer) - GrumpyGrumpy (1923 film)Grumpy is a 1923 silent film drama distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is based on a 1913 Broadway play Grumpy by Horace Hodges and Thomas Wigney Percyval and starred English actor Cyril Maude. The director of this film is William C. deMille, brother of Cecil, and the star is Theodore Roberts...
(1923, adaptation, screenplay) - The World's Applause (1923, screenplay, story)
- Don't Call It Love (1923, writer)
- The Marriage Maker (1923, writer)
- Only 38 (1923, writer)
- The Bedroom Window (1924, screenplay, story)
- The Fast Set (1924, writer)
- IceboundIcebound (1924 film)Icebound is a silent film drama produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, directed by William C. deMille, and based on a 1923 Pulitzer Prize Broadway produced play of the same name by Owen Davis...
(1924, writer) - Locked Doors (1925, screenplay, story)
- New Brooms (1925, writer)
- Lost: A Wife (1925, writer)
- Men and Women (1925, writer)
- Don Juan's Three Nights (1926, writer)
- Nobody's Widow (1927, adaptation)
- The Forbidden Woman (1927, adaptation, screenplay)
- The Little Adventuress (1927, adaptation, screenplay)
- Almost Human (1927, screenplay, titles)
- Craig's Wife (1928, adaptation)
- The Idle Rich (1929, writer)
- This Mad World (1930, adaptation, screenplay)
- His Double LifeHis Double LifeHis Double Life is a 1933 American comedy-drama film directed by Broadway theatrical impresario Arthur Hopkins, starring Roland Young and Lillian Gish. It is preserved at the Library of Congress, Washington D.C. .- Cast :*Roland Young as Priam Farrel...
(1933, adaptation) - The Social Register (1934, writer)