In spite of all of this, I notice that originals continue to sell, to be made into good pictures and make money for the companies. Nearly all of my friends have taken me aside at some time or other and warned me, “Don’t write originals.” Even studio editors who had telephoned the day before and wanted stories in twenty-two minutes for Janet Caynor, Marlene Dietrich and Rudy Vallee, have become confidential over the third highball and whispered, “Because you’re a good sport, I’ll give you the lowdown. I have been warned more often against the dangers of writing movie originals than I have against the pit falls of drink, dope and loose living. She also wrote a brief autobiography, the Edgar-nominated The Secrets of Grown-ups.On March 19, 1934, The Hollywood Reporter published a special issue devoted to screenwriting, featuring the voices of industry notables on trade topics such as “Should Writers Produce?,” mulling censorship (“Sense or Censors”) and discussing the craft of writing for the big screen. Author Vera Caspary, who had published several novels by this time and had seen stories adapted for film, tackled a pressing question: should writers devote time to original stories to pitch to studios? Caspary’s full guest column is below:

Her late work includes The Rosecrest Cell (about American communists) and The Dreamers.

Evidently tiring of the genre, she wrote longer novels at the end of her career and used multiple protagonists. Then, starting with Laura and Bedelia and continuing through The Man Who Loved His Wife, she created a string of mystery novels characterized by psychological menace.

Her 1943 novel Laura was turned into a highly successful movie directed by Otto Preminger.Ĭaspary's first novels, largely stories of plucky young women fending for themselves, lacked the element of mystery that sparked her greatest success.

She wrote novels, screenplays, plays, and short stories. She was born and educated in Chicago and married producer IG Goldsmith in 1949. Vera Caspary (1899-1987) was a prominent female writer.

Vera caspary