ABSTRACT
Women were cinematic pioneers. There were more women involved in Hollywood in its first two decades than there have been at any time since. The first woman to direct a film was almost certainly Alice Guy-Blache, who had a successful career at Gaumont in Paris, from her one-minute La Fee aux Choux of 1896 to her La Vie Du Christ, a 30-minute biblical extravaganza for 1906. On August 20, 1920 the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. Women gained the right to vote, and with it they became increasingly conscious of the challenges they faced negotiating modern society. This outcome was the result of hard work on a number of fronts, including that of the suffragettes. In the early twentieth century women joined the public work force in increasing numbers as seamstresses, factory workers and teachers, such as those who populate the audience in Sloan’s Movies, Five Cents.
