ABSTRACT
IN JULY OF 1923 PHOTOPLAY PROFILED Grace Haskins, “Girl Producer.” At the age of twenty-two Haskins earned her moniker by writing, directing, and producing her first film, Just Like a Woman. In the space of five years Haskins moved from working in a Hollywood hotel, to answering fan mail, to “talking herself into a job in the cutting room,” and then becoming a continuity writer. All the while her ultimate aim was to direct, but “she knew enough of the game to know that no producer was ever going to give her her chance. Not for a long, long time, anyway.” Not one to give up, Haskins turned to “several moneyed men,” “dusted off” a scenario she was working on, and secured a deal with independent distributor W. W. Hodkinson. With check in hand Haskins collected a company of actors, found a ready-made set, and began making her film. Suddenly “people who had assured her that she couldn’t, possibly, hope for success, began to take an unwelcome interest in the proceedings.” Damaging rumors surfaced, but Haskins persevered. Just Like a Woman reached the screen on March 18, 1923. 1
