Dorothy Arzner

Dorothy Arzner was the only woman with a sustained directorial career in Hollywood during the studio era, directing films including Merrily We Go to Hell (1932), Christopher Strong (1933, starring Katharine Hepburn), and Dance, Girl, Dance (1940). She was lesbian and maintained a forty-year relationship with choreographer Marion Morgan, from 1927 until Morgan's death in 1971. Her films, particularly Dance, Girl, Dance, have been extensively analyzed by feminist film scholars for their subversion of the male gaze. She was rediscovered by feminist film theorists in the 1970s and is now recognized as a pioneering figure in both film history and queer history.