#madcap mabel

[the-reclusive-cinephile]

Mabel Normand, promotional  photo for Molly O, 1921.

[the-reclusive-cinephile]

[goodlookingforagirl]

Writing-Related Babbling

So if anyone remembers (probably not), I posted earlier this year that I hope to write a book about horror leading ladies. That still stands. I’d love to explore each decade of horror films and highlight several of the actresses in each one. I want to see how the “scream queen” evolved and also discuss the lovely women who played them. That’s a project that will definitely be on my agenda. (As a side note, I’d also like to write a book about the history of vampire lore. That’d be so cool. Oh, and Donald O’Connor’s biography. That NEEDS to happen.)

However, one subject has been pervading my mind so much recently: Mabel Normand. I fell in love with her several years ago and never fell out. Never have I seen a woman so charming, lovable, and tough all at the same time. She’s such a fascinating person, on and offscreen, and she really deserves a great biography.

That said, the closest thing that she has is “Mabel: Hollywood’s First ‘I-Don’t-Care’ Girl” by Betty Harper Fussell. I’m reading it right now and let’s just say that it’s incoherent, not in chronological order, and grossly simplifies Mabel from a gifted, complex person to a shallow, sexy party girl. To be frank, it’s almost sickening.

So, I have a passion for Mabel and she needs a better book. What’s the only logical answer? I’ll write a book about Mabel myself. You heard right, I, an unemployed student with no writing credits, am going to devote myself fully to the project. It’ll be hard. I’ll read all of the books, watch all of the movies, dig through the archives, and spend all of my time and energy on this. This sounds like a total trainwreck, but for Mabel, I’m willing. It might take me years. A couple of decades even. But Mabel deserve so much better, and if no one is willing to give it, then I will.

[goodlookingforagirl]

Mabel Normand looking lovely in a cap

[goodlookingforagirl]

Lovely Mabel Normand

[goodlookingforagirl]

Mabel Normand for Photoplay Magazine

[goodlookingforagirl]

Mabel Normand, the Queen of Comedy

[goodlookingforagirl]

The ravishing Mabel Normand, colorized