Chicago May, born in County Longford, was the original sass mouth dame and real-life inspiration for Diamond Lil.
And now her story is coming to the Dublin stage in June!
We are looking for actors (four women and three men, age 20-40) to perform in The Goblin Market: Chicago May’s Story, a two-act play written by Megan McGurk and Clara Higgins.
This is a paid gig.
Please get in touch and send us a showreel if you’re interested:
sassmouthdames@gmail.com
Megan McGurk introduces two gems in Technicolor and Metrocolor in The Brooks Hotel.
Get your tickets at Eventbrite.
Please note that refunds are no problem if requested by noon on the day of the screening.
(Give me a chance to re-sell the ticket, please).
Grab a drink at the bar. Outside food and drinks are not permitted.
Woman’s World (1954)
Screens Wednesday 18 March at 7.00
Clifton Webb plays an automotive titan who intends to promote one of his men, but before he chooses a top executive, he wants to meet their wives, because in the business world, the woman makes the man. Dowdy June Allyson and ambitious Cornel Wilde are the small-town hayseeds with a large brood. Chic Lauren Bacall is ready for divorce since Fred MacMurray is an ailing workaholic. Arlene Dahl is the bombshell social climber who drags her husband, Van Heflin, up the corporate ladder. Which wife wins? Director Jean Negulesco’s shots of historic Manhattan locations, such as the 21 Club, combined with Charles LeMaire’s lavish mid-century wardrobe, produces a magnificent feast in Technicolor.
BUtterfield 8 (1960)
Screens Thursday 26 March at 7.00
Elizabeth Taylor, in a fury over a torn dress, gives a man hell to pay. Instead of reading the plot about a disillusioned call girl, it’s easy to interpret Taylor’s anger at a personal level, directed at a clutch of MGM executives who worked her like a dog since she was a child, not to mention the outrage she felt at being called a homewrecker by the press. Taylor’s brilliant performance as Gloria Wandrous is a highly stylised portrait of rage done in lipstick, mink, and stiletto heels. Even though Taylor considered the script ‘a piece of shit,’ it still netted her an Oscar for Best Actress. Metrocolor and designs by Helen Rose showcase Taylor’s ability to weaponise glamour.
The following excerpt is taken from Sass Mouth Dames podcast episode 153: Claire Trevor in Born to Kill (1937). You can listen to it here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Deadlier than the Male, written by 21 year-old college student James Gunn, was a critical and commercial success when it was published in 1942. Critics raved about the novel, which gives a fresh take on the hardboiled genre. The novel riffs on the genre without succumbing to the stereotypical cliches.
Unlike novelist Cornell Woolrich, who struggled for years to ink a Hollywood deal, Gunn only wrote one novel, which received a red-carpet welcome by Hollywood. Gunn’s first screenwriting gig was adapting Gypsy Rose Lee’s novel for Barbara Stanwyck in what became Lady of Burlesque. Gunn wrote again for Stanwyck with the script for All I Desire and he wrote the script Harriet Craig for Joan Crawford.
Paramount optioned his book. Director Robert Wise recalled that the studio wanted change the title to Born to Kill, to take advantage of casting bad boy Lawrence Tierney. Wise was never happy about the change. Claire Trevor enjoyed working with Robert Wise, whom she considered to be one of the top directors. In an interview, Claire noted that he was articulate and everything he said was pure gold. The studio assigned Eve Greene and Richard Macaulay to adapt the novel.
I was curious about screenwriter Eve Greene, who had a long career, from 1932 to 1968. I couldn’t find her in the popular books about women writers from the studio era, so I turned to the newspaper archives for something to share. In an interview from 1938, which was printed in Alexander Kahn’s syndicated column, ‘Hollywood Film Shop,’ Greene discussed her origins in the film colony. After leaving Chicago for Hollywood, like thousands of other women in search of a meaningful career, she took a job as a secretary in MGM to get her foot in the door. Greene recalled:
‘I knew that people who wrote scenarios were not picked out of thin air and I made up my mind to learn the business of script writing from the ground up. Every moment I had to spare, I employed it in reading and studying screenplays until I felt I knew the form, at least.’ When a script girl position opened, she got a break and climbed another step on the studio ladder.
Eve learned a lot from working closely with directors on set. She told a reporter that ‘it brought the whole complicated procedure before my eyes. I learned about camera set ups, dolly shots, fades, dissolves, and the rest of the technical knowledge of filmmaking.’
The role as script girl soon led to her dream job writing scripts. She noted, ‘After a time, I began to help on dialogue on the set, and then Zelda Sears took me under her wing, and we worked on a story for Marie Dressler. Miss Sears knew drama and dramatic writing and taught me how to write.’
Zelda Sears mentored Eve Greene through the Dressler hit comedies Prosperity in 1932 and Tugboat Annie in 1933. Dressler was one of the biggest stars in MGM, an Oscar winner and champion at the box office. Eve left Metro in 1935 for a brief stint at Universal, before signing a long-term contract with Paramount studio in 1936. She had an auspicious start in Paramount as the lead writer for Yours For the Asking, starring George Raft, Dolores Costello and Ida Lupino. Eve ended her contract in Paramount with the script for Born to Kill and then switched to writing for television. Her first gig in television was writing four episodes of The Lone Ranger. She worked steadily in TV until 1968, when she wrote one last film script, The Strange Affair, before retiring.
Megan McGurk introduces three classic woman’s pictures from Depression-era Hollywood Thursday nights in the Brooks Hotel cinema.
Tickets are available from Eventbrite
Faithless (1932)
Screens 2 May at 7.00
Tallulah Bankhead plays an heiress who lives on caviar, champagne, and designs by Adrian. She scoffs at the idea of living on the $400 a week her fiancé Robert Montgomery makes in advertising. After the Wall Street Crash, the best laid plans of sables, diamonds, and Monte Carlo go bust, catapulting our heroine into a rapid downward spiral. Tallulah loses everything—her money, possessions, and self-respect. When she hits rock bottom, will Bob Montgomery stick?
The Richest Girl in the World (1934)
Screens 9 May at 7.00
Miriam Hopkins shares a fizzy rapport with Joel McCrea in a picture that made a bundle at the box office and brought the co-stars together for four more pictures. Playing a savvy scion inspired by Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, Miriam fends off a shower of fortune hunters who toy with her affections. Since she can’t be sure of any man’s intentions, Miriam switches places with her secretary, played by Fay Wray, to discover if Joel is after her heart or her money.
Stella Dallas (1937)
Screens 16 May
Director King Vidor’s classic three-hankie melodrama captures the way society pressures women to conform within traditional roles. Barbara Stanwyck plays a brassy, fun-loving gal from the wrong side of the tracks who catches the eye of the son from a wealthy small-town family. John Boles falls for her unpolished charm, but as soon as they exchange vows, he tries to smooth her rough edges. Their daughter, played by Anne Shirley, inherits her father’s snobbery, and is mortified by her mother’s loud wardrobe. Barbara Stanwyck’s performance is a belter.
Earl Carroll ran the hottest night spot in Hollywood, headlined by Beryl Wallace and The Most Beautiful Girls in the World.
Seven showgirls chip in to share a mink coat.
What could go wrong?
Listen back to the new original radio play from Sass Mouth Dames productions, written and directed by Megan McGurk.
Part One is here
Part Two is here
Part Three is here
Art design by Mot Collins.
Sound editing and special effects by Tom O’Mahony.
Thomas O’Mahony is a London based Irish Podcast Producer who specialises in storytelling and audio design. He hosts a tattoo history show called Beneath the Skin, and is passionate about how we can use audio to tell new and innovative stories.
You can find Thomas on all social media @gotitatguineys or contact him for business related inquiries at thomasomahony.media
Tom’s podcast is here
Meet the stars of Mink Syndicate:
Clara Higgins plays Beryl Wallace.
Clara is an Irish artist and writer perhaps better known as her pseudonym Mot Collins. Under this moniker, she creates illustrations, zines, and tattoos. Mot is interested in subversive expressions of femininity, sexuality, occultism, and comedy. She is highly influenced by pulp and punk culture. She can be found on Twitter as @heavydutywoman and @motcollinsart on Instagram.
Olympia Kiriakou plays Sheba LeMaire.
Olympia Kiriakou is a film historian specializing in stardom and genre in classical Hollywood. She is the host of “The Screwball Story” podcast, and the author of BECOMING CAROLE LOMBARD: STARDOM, COMEDY, AND LEGACY (Bloomsbury, 2020). She is currently writing VIRGINIA GREY: GOOD LUCK CHARM for the University Press of Kentucky. Visit her website The Screwball Girl and find her on Twitter: @thescrewballgrl and @screwballstory.
M. Shawn plays Rocky Beaumont.
M. is a former television news producer, a writer, a researcher, an accidental homemaker, and a full-time Jean Harlow fan. After a year in quarantine, her blood type is banana bread, and if people were allowed to be fictional characters in a past life, she’d be Blondie Johnson.
Savannah Monroe plays Olga Fury.
Savannah Monroe is a film writer and historian based in Colorado. Her focus is in the films and women of the classical Hollywood period. She has been researching and writing about Anne Bancroft, her life and legacy, since 2018. Her work can be found through her website Garbo Talks and on Twitter as @garbo_talks.
Renee Smith plays Esme Chiffon.
Whenever Renee spent a weekend at her grandmother’s house, Nanna, who was a the best seamstress in town, would call Renee to her side to watch “the black and white movies” and point out all the great style. Renee and her sisters loved to play in Nanna’s closet with its furs, hats, lucite pumps and bejewelled bags. So of course she was drawn to Sass Mouth Dames and became a huge fan. Her mildly sardonic spouse and cheeky kids have accepted her recent insistence on wearing classic hats, big wrap shawls and gloves when she walks their muzzled dog, as she struts through the un-classic streets of her neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada.
Laura Mawson plays Libby Branch.
After living in England for twenty years, Laura is planning to return to her beloved home city of Edinburgh in Scotland, with her husband. She has worked as a ceramics instructor, graphic designer and in communications. A life-long film fan with a special interest in Old Hollywood photography, graphics and fashion design. On Twitter @romanpbone1 and Bluesky @romanbone.bsky.social named after her much loved and missed dog, Roman.
Patrick McGurk plays Earl Carroll.
Pat is a resident of SWFLA, enjoying the proximity to the Ocean and the Gulf. He has been active in community theatre since high school as an actor, director and producer. Pat’s stage credits include such diverse roles as the Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show, Bud Frump in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Richard III, and various other parts in Shakespeare. He has also directed over 15 shows from Shakespeare to most recently Private Lives by Noel Coward. When not working on a show, or working, you can find Pat on the water with dive gear or a fishing rod.
Shane McCormack plays Sully.
Shane McCormack is a freelance illustrator specializing in movie and pop culture subjects.Recent licensed work includes Halloween and Ghostbusters. When not drawing he collects physical media especially 1930/40s movies and any Barbara Stanwyck film. He also enjoys photography and has a BA in Visual Art. He’s on Twitter as @mrharrylime
You can see his work at www.mrharrylime.com
Megan McGurk plays Pam Deasy.
Megan carries a torch for studio era woman’s pictures. She has hosted Sass Mouth Dames film club since 2017 and the podcast from 2018. She has written and directed nine original radio plays set in the 1930s (Salon Devine, Mannequins, Stenographers, A Star Was Born, House of the Seven Garbos, Red Gardenia, Hollywood Medusa, Myrna Loy’s Nose, and Mink Syndicate). Megan wrote an essay for Criterion on Love Affair. She is on Twitter @MeganMcGurk and @SassMouthDames and sometimes remembers to use Instagram @sassmouthdames.
