How Hollywood’s most powerful woman won and lost it all

Available for over a year

In the 1930s, Mary McCall Jr. was a trailblazing screenwriter who partied with Bette Davis while secretly working as a union organiser, demanding contracts and pay deals for all writers. She clashed with studio bosses, and Jack Warner famously called her the ‘meanest bitch’ in town. Mary was undeterred, and by the 1940s she had become the most powerful woman in Hollywood, transforming the American film industry. But a scandalous romance and Cold War politics would leave Mary’s career and family in tatters when she was blacklisted. Her colourful, controversial life is remembered by her daughter, Mary-David Sheiner and the film historian, J.E. Smyth. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Maryam Maruf Mix: Giles Aspen Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 Film archive: Dr. Socrates / Warner Bros. / William Dieterle; Maisie / MGM / Edwin L. Marin; Ringside Maisie / MGM / Edwin L. Marin; All About Eve / Joseph L. Mankiewicz / 20th Century-Fox (Photo: Mary McCall Jr looking over a script. Credit: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)