Film critic Helen O'Hara celebrates Hollywood’s female pioneers - in front of and behind the camera - who fought sexism and the power of the studio system to find their own voices and change film forever.

The dawn of cinema was a free-for-all, and there were women who forged ahead in many areas of film-making. Early pioneers such as Nell Shipman and Lois Weber shaped the way films were made. But it wasn't long before these talented women were pushed aside, and their contributions written out of film history.

Hollywood was born just over a century ago, at a time of huge forward motion for women's rights, yet it came to embody the same old sexist standards. Women found themselves fighting a system that fed on their talent, creativity and beauty but refused to pay them the same money or give them the same respect as their male contemporaries.

The studios gave their stars no choice over the roles they played and invaded the most intimate aspects of their lives, controlling their romantic relationships and forcing them to have abortions. Life was even harder for women of colour.

In this episode, Helen tells the story of women of colour in Hollywood who had to fight both sexism and racism. In the early days, roles were thinly drawn and few and far between and most black actors rarely played anything other than maids or servants. Helen celebrates the courage of women such as Lena Horne whose musical numbers were frequently cut from movies distributed in the American South, and Hattie McDaniel who had to fight to attend her own Oscar ceremony.

Helen O’Hara has been working as a film journalist for over 15 years. She is now Editor-at-Large of Empire magazine, and co-hosts the Empire Podcast.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Helen O’Hara
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4 Show less