Zona Gale 1874 -1938
Zona Gale was born in Portage, Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1895.  After moving to New York where she worked as a reporter, Gale earned her reputation as a fiction writer in the early 1900's.  She became recognized during the 1920's as a member of the "revolt from the village" movement, especially after the publication of Miss Lulu Bett, a novel dealing with a spinster's response to the drudgery of small-town life.   (See the writer's bibliography below.)  Following the popular reception of the 1920  Miss Lulu Bett,  Gale decided to use it to write a stage play.   This won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1921.  It is interesting to note that she wrote two endings for the play.  One ending followed the traditions of the nineteenth century melodrama in which the damsel in distress is saved by the right actions of the man in her life.  The other foreshadows the twentieth century women's struggle for independence and self reliance.  In 1921, Miss Lulu Bett was adapted by Clara Beranger and produced by Paramount studio's Famous Players - Lasky as a silent feature film directed by William C. deMille.  Two other Zona Gale works would make their way to the silver screen, the novel, Faint Perfume in 1925 and her story When Strangers Meet in 1934.   
 
Zona Gale Films
 

Silent Films

  1. 1   Miss Lulu Bett (1921)

    2. USA 1921 Black and White
    Produced by: Famous Players-Lasky Corporation
    Sound Mix:   Silent
    Distributed by: Paramount Pictures [us]
    Directed by  William C. de Mille
    Cast (in credits order)
         Lois Wilson -    Lulu Bett
         Milton Sills -   Neil Cornish
         Theodore Roberts - Dwight Deacon
         Helen Ferguson -  Diana Deacon
     
  2. 2. Faint Perfume (1925) (based on novel)

    3. USA 1925 Black and White
    Produced by:  B.P. Schulberg Productions
    Sound Mix:    Silent
    Distributed by: Paramount Pictures [us]
    Directed by   Louis Gasnier
Sound Films
  1. 3. When Strangers Meet (1934)

    2. USA 1934 Black and White
    Produced by:  Liberty Films
    Language:     English
    Sound Mix:    Mono
    Distributed by: Liberty Pictures
    Directed by   Christy Cabanne
    Writer's Bibliography for Zona Gale
    1906  Romance Island (novel)  Bobbs-Merrill
    1907  The Loves of Pelleas and Etarre (short stories)  Macmillan
    1908  Friendship Village (short stories)  Macmillan
    1909  Friendship Village Love Stories (short stories)  Macmillan
    1911  Mothers to Men (short stories)  Macmillan
    1912  Christmas (novel)  Macillan
    1913 Civic Improvement in the Little Towns (essay) American Civic Association
    1913  When I Was a Little Girl (short stories) Macmillan
    1914  Neighborhood Stories (short stories)  Macmillan
    1914  The Neighbors (play) in T.H. Dickinson, ed., Wisconsin Plays, Huebsch
    1915  Heart's Kindred  Macmillan
    1917  A Daughter of the Morning (novel)  Bobbs-Merrill
    1918  Birth (novel)  Macmillan
    1919  Peace in Friendship Village (short stories)  Macmillan
    1920  Miss Lulu Bett (novel)  Appleton  (reprinted Greenwood Press, 1976)
    1920  The Neighbors (short stories) Huebsch
    1920  Miss Lulu Bett (dramatization of the novel) Appleton
    1921  The Secret Way (poetry) Macmillan
    1922  Uncle Jimmy (play) Walter H. Baker Company
    1922  What Women Won in Wisconsin (essay) National Woman's Party
    1923  Faint Perfume (novel)  Appleton
    1925  Mr. Pitt (play)  Appleton
    1926  Preface to Life (novel)  Appleton
    1927  Yellow Gentians and Blue (short stories) Appleton
    1928  Portage, Wisconsin and Other Essays (essays)  Appleton
    1929  Borgia (novel)  Knopf
    1930  Bridal Pond (novel)  Knopf
    1932  The Clouds (play)  Samuel French, Inc.
    1932  Evening Clothes (play)  Walter H. Baker Company
    1933  Papa La Fleur (novel)  Appleton
    1934  Faint Perfume (dramatization of the novel) Samuel French, Inc.
    1937  Light Woman (novel)  Appleton-Century
    1938  Frank Miller of Mission Inn (biography)  Appleton-Century, 1938
    1939  Magna (novel)  Appleton-Century
     
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