Virginia Van Upp: The Successfully Unsung Woman Producer of Hollywood

 


Virginia Van Upp does not always get the respect that she deserves. It is sad to see because many cinephiles do not know her despite her being so successful in the Golden Age. She was able to break boundaries by producing so many great movies by paving the way for women producers. In addition, she worked with many legends in the industry only to enhance their careers in the process. While not as famous as other producers like David O' Selznick along with Stanley Kramer, Van Upp still remains iconic. She has developed a cult following among serious cinephiles who appreciate her setting boundaries for women.

Van Upp was born in Chicago, Illinois on Jan 13, 1902, to her parents Harry and Helen Van Upp. Her mother was actually writing and editing for Thomas H. Ince. Ince was a director, screenwriter and producer in the silent era known for working with DW Griffith along with creating the Western genre. Van Upp began her film career as a silent film actress when she was a child and worked her way as a screenwriter, editor as her career started to develop. She signed a contract with Paramount Pictures as a screenwriter in the 30s. Her first screenplay for Paramount was The Pursuit of Happiness in 1934 and continued to write screenplays for Paramount until 1943. After leaving Paramount, Van Upp was hired by the Head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn to do a movie that will change her career forever.

Van Upp signed a contract with Columbia as a screenwriter. The movie that changed her career was Cover Girl starring Rita Hayworth (Gilda) and directed by Charles Vidor (Gilda, The Lady in Question). Cohn hired Van Upp to rewrite the script for Cover Girl from discarded drafts. Van Upp successfully rewrote the script only to gain respect from Rita Hayworth herself. Van Upp used the script to enhance Hayworth's new screen persona and supervised her costumes for the movie. Friendship with Hayworth began and Van Upp was hired by Cohn as a producer due to Cover Girl's success. By the way, Van Upp was one out of three female producers in Hollywood in the 1940s. Interestingly, Van Upp was one of the few producers who welcomed studio interference as a way to value variety in opinions. Van Upp teamed up again with Charles Vidor and Rita Hayworth for their big hit in Gilda. She produced the film and co-wrote it. Van Upp was often uncredited as a producer. In fact, she was uncredited for producing Orson Welles's The Lady From Shanghai (1948) which also starred Hayworth. After being so successful in Columbia, Van Upp left the studio to be with family after producing The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947).

Meanwhile, Van Upp was in Harry Cohn's good graces that he wanted her to produce for South and Central American countries. She was about to produce films based on the novelist Dr Gines De la Torre's books named Christ the Man and Tolvanera in 1949. Van Upp's script for Christ the Man was intended to be directed by Frank Capra himself. The script was about the staging of Christ's life in America, but it did not materialize since Paramount thought that it was over budget. However, Capra thought that the subject matter influenced the cancellation. She returned back to Columbia to produce director Vincent Sherman's Affair in Trinidad (1952). It once again starred Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford who teamed up with Van Upp again after the success of Gilda. Afterwards, Van Upp produced documentary films for the US Army in West Germany. Van Upp was married twice, and her second husband was production manager Ralph W. Nelson. They had one daughter in their marriage. They divorced in 1949. Unfortunately, Van Upp died at the age of 68 in 1970.

Studying Virginia Van Upp was imperative for me. I say that because I did it for the sake of filing in my blind spots when it comes to female filmmakers. Also, I wanted to help other cinephiles grow in knowledge by allowing them to appreciate her career. It is important to know that we as cinephiles should cover any type of filmmaker along with movement. As long as we expand and enrich by covering the popular and esoteric together then we will constantly mature and grow. Remember, never take lesser-known filmmakers like Virginia Van Upp for granted. We should always study esoteric things so that we will not be limited by only the popular stuff. If we only cover the popular stuff, then it will lead to cherry-picking by making us seem boxed in our knowledge. Bottom line is this, give respect to the cult filmmakers for the sake of advancing in literacy. God bless.

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