A Hoax in the Writing Department: An MGM Vignette

Yet another represented blog shown here for your enjoyment.

There was once an author named Lorna Moon. She had dedicated one of her books, "Dark Star" to a friend of hers named Frances Marion, who was a top screenwriter at MGM. Miss Moon did not achieve success with her writings, and fell into debt. She eventually contracted tuberculosis. In order to enter a sanitarium, she needed a loan which she received from Frances Marion. When Miss Marion visited her friend at the sanitarium, she was in for a surprise. Lorna, who was dying, wanted Frances to make "Dark Star" into a motion picture. Lorna wanted this to happen because she wanted to pay all of her debts before her passing. Frances read the book but found it to be unfilmable. "Dark Star" was an excessively depressing Scottish tale that would not please an entire audience, if anybody at all for that matter. Around the same time, Frances wanted to find a star vehicle for Marie Dressler, an actress that she was determined to make a glorious comeback for that would make Miss Dressler a star the world over. Frances eventually hatched an idea in which Lorna could pay her debts and Marie Dressler would become a star. Frances met with MGM's story department head, Kate Corbelay. They created a foolproof plan that was executed later that day. That Afternoon, Kate stated the names and plots of the scripts that she thought were a perfect fit for MGM in front of an executive council that included Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg. Meanwhile, Frances waited outside for her cue. When Kate said the words "Dark Star," Frances barged in and asked if she could tell the synopsis to that particular story because she was very familar with its plot. The council agreed so Frances initiated the hoax. Instead of telling the real synopsis of "Dark Star," she used the synopsis of an original idea she was working upon known as "Min and Bill". Louis B. Mayer liked the synopsis he heard and stated that the rights to "Dark Star" would be obtained from the author for $7,500 and that Frances would write the script. Afraid of being discovered, Frances collaborated with Marion Jackson to write her script in a hurry. The project's name was changed to "Min and Bill", although the superfluous "Dark Star' credit remained. Lorna, meanwhile, received her money before her passing and payed off all of her debts. She passed away before Min and Bill was released never to know about the sham. The hoax ended up being successful as all prints of Min and Bill as well as all publicity material said that the source of the movie was the book "Dark Star." The film became MGM's biggest hit of 1930 and Marie Dressler won an Oscar for her unforgettable leading performance, in addition to being MGM's biggest star for the last four years of her life. And outside of those people who were involved with the hoax, it remained undiscovered until 1978, a few years after Frances' passing. She had achieved her plan and executed it to perfection.