PICTURE PERFECT - David Charles Manners
Beckman Unicorn presents the remarkable true story of Margaret Chute, a struggling actor on the London stage, who reinvented herself in the 1920s to become Hollywood's first female freelance film journalist.
Developing intimate friendships with Joan Crawford, Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland, Bette Davies, Gloria Swanson, Mae West, Douglas Fairbanks, Lilian Gish and Gary Cooper – whom she met when they both witnessed a murder – the ‘indefatigable’ Margaret soon gained an international reputation for both her trailblazing writing and stunning, candid photographs of the stars – only to be destroyed by the very industry to which she dedicated over 20 years of her short life.
A courageous, independent woman who travelled on her own across the Atlantic from England to the exciting new world of Hollywoodland, Margaret defied social norms, finally exposing the tragic cost of the pursuit of fame and choosing to pay the ultimate price.
Her history has been deleted from Hollywood history due to her outspoken position on the way young women were treated – perhaps the earliest exponent of the #MeToo movement with her explosive article published in 1935.
With unique access to the private family archive, Picture Perfect allows Margaret’s fascinating story to be told for the first time…
‘I hope Margaret is given her rightful place in the History of Hollywood.’
MARIA COOPER JANIS, daughter of Gary Cooper
