Rachel Robbins
Bio
Writer-Performer based in the North of England. A joyous, flawed mess.
Please read my stories and enjoy. And if you can, please leave a tip. Money raised will be used towards funding a one-woman story-telling, comedy show.
Stories (61/0)
Veronica Lake (1922 – 1973)
My 1940’s imaginary screen-writing persona knows that Hollywood studio executives worked without a Human Resources Department. There was no talk of employee well-being, anti-discrimination legislation, or duty of care. There were films. And there was money.
By Rachel Robbins6 days ago in Geeks
Thelma Ritter (1902 – 1967)
Margo Channing may well be the most talented actress of her generation, a star. But do you care what happens to her? Yes, yes you do, because in Mankiewicz’s award winning screenplay of All About Eve (1950), he has written the part of Birdie Coonan; Margo’s wise-cracking, streetwise, ex-vaudevillian best friend:
By Rachel Robbins28 days ago in Geeks
The Joy of a Solo Cinema Date
My old life was hard. I got bored with counting all the ways in which I was struggling. There was a point where I threw it all up in the air to see what landed. And amongst all the shattered pieces I found sharp, delightful, shards of joy.
By Rachel Robbinsabout a month ago in Journal
- Top Story - November 2023
Now Voyager (1942)
During World War 2, the Hollywood film machinery aimed its products at the women on the home front. It was a boom period for the “Women’s Film”, often critiqued and dismissed as syrupy melodrama. However, some women are not easily dismissed. Last week, I wrote about Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce (1945) and how she had reshaped herself to appear in the film: shoulder pads, heavy brow, sharp edges and embracing dark themes. She was not a dame to be dismissed. And then there was Bette Davis.
By Rachel Robbinsabout a month ago in Geeks
Marie Dressler (9 November 1868 – 28 July 1934)
What if I were to tell you that I haven’t told you all my stories, that I haven’t even lived my best stories, would you believe me? I’m 54. I’ve met my great love. I’ve become a mother. I’ve done a range of jobs. What else could there be to talk about? What else could there be left to tell, to do, to discover?
By Rachel Robbins2 months ago in Geeks
- Top Story - October 2023
The Trouble with Being a Femme FataleTop Story - October 2023
“I was tussling with the most dangerous animal in the world – a woman” (Charles Hassell in Detour) I guess I've watched too many 1940s films. I've started thinking in shady black and white and plotting my revenge. There's no colour in my nightmares.
By Rachel Robbins2 months ago in Geeks
Fredi Washington (1903 – 1994)
“Early in my career it was suggested that I might get further by passing as French or something exotic. But to pass for economic or other advantages would have meant that I swallowed, whole hog, the idea of Black inferiority” (Fredi Washington in the Chicago Defender, 1945)
By Rachel Robbins2 months ago in Geeks
