whataboutbobbed
Sarah Y Mason (March 31, 1896 – November 28, 1980)
Screenwriter. She won an Academy Award for her adaptation of Little Women (1933), which she shared with her husband and collaborator, Victor Heerman [the two are in the photo above]. They also co-scripted that film’s 1949 MGM remake. Her other credits include Bright Skies (1920), Alias Jimmy Valentine (1928), The Broadway Melody (1929), The Age of Innocence (1934), Imitation of Life (1934), The Little Minister (1934), Magnificent Obsession (1935), Stella Dallas (1937), and Golden Boy (1939)
Mason was born in Pima, Arizona. Although she was one of the top screenwriters of her time, her greatest contribution to film was on the technical side: she was the very first script supervisor, or continuity clerk. This person’s job is to keep track of every detail of a filmed shot so that the position of the actors, costumes, props, and background will match in the next take. Mason suggested the idea to director Allan Dwan, who accepted it for his film Arizona (1918). The script supervisor remains an unsung but important part of the moviemaking process [Find A Grave]