#WomanEmpowermentWednesday Viola Lawrence

• Edited freelance between Universal, First National, Gloria Swanson Productions and Columbia until staying at Columbia and becoming head editor in 1925
• Called "The Lady of Shanghai" (1948) a "jumbled mess" 
• Worked in film since the age of 11 where she worked at Vitagraph Studios in New York as a hand polisher and messenger then title card holder
• Through Harry Cohn, ordered Orson Welles to shoot close ups for "The Lady of Shanghai" (1948)
• Helped Gloria Swanson direct an alternate ending to "Queen Kelly" (1929) when director Erich von Stroheim was fired from production
• Pared down 500,000 feet of exposed film to just 20,000 for "Pepe" (1960)