Alice Duer Miller (July 28, 1874 – August 22, 1942) was an American writer whose poetry actively influenced political opinion. Her feminist verses influenced political opinion during the American suffrage movement, and her verse novel The White Cliffs influenced political thought during the U.S.'s entry into World War II. She also wrote novels and screenplays.

Early life

Alice Duer Miller was born in Staten Island, New York, on July 28, 1874, into a wealthy and prominent family. She grew up in Weehawken, New Jersey with her parents and two sisters. The family lost their fortune during the Baring Bank failure.

Her mother Elizabeth Wilson Meads was the daughter of Orlando Meads of Albany, New York. Her great-grandfather was William Alexander Duer, president of Columbia College. Her great-great-grandfather was William Duer, an American lawyer, developer, and speculator from New York City. He had served in the Continental Congress and the convention that framed the New York Constitution. In 1778, he signed the United States Articles of Confederation. Her great-great-great-grandfather was William Alexander, who claimed the disputed title of Earl of Stirling and was an American major-general during the American Revolutionary War.

Miller was also a descendant of Senator Rufus King, who was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress. He also attended the Constitutional Convention and was one of the signatories of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787.

Alice attended Barnard College in 1895, studying Mathematics and Astronomy and graduating Phi Beta Kappa. She helped to pay for her studies by selling novels and short essays to Harper's and Scribner's magazines. Miller became known as a campaigner for women's suffrage and was an active member of the Algonquin Round Table and Heterodoxy. She followed this collection with Women Are People! (1917).

As a novelist, she scored her first success with Come Out of the Kitchen in 1916. The story was made into a play and later the 1948 film Spring in Park Lane. She followed it with a series of other short novels, many of which were staged and (increasingly) made into films.

Her novel in verse Forsaking All Others (1933) was about a tragic love affair; many consider it her greatest work. Miller was invited to write for Hollywood in 1921 by Samuel Goldwyn. Throughout her life, she wrote successfully for a wide range of genres and produced forty-four books. American composer Natalia Raigorodsky composed an opera, The White Cliffs, based on Miller’s poem.

Personal life

Once she graduated, she married Henry Wise Miller on October 5, 1899, at Grace Church Chapel in New York City. Henry asked Alice to marry him three days after their first meeting. It is not known if Alice Miller was aware of her husband's infidelity, but she may have been. Powers suggests that her long poem Forsaking All Others (1931) is a veiled reference to her own marriage: the protagonist has an affair with a younger woman, but refuses to leave his wife for her.

After a long illness, Alice Duer Miller died in 1942 and was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Morristown, New Jersey.

  • Modern Obstacle (1903)
  • Less Than Kin (1909)
  • The Blue Arch (1910)
  • Things (1914)
  • The Burglar and the Blizzard: A Christmas Story (1914)
  • Are Women People? a book of rhymes for suffrage times (1915)
  • Come Out of the Kitchen (1916)
  • Women Are People! (1917)
  • The Sturdy Oak (1917), Alice Duer Miller et al.

::A composite Novel of American Politics by fourteen American authors

  • Ladies Must Live (1917)
  • The Happiest Time of Their Lives (1918)
  • Wings in the Night (1918)
  • The Charm School (1919)
  • The Beauty and the Bolshevist (1920)
  • Manslaughter (1921)
  • Are Parents People? (1924)
  • Priceless Pearl (1924)
  • The Reluctant Duchess (1925)
  • The Springboard (1928)
  • Welcome Home (1928)
  • Forsaking All Others (1931)
  • Gowns by Roberta (1933)
  • Come Out of the Pantry (1934)
  • The Rising Star (1935)
  • And One Was Beautiful (1937)
  • The White Cliffs (1940)

Filmography

  • Less Than Kin, directed by Donald Crisp (1918, based on the novel Less Than Kin)
  • Come Out of the Kitchen, directed by John S. Robertson (1919, based on the novel Come Out of the Kitchen)
  • Her First Elopement, directed by Sam Wood (1920, based on the novel Her First Elopement)<!--December 1920-->
  • Something Different, directed by Roy William Neill (1920, based on the novel Calderon's Prisoner)<!--December 1920-->
  • The Charm School, directed by James Cruze (1921, based on the novel The Charm School)<!--January 1921-->
  • Ladies Must Live, directed by George Loane Tucker (1921, based on the novel Ladies Must Live)<!--October 30, 1921-->
  • Manslaughter, directed by Cecil B. DeMille (1922, based on the novel Manslaughter)
  • Are Parents People?, directed by Malcolm St. Clair (1925, based on the story Are Parents People?)
  • Someone to Love, directed by F. Richard Jones (1928, based on the novel The Charm School)
  • Honey, directed by Wesley Ruggles (English-language version, 1930, based on the novel Come Out of the Kitchen)<!--March 29, 1930-->
  • Salga de la cocina, directed by Jorge Infante (Spanish-language version, 1931, based on the novel Come Out of the Kitchen)
  • Chérie, directed by Louis Mercanton (French-language version, 1931, based on the novel Come Out of the Kitchen)
  • Every Woman Has Something, directed by Leo Mittler (German-language version, 1931, based on the novel Come Out of the Kitchen)
  • ', directed by (Swedish-language version, 1931, based on the novel Come Out of the Kitchen)
  • Manslaughter, directed by George Abbott (English-language version, 1930, based on the novel Manslaughter)<!--July 23, 1930-->
  • The Incorrigible, directed by Leo Mittler (Spanish-language version, 1931, based on the novel Manslaughter)
  • The Indictment, directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki (French-language version, 1931, based on the novel Manslaughter)
  • Reckless Youth, directed by Leo Mittler (German-language version, 1931, based on the novel Manslaughter)
  • ', directed by (Swedish-language version, 1931, based on the novel Manslaughter)
  • The Princess and the Plumber, directed by Alexander Korda (1930, based on the story The Princess and the Plumber)<!--December 21, 1930-->
  • Big Executive, directed by Erle C. Kenton (1933, based on the story Big Executive)
  • Roberta, directed by William A. Seiter (1935, based on the novel Gowns By Roberta)<!--March 8, 1935-->
  • Come Out of the Pantry, directed by Jack Raymond (UK, 1935, based on the novel Come Out of the Kitchen)
  • Collegiate, directed by Ralph Murphy (1936, based on the novel The Charm School)
  • The White Cliffs of Dover, directed by Clarence Brown (1944, based on the verse novel The White Cliffs)
  • Spring in Park Lane, directed by Herbert Wilcox (UK, 1948, based on the novel Come Out of the Kitchen)
  • Sabela de Cambados, directed by Ramón Torrado (Spain, 1949, based on the novel Come Out of the Kitchen)
  • Lovely to Look At, directed by Mervyn LeRoy (1952, loosely based on the novel Gowns By Roberta)

Screenwriter

  • ', directed by Paul Bern (1922)
  • The Exquisite Sinner, directed by Josef von Sternberg (1926)
  • The Last Waltz, directed by Arthur Robison (Germany, 1927)
  • Rose Marie, directed by W. S. Van Dyke (1936)<!--February 1, 1936-->
  • Wife vs. Secretary, directed by Clarence Brown (1936)<!--February 28, 1936-->
  • And One Was Beautiful, directed by Robert B. Sinclair (1940)<!--April 5, 1940-->
  • Irene, directed by Herbert Wilcox (1940)<!--May 3, 1940-->

Modern works and inspiration

Composer Edna Yeh set selections from Are Women People? to music. The work was commissioned and performed by Voci Women's Vocal Ensemble.

References

  • Site dedicated to Alice Duer Miller's poems