Off With Their Heads! (A Serio-Comic Tale of Hollywood), written by Frances Marion, published by The Macmillan Company, 1972.

Frances Marion, born on November 18, 1888 in San Francisco, was one of the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood history. Her autobiography, Off With Their Heads!, vividly documents her role as an A-list insider in the studio system during which time she contributed her talents to 137 films as either an accredited writer, actress, producer or director. Most of her career was spent at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where she was "friendly enemies" with Louis B. Mayer for decades. Frances was also close personal friends with many Hollywood celebrities including Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Lilian Gish, Joan Blondell, Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Judy Garland, Anita Loos, W.R. Hearst, Marion Davies, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Hedda Hopper, Bess Meredyth, and too many more to mention. Indeed, Frances concentrates so much on her friends and acquaintances in her autobiography that she modestly neglects to focus on her writing achievements. One notable exception is her recollection, while on location, of seeing a young boy take his inebriated father by the hand and safely lead him out of a bar. Frances went back to her hotel room and promptly used the incident to write a tear-jerker script titled The Champ. Wallace Beery won an Academy Award for his performance, young Jackie Cooper became a star, and Frances received an Academy Award for the screenplay.

Frances Marion began her career as an artist designing movie posters which led to a job with Bosworth Studios. Mary Pickford, a fan of her work, arranged for Frances to receive an acting role in A Girl of Yesterday. Pickford then asked Frances to write the script for The Foundling and this assignment launched Frances Marion's career as a scenario writer. Soon afterwards, Frances signed a contract with the World Film Company located in Fort Lee, New Jersey. After the success of A Poor Little Rich Girl, Frances returned to Los Angeles where she continued to write film scenarios featuring Mary Pickford. When the United States entered World War I, Frances volunteered to serve overseas as a war correspondent. Upon her return to America, she married Fred Thomson, who trained horses for western films. Together, they raised two boys, Frederick and Richard, and resided on a twenty acre hilltop property in Beverly Hills called "The Enchanted Hill" until Fred's untimely death from a tetanus infection. Frances went on to write and influence the creation of many more successful films until her death in 1973 at the age of eighty-four.

Off With Their Heads! is a nostalgic tale that vividly captures Hollywood from World War I up to World War II. The author entertains and educates the reader while artfully reminiscing about the personalities and achievements of the era. It is, unquestionably, one of the best books written about Hollywood.