Flickers of Desire : : Movie Stars of the 1910s / / ed. by Jennifer M. Bean.

Today, we are so accustomed to consuming the amplified lives of film stars that the origins of the phenomenon may seem inevitable in retrospect. But the conjunction of the terms "movie" and "star" was inconceivable prior to the 1910s. Flickers of Desire explores the emergence of...

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Superior document:Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Rutgers University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
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Place / Publishing House:New Brunswick, NJ : : Rutgers University Press, , [2011]
©2011
Year of Publication:2011
Language:English
Series:Star Decades: American Culture/American
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Physical Description:1 online resource (288 p.) :; 48
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Summary:Today, we are so accustomed to consuming the amplified lives of film stars that the origins of the phenomenon may seem inevitable in retrospect. But the conjunction of the terms "movie" and "star" was inconceivable prior to the 1910s. Flickers of Desire explores the emergence of this mass cultural phenomenon, asking how and why a cinema that did not even run screen credits developed so quickly into a venue in which performers became the American film industry's most lucrative mode of product individuation. Contributors chart the rise of American cinema's first galaxy of stars through a variety of archival sources--newspaper columns, popular journals, fan magazines, cartoons, dolls, postcards, scrapbooks, personal letters, limericks, and dances. The iconic status of Charlie Chaplin's little tramp, Mary Pickford's golden curls, Pearl White's daring stunts, or Sessue Hayakawa's expressionless mask reflect the wild diversity of a public's desired ideals, while Theda Bara's seductive turn as the embodiment of feminine evil, George Beban's performance as a sympathetic Italian immigrant, or G. M. Anderson's creation of the heroic cowboy/outlaw character transformed the fantasies that shaped American filmmaking and its vital role in society.
Format:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:9780813550725
9783110688610
DOI:10.36019/9780813550725
Access:restricted access
Hierarchical level:Monograph
Statement of Responsibility: ed. by Jennifer M. Bean.