Böcker i Star Decades: American Culture/American Cinema-serien

Offers a comprehensive view of the star system in 1950s Hollywood, the emergence of "method" acting, and in-depth discussions of the decade's major stars, including Montgomery Clift, Judy Holliday, Jerry Lewis, James Mason, Marilyn Monroe and Kim Novak.

Focuses on the way film icons have engaged in and defined some major issues of cultural and social concern to America during the 1980s. Sections explore how movie stars' films create increased audience awareness of advances in feminism, new ideas about masculinity, and the complex political atmosphere under Reagan.

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.

Focusing on stardom during the 1920s, this title reveals strong connections and dissonances in matters of storytelling and performance that can be traced both backward and forward, across Europe, Asia, and the United States, from the silent era into the emergence of sound.

What Dreams Were Made Of examines the performers who helped define American cinema in the 1940s, a decade of rapid and repeated upheaval for Hollywood and the United States. Through insightful discussions of key films as well as studio publicity and fan magazines, the essays in this collection analyze how these actors and actresses helped lift spirits during World War II, whether in service comedies, combat films, or escapist musicals. Together, they represented the hopes and fears of a nation during turbulent times, enacting on the silver screen the dreams of millions of moviegoers.

Examines a wide range of Hollywood icons from a turbulent decade for the film industry and for America itself. Perhaps reflecting America's cultural fragmentation and uncertainty, Hollywood's star personas sent mixed messages about Americans' identities and ideals. With a multigenerational, international cast of stars, this collection presents a fascinating composite portrait of Hollywood stardom today.