Searching for Stars: Stardom and Screen Acting in British Cinema (Rethinking British Cinema)

Geoffrey Macnab

ISBN 10: 0304333522 / ISBN 13: 9780304333523

Published by Bloomsbury Academic, 2000

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 007933

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Searching for Stars: Stardom and Screen Acting in British Cinema (Rethinking British Cinema)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0304333522
• ISBN 13: 9780304333523
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

About this title

Synopsis

Explores the reasons behind British cinema's failure to create its own stars. The text looks at the way theatre and music hall spawned their stars, and asks why so many of them found the transition to film so awkward. It compares the British star system with that of Hollywood.

What sort of contracts were British stars offered? How much were they paid? Who dealt with their publicity? How did Britsh fans regard them? There are essays on key figures (Novello, Fields, Formby, Dors, Bogarde, Mason, Matthews), and assessment of how British stars fared in Hollywood, an analysis of the effects of class and regional prejudice on attempts at British star-making, and a survey of the British comedy tradition, and some of the questions about how genre affected the star system.

About the Author

Geoffrey Macnab is a film journalist and critic for The Independent, The Guardian and Screen International. He is based in London, UK.