Glamour in a Golden Age: Movie Stars of the 1930sAdrienne L. McLean Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer, Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, William Powell and Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, and Gary Cooper-Glamour in a Golden Age presents original essays from eminent film scholars that analyze movie stars of the 1930s against the background of contemporary American cultural history. Stardom is approached as an effect of, and influence on, the particular historical and industrial contexts that enabled these actors and actresses to be discovered, featured in films, publicized, and to become recognized and admired-sometimes even notorious-parts of the cultural landscape. Using archival and popular material, including fan and mass market magazines, other promotional and publicity material, and of course films themselves, contributors also discuss other artists who were incredibly popular at the time, among them Ann Harding, Ruth Chatterton, Nancy Carroll, Kay Francis, and Constance Bennett. |
Contents
Stardom in the 1930s
| 1 |
Ruth Chatterton Ann Harding Constance Bennett Kay Francis and Nancy Carroll | 18 |
Making Dreams Come True | 44 |
Rugged Elegance | 65 |
Worker and Queen | 84 |
The Sexy Hausfrau versus the Swedish Sphinx | 108 |
Rivals at the Glamour Factory | 129 |
Romancing through History | 153 |
Modernizing Class | 196 |
The Perfect Screen Couple | 220 |
The King of Hollywood | 245 |
In the Wings | 267 |
273 | |
Contributors
| 281 |
285 | |
Tragic Blonde | 174 |
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Academy Award acting actor actress American Angeles appeared Astaire and Rogers Astaire’s audiences August beauty Bennett Bette Davis box office Captain Blood career Carole Lombard Carroll cast character Chatterton Cinema claimed Clark Gable co-star comedy comic Constance Bennett contract costume critics cultural dance Davis’s decade described despite divorce dress early Errol Flynn exhibitors fan magazines feature female stars film film’s Gable’s Gary Cooper girl glamour Harding Havilland Hollywood husband Jean Harlow Joan Crawford Lady later Lombard look Loy’s Marlene Dietrich marriage married Mary masculine MGM’s Modern Screen Motion Picture Herald Movie Star musical Myrna Loy narrative Norma Shearer noted offscreen onscreen Paramount performance personality Photoplay platinum blonde played popular Powell’s producer publicity reported Ringgold Rogers’s roles romantic scene screwball September sexual Shirley Temple Shirley’s sophisticated stage star image star’s stardom Sternberg story studio success theater tion Warner Bros William Powell woman women York