Acting for the Silent Screen: Film Actors and Aspiration between the Wars

Description

A shop girl wins a newspaper competition and is transformed overnight into a transatlantic celebrity. An aristocrat swaps high society for the film studio when she 'consents' to perform in a series of films, thus legitimising acting for what some might have considered a 'low' art. Stories like these were the stuff of newspaper headlines in 1920s and reflected a 'craze' for the cinema. They also demonstrated radical changes in attitudes and values within society in the wake of World War I.Chris O'Rourke investigates the myths and material practices that grew up around film actors during the silent era. The book sheds light on issues such as the social and cultural reception of cinema, the participatory film culture expressed through fan magazines, instructional booklets and movie star competitions, and the working conditions encountered by actors behind-the-scenes of silent films. Drawing on extensive research and a wealth of archival materials, O'Rourke examines how dreams of stardom were fuelled and exploited in the interwar period, and reconstructs the personal narratives and experiences of the first generation to imagine making a living on screen.In doing so, he reveals a missing - and much sought after - piece of cinematic history to bring to life the developing industries, social attitudes and norms of a period of enormous change. Cover Half-title Endorsement Series information Title page Copyright information Table of contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements General editor’s introduction Introduction: Winifred Hopcroft’s story The ‘craze’ for film acting Film acting and the British silent cinema Participation and self-improvement Exploiting ambition 1 In and out of the studio: The silent film actor in Britain Acting for a living Actors in the early cinema Picture personalities and crowd players Working conditions Stage and screen: Clive Brook and Brian Aherne A ‘nice’ job for girls: Mabel Poulton and Chili Bouchier 2 Learn to act for the cinema in your own home: Instructional guides to film acting Silent cinema and participation How to become a film artiste Stage experience not essential Screen types Speech, gesture and movement The art of facial expression An imaginary camera in your sitting room A cheap course of star study 3 The common round: Finding film work in interwar London Waiting rooms Cinema schools Girls who haunt Filmland The most troublesome woman in London Schools for the screen-struck? 4 Stand forth, Mary Pickford the second! Searching for British stars Fan magazine readers get their chance Newspaper contests Cinemagazine beauties A protégée for Norma Talmadge Friday night is Amami night Cinderella of the films: Margaret Leahy Epilogue: From silence to sound Notes Introduction: Winifred Hopcroft’s story 1. In and out of the studio: The silent film actor in Britain 2. Learn to act for the cinema in your own home: Instructional guides to film acting 3. The common round: Finding film work in interwar London 4. Stand forth, Mary Pickford the second! Searching for British stars Epilogue: From silence to sound Select filmography Select bibliography Archives Unpublished material Chapters and journal articles Books Index