ENGLISH

Peter Lorre: Face Maker: Constructing Stardom and Performance in Hollywood and Europe

By Sarah Thomas

Book information

Publisher
Berghahn Books
Year
2012
ISBN
9780857454423
DOI
10.1515/9780857454423
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
4 MB (4185135 bytes)
Series
Film Europa; 12
Pages
222\222
Library
degruyter.com
Time added
2023-08-20 04:01:05

Description

Peter Lorre described himself as merely a ‘face maker’. His own negative attitude also characterizes traditional perspectives which position Lorre as a tragic figure within film history: the promising European artist reduced to a Hollywood gimmick, unable to escape the murderous image of his role in Fritz Lang’s M. This book shows that the life of Peter Lorre cannot be reduced to a series of simplistic oppositions. It reveals that, despite the limitations of his macabre star image, Lorre’s screen performances were highly ambitious, and the terms of his employment were rarely restrictive. Lorre’s career was a complex negotiation between transnational identity, Hollywood filmmaking practices, the ownership of star images and the mechanics of screen performance.

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