Independent stardom : freelance women in the Hollywood studio system / by Emily Carman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carman, Emily, author.

Series:

Texas film and media studies series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion picture industry--California--Los Angeles--History.

Motion picture industry.

Motion picture actors and actresses.

History.

Women in the motion picture industry.

California--Los Angeles.

Women in the motion picture industry--California--Los Angeles--History.

Motion picture actors and actresses--California--Los Angeles--History.

Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.)--History.

Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.).

California--Los Angeles--Hollywood.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 220 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2016.

Summary:

Bringing to light an often-ignored aspect of Hollywood studio system history, this book focuses on female stars who broke the mold of a male-dominated, often manipulative industry to dictate the path of their own careers through freelancing. Runner-up, Richard Wall Memorial Award, Theatre Library Association, 2016 -- During the heyday of Hollywood's studio system, stars were carefully cultivated and promoted, but at the price of their independence. This familiar narrative of Hollywood stardom receives a long-overdue shakeup in Emily Carman's new book. Far from passive victims of coercive seven-year contracts, a number of classic Hollywood's best-known actresses worked on a freelance basis within the restrictive studio system. In leveraging their stardom to play an active role in shaping their careers, female stars including Irene Dunne, Janet Gaynor, Miriam Hopkins, Carole Lombard, and Barbara Stanwyck challenged Hollywood's patriarchal structure. Through extensive, original archival research, Independent Stardom uncovers this hidden history of women's labor and celebrity in studio-era Hollywood. Carman weaves a compelling narrative that reveals the risks these women took in deciding to work autonomously. Additionally, she looks at actresses of color, such as Anna May Wong and Lupe Vélez, whose careers suffered from the enforced independence that resulted from being denied long-term studio contracts. Tracing the freelance phenomenon among American motion picture talent in the 1930s, Independent Stardom rethinks standard histories of Hollywood to recognize female stars as creative artists, sophisticated businesswomen, and active players in the then (as now) male-dominated film industry.

Contents:

1930s Hollywood : the golden age for talent

The [freelance] contract in context

Labor and lipstick : promoting the independent persona

Independent stardom goes mainstream.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-207) and index.

ISBN:

9781477307311

1477307311

9781477307816

1477307818

OCLC:

909538021