Helen of Troy in Hollywood / Ruby Blondell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blondell, Ruby, 1954- author.

Series:

Martin classical lectures ; Volume 38.

Martin Classical Lectures ; Volume 38

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Helen, of Troy, Queen of Sparta--In motion pictures.

Helen.

Helen, of Troy, Queen of Sparta--On television.

Mythology, Greek, in motion pictures.

Mythology, Greek, on television.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Prince­ton, New Jersey : Prince­ton University Press, [2023]

Summary:

"This book explores the representation of Helen of Troy in Hollywood film and television, with a particular focus on her defining features: transcendent beauty and transgressive erotic agency. The first chapter, on early Hollywood, sets the scene by explaining the importance of ideas about Greek beauty at the beginning of cinema and highlighting some of the problems that continue to bedevil this topic, especially "realism" and the representation of supreme beauty. Blondell argues that the problem of Helen is baked into Hollywood from the start. In subsequent chapters Blondell examines specific screen adaptations in which Helen is featured. Each of these case studies locates a particular work in its historical, cultural, and generic context, as a framework for addressing the ways in which it approaches a range of interlocking questions about beauty, its representation, and the cinematic uses of myth. The second chapter is devoted to the sole Helenic feature film of the silent period, Alexander Korda's Private Life of Helen of Troy (1927). Part II moves to the big screen epic, pairing one film from each of the two great waves of ancient world epic spanning the latter half of the 20th century: Robert Wise's 1956 epic Helen of Troy and Wolfgang Petersen's more recent extravaganza, Troy (2004). In Part III she turns to television, with a chapter on episodic tele-fantasy followed by a study of the 2003 miniseries Helen of Troy. In some of these works Helen is the central character (or "hero"); in others she is at the periphery of a masculine adventure. But in all of them she represents the threat of superhuman beauty as an inheritance from classical Greece"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Preface

Part I. Early Hollywood

1. Olympus Moves to Hollywood

2. A Brilliant Gem in a Finely Wrought Setting: The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1927)

Part II. Big Screen Epic

3. An Anticheesecake Doll: Helen of Troy (1956)

Color Plates

4. Helen of Abercrombie &amp

Fitch: Troy (2004)

Part III. Television

5. The Plural of Helen of Troy: Twentieth-Century Telefantasy

6. Not the BBC Version: Helen of Troy (2003)

Bibliography

Image Credits

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691229645

0691229643

OCLC:

1375292131