Acting for the Silent Screen

Film Actors and Aspiration between the Wars

Chris O'Rourke (University of Lincoln, UK)

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English

Bloomsbury Academic
29 July 2021

Acting techniques; Individual actors & performers; Films, movies & cinema; Social & cultural history; Gender studies, gender groups

Series: Cinema and Society

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.

By: Chris O'Rourke (University of Lincoln UK)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm,
Weight: 259g
ISBN: 9781350242852
ISBN 10: 1350242853
Series: Cinema and Society
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 29 July 2021
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Chapter 1 Introduction: Winifred Hopcroft's story Chapter 2 In and out of the studio: the silent film actor in Britain Chapter 3 Learn to act for the camera in your own home: instructional guides to film acting Chapter 4 The common round: finding film work in interwar London Chapter 5 Stand forth, Mary Pickford the second! Searching for British stars Chapter 6 Epilogue: from silence to sound

Chris O'Rourke is Senior Lecturer in Film and Television History at the University of Lincoln, UK. He has published widely on aspects of British cinema history, and he is the co-editor of the volume London on Film (2017).