“From the first moment on the set, I was consumed with curiosity about the technical
side of shooting a sound picture (Hudson 79).” Gloria Swanson, born March 17, 1899, lived
A life full of films (Eyman par. 10). Swanson, an American actress, singer, and producer, was
raised by a military father and a stay at home mother; until they filed for divorce in 1916 (Gloria
Swanson American par. 1). Swanson was a standard eighteen year old girl, who did not know for sure what she wanted to do with her life after she moved out (Peterson par. 5). Unfortunately, along with being a military family, Swanson and her parents were always on the move, which then came lengthways her career in acting (Gloria Swanson American par. 4). It all started in 1916, when Swanson and her mother moved to California and she was going to try to get a job at the Mack Sennett Studios (Gloria Swanson American par. 3). Swanson was the ultimate movie star of the era. One of her best movies was called Sunset Boulevard, which it was the highest acclaimed movie of that time (Gloria Swanson American par. 2). In today’s world, Gloria Swanson, a mid-20’s reigning Queen of Hollywood, would be considered popular like “Brad Pitt (Swanson par. 1).”
Gloria May Josephine Swanson, named after her mother, and born and raised in Chicago (Peterson par. 3), and wanted a career of writing books about her life growing up and call it “My Military life (Sheaerer 89).” The Swanson family was always moving due to her father being in the military. The family remained in Puerto Rico for 5 years and then moved to Florida for a short time (Peterson par. 4). Her biggest distress was not being able to start a career because they were always moving, but that was not the case. Swanson’s drea...
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Noske, Kay. “2013 Movie Star Makeover.” 2013 Fashion in Film Blogaton. 23 March 2013. Web. 24 Feb 2014. .
Peterson Anne. “Scandals of Classic Hollywood: The Gloria Swanson Saga, Part One.” The Hairpin. 3 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Feb 2014. .
Eyman, Scott. “Gloria Swanson” WST 30 August 2013. Web. 25 Feb 2014. .
Tsui, Diana “20 Vintage Photos of Beautiful Women in veils” The Cut. 9 August 2013. Web. 25 Feb 2014. .
“Gloria Swanson Biography” BIO. Web. 25 Feb 2014. .
"38: Queen Latifah – Powerful Women of 2013." TheDropfm. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Sound was first introduced into film by the film The Jazz Singer (1927). The transition for silent films to talkies was an experimental period in film history considering that, “[m]ost of the early talkies were successful at the box-office, but many of them were of poor quality - dialogue-dominated play adaptations, with stilted acting (from inexperienced performers) and an unmoving camera or microphone” (Kirk). When film was transitioning into sound a lot of silent film aspects disappeared. Many of the early talkies lacked in visuals because most of the filmmakers' attention was on sound. Another aspect of silent film making that was lost were the stars. Some stars transitioned into talkies; while others did not transition. The character Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard reflects the struggle many of the silent film actors and actresses faced because of talkies. There are many reasons as to why some silent film actors didn’t transition into talkies. Some reasons actors did not transition include: audiences did not like actor’s voices, actors did not like making talkies, and some actors could not speak english. In Sunset Boulevard, there are many silent film stars who did not transfer into talkies such as, Buster Keaton and Gloria Swanson.
Reed, Elanine Walls. "'A very unusual Practise [sic]': miscegnation and the film industy in the Hays era." West Virginia Univesity Philological papers 50, 2003: 42-53.
Clara’s experience with the motion picture industry gives us a picture of what it was like in the 1920’s. It was new and intriguing, enticing and corrupt. The motion picture industry underpaid Bow, which is almost inconceivable today. The environment of Hollywood now pays actors and actresses corpulent amounts of money...but that may be the only change. The “star-maker” environment is still as enticing and corrupt as yesterday’s.
Shirley Temple. When the name is uttered an image of the dimpled faced, curly haired, tap dancing four year old from the 1930s automatically appears in everyone's mind. She was the child actress of the depression era, winning over the hearts and pocket books of many. Films, dolls and even a drink named after her, her face and name were ones that couldn't be missed. She was Fox's gem and saviour. She was an escape from the hard life. She was a star. The image that she gave off, of love for the needy and pure optimism, must have had an origin. Did it rise from the social needs of the public to escape the depression or was it purely constructed by Twentieth Century-Fox? Her image clearly correlates with the mentality of the public at the time, but Fox must have had a hand. Undoubtedly her image was created through a mixture of both elements.
Women in pictorial history have often been used as objects; figures that passively exist for visual consumption or as catalyst for male protagonists. Anne Hollander in her book Fabric of Vision takes the idea of women as objects to a new level in her chapter “Women as Dress”. Hollander presents the reader with an argument that beginning in the mid 19th century artists created women that ceased to exist outside of their elegantly dressed state. These women, Hollander argues, have no body, only dress. This concept, while persuasive, is lacking footing which I will attempt to provide in the following essay. In order to do this, the work of James Tissot (b. 1836 d. 1902) will further cement the idea of “women as dress” while the work of Berthe
When someone speaks of Marilyn Monroe most people think she was nothing other than a woman who slept her way to the top. Of course she had her faults, but there are a variety of traits to describe her rather than just her sexual appeal. Marilyn was an iconic model, singer and actress who passed away too soon from unknown causes. She became a popular, enthusiastic actress and her films produced over 200 million dollars. Although, many people seen her as scandalous, she was more than that, she faced many troubling situations before her rise to the top only to be defeated by a sudden death.
Pick, Zuzana M. "An Interview with Maria Luisa Bemberg." Journal of Film and Video 44. 3-4 (Fall-Winter 1992-93): 76.
As a young child, Marilyn had trouble making friends her age. The only friend she had was her dog Tippy. Everyday Tippy would eagerly await her arrival. One day when, Tippy is killed from an accident, Marilyn was startled by his death. This traumatic event affected her so much that she was inconsolable for weeks. This could have lead to Maslow’s safety need for protection. Individuals motivated by this need, include physical security, stability, dependency, protection and freedom from threatening forces (Feist & Feist, 2009). Young Marilyn believed Tippy was murdered by the neighbors, and now they are after her too. Her guardian at the time, found this to be disturbing (Taraborrelli, 2010). This explains why she was always seeking protection and needed to depend on others. This was the beginning of her anxiety. This explains why she was always seeking dependency from others.
Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jeane Mortenson. A devious soul but a pure heart, a black past, but a bright future; she became one of the most idolized figures in society. Norma was definitely not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and she never sugar coated her life to the media. She was straight forward which made her heavily known for her quotes such as “I learned to walk as a baby and I haven’t had a lesson since.” (Marilyn Monroe). This was the beginning to her life story as a hero. This may not seem inspiring or heroic to many by the lack of knowledge a person may have on Norma. In the depths of her quotes lay a deep, heartfelt life though. For this quote may seem sensational and comical to the ear, but Marilyn was transferred to many foster homes not really having a parent that would show her the way. What a good role model would do though, and what Norma courageously has shown society, is that when life knocks you down, get up and hit life back twice as hard. Norma Jeane Mortenson, married Jim Dougherty, and started working. Soon she created the character Marilyn Monroe, she dyed her hair blonde, wore short dresses, and she became the momentous and inspirational character that everyone saw through television, newspapers, and photos. She was one of the greatest actors, singers, and models of the nineteen forties and fifties. But like every hero they suffer and create their own demise. Jeane, Marilyn Monroe, is a shakespearean tragic hero, because like every hero she must fall.
Judy Garland definitely had her ups and downs on her way to stardom. Garland was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Her real name is Frances Gumm, which later changed when she became a star. Her childhood was not what you could call perfect, she was forced into singing and acting by her mother. Her mother was very gifted and had many talents, when Garland was only 2 her mother saw that she had talent and made her perform all around the country. They had many other family problems due to her father's homosexuality and were many times forced to leave certain areas because of this, they sometimes even had to live out of their car because they had no where else to go. Finally Garland was signed by MGM and this was a huge step in her life and also her families. Soon after getting signed her father passed aways and this took a huge toll on Garland’s family life and career. After her father’s death and she got back to working she was faced with the problem of people telling her that her weight was a problem which s...
The complex web of half-truths and false impressions that give the diegesis of Sunset Boulevard its convolution manifests in the visual imagery and physical attributes of a house at once lavish and decaying. The home of Norma Desmond embodies the actress’s own mental disassociation and emotional fragility, displaying an outward dilapidation held separate from the intimate glamour within. The two faces of Desmond’s estate exist in a visual disparity that mirrors the former star’s own dissociation and the private delusion of celebrity and high regard in which she wraps herself. Desmond’s belief in her own significan...
Noted in Yvonne Tasker’s Working Girls: Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema, Goldie Hawn says this about women's role in the film business “There are only thee ages for women in Hollywood: Babe, District Attorney and Driving Miss Daisy” (1998, p. 3). While Haw...
Born Audrey Kathleen Ruston on May 4, 1929 to parents Joseph Hepburn-Ruston and Ella van Heemstra, Audrey lived with her two half-brothers, in Brussels, Belgium. She and her brothers lived a luscious life as young children, seeing that her mother was a Dutch Baroness who was descended from French and English kings and her father a well-known business man and banker. Audrey’s father later appended Hepburn to his surname, thus Audrey becoming Hepburn-Ruston (Biography of Audrey Hepburn.) In 1935 Joseph and Ella divorced, and Audrey recalled it to be one of the most traumatic events of her life. In the early years after the divorce, Audrey and her mother lived in England, but with the outbreak of World War II, her mother moved them to the Netherlands; this area was neutral and her mother’s home country. Much to her mother’s dismay, on May 10, 1940, Nazi Germans invaded the Netherlands and Audrey’s family, consisting of Audrey’s mother and her two half-brothers were forced to endure hardships of war (Audrey Hepburn 1929-1993.) Audrey suffered severely during the war, and became increasingly malnourished (Facts about Audrey Hepburn.)
Is the name Norma Jean Baker familiar? Maybe, but due to a suggestion Ben Lyon provided, the name Marilyn Monroe is sure to gain recognition as the 1940’s thespian (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Baker and grew up to become the sex icon Marilyn Monroe, a singer, actress, and comedienne. She is remembered mainly for her talents and her nude photos from the 1940’s, which helped her to become an icon. One article states, “Legendary film actress Marilyn Monroe will be remembered for her sensuous beauty, her acting talent, and her psychological torment” (DISCovering Biography). Along with her talent she was also known for her declining mental state. She eventually died due to a barbiturate overdose, not too