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Stardom;: The Hollywood phenomenon
Page edges tanned, bookseller's marks. Orders received by 3pm Sent from the UK that weekday.
- GenresFilmNonfiction
392 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
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About the author
Alexander Walker
27 books18 followersAlexander Walker was a film critic and author of a number of biographies and books on the film industry.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 28, 2011
I read this gem twenty years ago and then rediscovered it (along with several other forgotten treasures) when I did my recent book purge. Needless to say, this did not get given away to the Salvos. I can't stop reading about Hollywood's Golden Age at the moment. I try to pick up something else but my mind just goes back to it. So, why fight it? I'm truly fascinated. I did exactly the same thing with books about Ancient Roman history about six years ago and the result was I wrote the first of my 'Empress of Rome' novels. I think I can safely say that a new book (or books) of my own is going to emerge from all this reading about Old Hollywood. I haven't quite decided what this will be just yet, but when I've typed the final word of 'Stealth of Vixens', which will be some months off yet, I'll be ready to embark. Ancient Rome will be rested for a while.
This dense little volume by Alexander Walker is a marvel - incredibly informative. When I read it two decades ago I don't think I appreciated just how good it is. His insights into the birth of the studio system are remarkable and quite unique. He draws conclusions I haven't seen drawn elsewhere - and he was drawing them back in 1970, when this was published. The best revelations (for me) were the chapters concerning the career demise of the 'Great Lover', John Gilbert - which debunked a lot of glib myths - and the responses from audiences, actors and studios to the advent of sound. The latter was far more complex and surprising than I knew. Walker puts so much film 'legend' into the correct context. Excellent stuff.
This dense little volume by Alexander Walker is a marvel - incredibly informative. When I read it two decades ago I don't think I appreciated just how good it is. His insights into the birth of the studio system are remarkable and quite unique. He draws conclusions I haven't seen drawn elsewhere - and he was drawing them back in 1970, when this was published. The best revelations (for me) were the chapters concerning the career demise of the 'Great Lover', John Gilbert - which debunked a lot of glib myths - and the responses from audiences, actors and studios to the advent of sound. The latter was far more complex and surprising than I knew. Walker puts so much film 'legend' into the correct context. Excellent stuff.
August 24, 2013
Alexander Walker is an expert on early talkies and the
changeover to sound and I can wholeheartedly recommend
his book "The Shattered Silents" as a very comprehensive
study of the behind the scenes mess that was Hollywood
1928-30. This is where "Stardom" comes alive for me -
explaining why some of my favourites (Mae Clarke, Ann
Dvorak etc) didn't survive as stars to the middle 1930s.
Almost all the profits the studios made during the 1920s
were gobbled up in the effort to equip movies and the
cinemas that showed them for sound and as a result a
stringent economy drive was adopted - salaries were slashed
and actors and actresses that didn't seem to have "It" were
dropped so only the superstars like Shearer, Crawford and
Garbo survived. Davis, Gable, Harlow and Loy were part of
the new crop. Did you know Paramount went into receivership
in 1933 and their new discovery, Mae West, bailed them out.
In the 1920s stars lived like royalty, commanding astronomical
salaries - Gloria Swanson, the most extravagant of them all,
pleased her fans by marrying a titled gentleman. Studio heads
were forever being held to ransom, so after sound was
introduced and the stars became frightened and stressed, the
bosses had them were they wanted them - cut their salaries as
well as bringing in the dreaded 7 year contract. Bette Davis,
Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Clarke Gable, Rudolph Valentino and
John Gilbert have their own chapters as well as one on the
very first star to be named, Florence Lawrence.
changeover to sound and I can wholeheartedly recommend
his book "The Shattered Silents" as a very comprehensive
study of the behind the scenes mess that was Hollywood
1928-30. This is where "Stardom" comes alive for me -
explaining why some of my favourites (Mae Clarke, Ann
Dvorak etc) didn't survive as stars to the middle 1930s.
Almost all the profits the studios made during the 1920s
were gobbled up in the effort to equip movies and the
cinemas that showed them for sound and as a result a
stringent economy drive was adopted - salaries were slashed
and actors and actresses that didn't seem to have "It" were
dropped so only the superstars like Shearer, Crawford and
Garbo survived. Davis, Gable, Harlow and Loy were part of
the new crop. Did you know Paramount went into receivership
in 1933 and their new discovery, Mae West, bailed them out.
In the 1920s stars lived like royalty, commanding astronomical
salaries - Gloria Swanson, the most extravagant of them all,
pleased her fans by marrying a titled gentleman. Studio heads
were forever being held to ransom, so after sound was
introduced and the stars became frightened and stressed, the
bosses had them were they wanted them - cut their salaries as
well as bringing in the dreaded 7 year contract. Bette Davis,
Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Clarke Gable, Rudolph Valentino and
John Gilbert have their own chapters as well as one on the
very first star to be named, Florence Lawrence.
March 19, 2009
Movie stars and stardom, including analysis of many silent stars incl. Pickford and Fairbanks, Griffith’s influence, Gish, Barthelmess, Chaplin, Swanson, Negri, Garbo, Valentino, Gilbert, and articles about scandal, talkies, and studio control. Talkie actors are Davis, Crawford, Gable, Wayne. Finishes with observations about the 60s.
February 15, 2009
Early form of star study that focuses on the connection of stardom with the development of the industrial model of Hollywood in the silent era. The value in Walker's study lies in the way he closely analyzes the stars' films, personal lives, and their public image.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews