Katharine Hepburn Star As Feminist (A Movie Book) - Softcover

Britton, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0304346578 ISBN 13: 9780304346578

Publisher: STERLING PUBLISHING +*COMPANY

Synopsis

Of all the major Hollywood stars, Katharine Hepburn is the least conventional, conforming to none of the stereotypes of stardom. Instead, she always appeared wilful and independent, able to develop her own persona within the confines of the studio system. This monograph by the late Andrew Britton, published for the first time in illustrated hardcover form, proposes a feminist reading of Hepburn's films, arguing that her persona raises problems about class, female sexuality and women's oppression which test the conventions of cinema ultimately committed to the reassertion of bourgeois gender roles. This book on the Hollywood cinema focuses on a film star rather than a director or a genre and as such should appeal to anyone interested in the movies.

About this title

Book Description:

Andrew Britton proposes a feminist reading of Hepburn's films, arguing that her persona raises problems about class, female sexuality, and women's oppression that strain to the limits the conventions of a cinema ultimately committed to the reassertion of bourgeois gender roles. Hepburn's work is also used to explore more general issues, such as the functioning of the star system. This is one of the very few analyses of American cinema to focus on a film star rather than a director or a genre and as such is essential reading for anyone interested in the movies.

First published in the United Kingdom twenty years ago, this lavishly illustrated new edition features a foreword by the noted film critic Robin Wood.

About the Author:

Andrew Britton lectured in film studies at the Universities of Warwick, Essex, and Reading. He also taught at Queens and Trent Universities in Ontario, Canada, and was a guest lecturer at other universities in Britain, Canada, and the United States. He died in 1994.Robin Wood is a founding editor of CineAction and author of Hitchcock's Films Revisited, Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan... and Beyond, and Sexual Politics and Narrative Film. He is professor emeritus at York University and the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Cinema Studies.

About this edition

• Publisher: STERLING PUBLISHING +*COMPANY
• ISBN 10: 0304346578
• ISBN 13: 9780304346578
• Binding: Paperback