The Star Machine (Vintage)
by Jeanine Basinger
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jeanine BasingerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-01-06
ISBN: 0307388751
Number of pages: 608
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Star Machine (Vintage)
Book Review: The Star Machine Works
Summary: 5 Stars
I was frankly surprised to read some of the negative comments about this book. at 48 I am a life-long 'Hollywood golden era' devotee, ergo for 35 years or so I've been watching old films and reading books about the people who made them.
I found Jeanine Basinger's book refreshing precisely because it offers perspective from an obviously educated point of view in three areas: historic, retroactive, and a nicely focused personal view.
The book may not offer mega-detailed accounts of or verbatim conversations taken from individual actor's experiences while becoming stars. It does however, cover a broad spectrum and includes anecdotal passages that are clearly taken from personal knowledge and conversations the author has had with those involved.
This is not a stolid textbook-type of book...not a step-by-step manual about how Hollywood made movie stars. Rather, it offers related topics about the 'star factory system' and the human factor in episodic format with chapters entitled for example "Disentanglement: Loretta Young, Irene Dunne, Norma Shearer" or "Defection: Deanna Durbin and Jean Arthur". Describing the careers of huge stars of the '30s and '40s and their respective career trajectories, the book asks us to consider the implications of individual 'star treks'. Why for example, is Norma Shearer considered dated by many people today? How is it that We all remember Irene Dunne being remembered (by Barbara Bel Geddes) as Mama (in the 1948 film), but few of us realize that she jerked many a tear from viewer's eyes in films like Back Street (1932)? It is also interesting to note that Dunne began her career in Hollywood when she was already 30 something yet she seems a contemporary of women like Olivia De Havilland who was only sixteen in 1932. How could someone like Deanna Durbin, still very popular and young simply walk away from her film career to take up an anymous life in France at the peak of her career?
Having read many general books about 'old Hollywood' and many individual biographies, I for one found Basinger's style thoroughly informative and entertaining. She writes with a touch of humor that is never condescending or caustic. This book is fun. I highly recommend it.
Summary of The Star Machine (Vintage)
From one of our most distinguished film scholars, comes a rich, penetrating, amusing book about the golden age of movies and how the studios worked to manufacture stars.With revelatory insights and delightful asides, Jeanine Basinger shows us how the studio ?star machine? worked when it worked, how it failed when it didn't, and how irrelevant it could sometimes be. She gives us case studies focusing on big stars groomed into the system: the ?awesomely beautiful? (and disillusioned) Tyrone Power; the seductive, disobedient Lana Turner; and a dazzling cast of others. She anatomizes their careers, showing how their fame happened, and what happened to them as a result. Deeply engrossing, full of energy, wit, and wisdom, The Star Machine is destined to become an classic of the film canon.
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