Research Catalog

Joan Crawford in film noir : the actress as auteur

Title
Joan Crawford in film noir : the actress as auteur / David Meuel.
Author
Meuel, David, 1950-
Publication
Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2024]

Details

Description
x, 215 pages : illustrations; 23 cm
Summary
"Although rarely discussed in its totality, Joan Crawford's contribution to film noir during the 1940s and 1950s is one of her most impressive and far-reaching career achievements. Several of her noir and noir-tinged efforts contain what may very well be her best acting work, and in all of them her personal stamp is very much in evidence. These aren't conventional film noirs, they are Joan Crawford noirs: highly distinctive films that, because of their distinctiveness, actually extended the boundaries of noir content and brought added depth and dimension to the noir style. The way she accomplished this is also very distinctive. Unlike most actors who routinely adapted to the needs of particular film projects and directors, she approached each film, first and foremost, as a Joan Crawford vehicle, often exerting great control over multiple production functions and at times operating as a de facto producer. This book demonstrates that by examining these films as a collective and relatively cohesive body of work, we can better understand what Crawford aspired to achieve in her art, how-when the circumstances were right-she could deliver superb results, how she helped expand the possibilities for noir, and why the best of her efforts speak across the decades with such intensity and authority."--
Subject
  • Crawford, Joan, 1908-1977 > Criticism and interpretation
  • Film noir > United States > History and criticism
  • Motion pictures > 20th century > History and criticism
  • Films noirs > États-Unis > Histoire et critique
  • Cinéma > 20e siècle > Histoire et critique
  • PERFORMING ARTS / Film / History & Criticism
Genre/Form
  • Film criticism.
  • Critiques cinématographiques.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
  • 9781476691473
  • 1476691479
  • 9781476652528 (canceled/invalid)
LCCN
2024004649
OCLC
YBP 2024004649
Author
Meuel, David, 1950- author.
Title
Joan Crawford in film noir : the actress as auteur / David Meuel.
Publisher
Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2024]
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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