Hollywood and the Rise of Physical Culture (Studies in American Popular History and Culture)

This study examines the relationship between cinema and physical culture including activities such as dieting and muscle-building. Hollywood's long-standing prominence on the world stage makes it an ideal place to begin such an examination. The evidence that emerges from a case study of Hollywood's impact on the American reducing craze of the 1920s, a physical culture fad whose chief focus was on shedding fat, forms the basis for speculation regarding the interrelationship of Hollywood and physical culture. AMERICAN POPULAR HISTORY AND CULTURE......Page 2 Hollywood and the Rise of Physical Culture......Page 4 Contents......Page 7 List of Illustrations......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 9 CHAPTER 1 Cinema and Physical Culture......Page 10 THE REDUCING CRAZE......Page 14 World War I......Page 19 Industrialization and Consumerism......Page 21 Sexuality......Page 24 Fashion......Page 27 Feminism......Page 30 Science......Page 32 Hollywood......Page 37 Filmmakers Arrive......Page 41 Why Hollywood?......Page 43 Historical Evidence......Page 45 Contributing Factors......Page 55 A CRUEL EYE: THE MOTION PICTURE CAMERA AND THE BODY......Page 64 CONCLUSIONS......Page 75 CHAPTER 3 Capitalizing Their Charms Cinema Stars and Reducing......Page 76 THE EMERGENCE OF MOTION PICTURE STARDOM......Page 77 THE RELATIONSHIP OF STARDOM TO PUBLIC LIFE......Page 81 Reducing as a Professional Duty......Page 86 Contracts......Page 90 Diet Articles......Page 101 The "He-Man" Variety: Athletics as a Route to Stardom......Page 110 "Bathing Girls" and Motion Picture Stardom......Page 115 CONCLUSIONS......Page 117 CLARA BOW: CURVE TROUBLES......Page 121 RUDOLPH VALENTINO: PINK POWDER PUFF?......Page 131 HOLLYWOOD AND PHYSICAL CULTURE IN THE 1920s......Page 148 BEYOND THE 1920s......Page 155 CHAPTER ONE: CINEMA AND PHYSICAL CULTURE......Page 157 CHAPTER 2: THE DRAMA-CANNING INDUSTRY HEADS WEST......Page 161 CHAPTER 3: CAPITALIZING THEIR CHARMS......Page 167 CHAPTER 4: ASCENDING THE CELLULOID HEAVENS......Page 171 CHAPTER 5: HOLLYWOOD AND PHYSICAL CULTURE......Page 174 Bibliography......Page 176

This study examines the relationship between cinema and physical culture (i.e. activities such as dieting and muscle-building). Hollywood's long-standing prominence on the world state makes it an ideal place to begin such an examination. The evidence that emerges from a case study of Hollywood's impact on the American reducing craze of the 1920s, a physical culture fad whose chief focus was on shedding fat, will form the basis for speculation regarding the interrelationship of Hollywood and physical culture.

This book examines the relationship between cinema and physical culture i.e. activities such as dieting and muscle-building. It presents a case study of Hollywood's impact on the American reducing craze of the 1920s as the basis for speculating interrelationship of Hollywood and physical culture.