Star Attractions: Twentieth-Century Movie Magazines and Global Fandom (Fandom & Culture)

During Hollywood’s “classic era,” from the 1920s to 1950s, roughly twenty major fan magazines were offered each month at American newsstands and abroad. These publications famously fed fan obsessions with celebrities such as Mae West and Elvis Presley. Film studies scholars often regard these magazines with suspicion; perhaps due to their reputation for purveying scandal and gossip, their frequent mingling of gushing tone, and blatant falsehood. Looking at these magazines with fresh regarding eyes and treating them as primary sources, the contributors of this collection provide unique insights into contemporary assumptions about the relationship between fan and star, performer and viewer. In doing so, they reveal the magazines to be a huge and largely untapped resource on a wealth of subjects, including gender roles, appearance and behavior, and national identity. **Contributors:** Emily Chow-Kambitsch, Alissa Clarke, Jonathan Driskell, Lucy Fischer, Ann-Marie Fleming, Oana-Maria Mazilu, Adrienne L. McLean, Sarah Polley, Geneviève Sellier, Michael Williams Contents Acknowledgments Introduction / Tamar Jeffers McDonald and Lies Lanckman Chapter One. “Give Them a Good Breakfast, Says Nancy Carroll”: Fan Magazine Advice Across Time / Adrienne L. McLean, University of Texas at Dallas Chapter Two. Come-on Covers and Climb-down Contents: Salaciousness and Timidity in the Movie Magazines / Tamar Jeffers McDonald Chapter Three. In Search of Lost Fans: Recovering Fan Magazine Readers, 1910–1950 / Lies Lanckman Chapter Four. A Spectrum of Individuals: U.S. Fan Magazine Circulation Figures from 1914 to 1965 / Sarah Polley, University of Kent Chapter Five. Movie Magazines, Popular Films, and Popular Spectatorship in Postwar France / Geneviève Sellier, University of Bordeaux Montaigne Chapter Six. A Star Is Born: Nicolae Ceaușescu’s Image in the Romanian Film Magazine Cinema / Oana-Maria Mazilu, University of Kent Chapter Seven. Majallah Filem and Stardom in the Golden Age of Malay Cinema / Jonathan Driskell, Monash University Malaysia Chapter Eight. “England’s Apollo”: Researching Ivor Novello and Divinized Stardom, 1914–1936 / Michael Williams, University of Southampton Chapter Nine. A “Ramonite” in the Chariot: Female Spectators and Ramón Novarro in Ben-Hur / Emily Chow-Kambitsch, University of California, Santa Barbara Chapter Ten. In Bed with Mae West: Movie Magazine Revelations of the Boudoir as Creative, Training, and Central Scenic Space / Alissa Clarke, De Montfort University Chapter Eleven. “Call Me Madame”: Alla Nazimova in the Trade and Popular Press, 1906–1927 / Lucy Fischer, University of Pittsburgh Chapter Twelve. Taking Care of Elvis: British Fandom in Elvis Monthly, 1960–1967 / Ann-Marie Fleming, University of Kent Notes Bibliography Index "This first of its kind examination turns the spotlight on the fan magazines of the "classic Hollywood" era, which famously fed obsessions with celebrities such as Mae West and Elvis Presley. In their heyday, from the 1920s to the 1950s, about twenty major fan magazines were on offer every month at American newsstands, with even more offered in other countries. However, film studies scholars often still regard these publications with suspicion, perhaps due to the magazines' reputation for purveying scandal and gossip, and their frequent mingling of gushing tone and blatant falsehood. However, by treating these movie magazines as primary sources, the contributors are able to gain unique insights into contemporary assumptions about the relationship between fan and star, performer and viewer. As a result, they find these fan magazines to be a huge and hitherto largely untapped resource on a wealth of subjects, including appropriate gender roles, appearance and behavior, and national identity. Essayists address three key areas: the variety of periodicals published under the movie or fan magazine rubric; the magazines' widespread emphasis on stars, fans, and the interaction of the two; and international variations on the original American model. Combining innovative scholarship with an entertaining subject matter, this collection on an understudied yet powerful cultural medium is sure to appeal to film, media, fan, and popular culture studies scholars alike, not to mention film buffs of Hollywood's "golden era.""-- Provided by publisher

During Hollywood's "classic era, " from the 1920s to 1950s, roughly twenty major fan magazines were offered each month at American newsstands and abroad. These publications famously fed fan obsessions with celebrities such as Mae West and Elvis Presley. Film studies scholars often regard these magazines with suspicion; perhaps due to their reputation for purveying scandal and gossip, their frequent mingling of gushing tone, and blatant falsehood.

Looking at these magazines with fresh regarding eyes and treating them as primary sources, the contributors of this collection provide unique insights into contemporary assumptions about the relationship between fan and star, performer and viewer. In doing so, they reveal the magazines to be a huge and largely untapped resource on a wealth of subjects, including gender roles, appearance and behavior, and national identity.

Contributors: Emily Chow-Kambitsch, Alissa Clarke, Jonathan Driskell, Lucy Fischer, Ann-Marie Fleming, Oana-Maria Mazilu, Adrienne L. McLean, Sarah Polley, Geneviève Sellier, Michael Williams

Looking at the fan magazines of Hollywood's "classic era" with fresh regarding eyes and treating them as primary sources, the contributors of this collection provide unique insights into contemporary assumptions about the relationship between fan and star, performer and viewer.