Since the golden era of silent movies stars have been described
as screen gods, goddesses and idols. But why did Hollywood, that
most modernity industry, first look back to antiquity as it built
its stars? This book presents a unique insight into the origins of
screen stardom in the 1910s and 20s to explore how the myth and
iconography of ancient Greece and Rome was deployed to create
modern Apollo and Venuses of the screen. Drawing from extensive
research into studio production files, fan-magazines and the
popular reception of stars in America and Britain, this study
explores how the sculptural gods of the past enabled the flickering
shadows on the screen to seem more present and alive. Classicism
permitted films to encode different sexualities for their audience,
and present stars who embodied traditions of the Grand Tour for a
post-war context where the ruins of past civilisations had become
strangely resonant. The book presents detailed discussion of
leading players such as Ramon Novarro, Greta Garbo and Rudolph
Valentino, and major films such as Ben-Hur and Flesh and the Devil
to show how classicism enabled star discourse to transform actors
into icons. This is the story of how Olympus moved to Hollywood to
divinise stars as icons for a modern age and defined a model of
stardom that is still with us today.
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