This book offers a different take on the early history of Warner Bros., the studio renowned for introducing talking pictures and developing the gangster film and backstage musical comedy. The focus here is on the studio's sustained commitment to produce films based on stage plays. This led to the creation of a stock company of talented actors, to the introduction of sound cinema, to the recruitment of leading Broadway stars such as John Barrymore and George Arliss and to films as diverse as The Gold Diggers (1923), The Marriage Circle (1924), Beau Brummel (1924), Disraeli (1929), Lilly Turner (1933), The Petrified Forest (1936) and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939). Even the most crippling effects of the Depression in 1933 did not prevent Warners' production of films based on stage plays, many being transformed into star vehicles for the likes of Ruth Chatterton, Leslie Howard and Bette Davis.

Diana Dors was not only Britain's most successful sex symbol of the 1950s but also a popular entertainer who remained a major celebrity until her death in 1984. Diana Dors: Film Star and Actor is primarily a celebration of her film acting skills, providing detailed analysis of her performances in a selection of films from across the star's five-decade career, including The Unholy Wife, Berserk!, and The Pied Piper. In addition to investigating Dors' versatility as an actress by paying close attention to the different ways in which she uses her voice and body, poses and gestures, facial expressions and looks in specific moments from her movies, Shingler also discusses the performance of sexuality, gender and age, while considering her appeal for male and female, gay and straight audiences.

Examines Diana Dors' film career, acting method, star image and enduring celebrity Traces the development of Dors' film acting across five decades and a range of genres Emphasises the international nature of Dors' stardom and film work Celebrates Dors' achievements as a film actor with close textual analysis of her performances rather than dwelling on her personal life, publicity stunts and tabloid news coverage Diana Dors became one of Britain's most successful sex symbols in the 1950s and remained a major celebrity until her death in 1984. This book examines both her acting method and her celebrity. It provides a detailed analysis of Dors' performance in a number of her films from across different periods of her career, investigating her versatility by paying close attention to her voice, facial expressions and looks, body poses and gestures in specific moments from her movies. It also discusses the performance of gender and age, as well as considering her later role as a gay icon.

Star Studies: A Critical Guide provides a lively introduction to the major approaches and key developments within this key area of film studies. It identifies a number of dominant themes, explains major theories, concepts and methodologies, and explores the diversity of approaches that have helped shape the international study of stars and stardom. Comparing the stars and star systems of Hollywood, Bollywood, China and many European countries, from the early-twentieth to the first decade of the twenty-first century, Martin Shingler considers the multiple functions of stars: as an elite workforce within the film industry, as actors and performers, as role models and cultural representatives, as icons and images, as transnational and national symbols, and as commodities. The scope of star studies is wide, historically and geographically, but this book helpfully focuses on salient features of the discipline, providing a cogent overview of star studies, while suggesting some useful avenues for further research. Published in the BFI Film Stars series, Star Studies provides an essential theoretical and historical companion to the individual star volumes in the series.

It reaches millions of people every minute of the day, it costs us virtually nothing and yet we take it entirely for granted. Superseded by television as the primary source of entertainment and information, radio still has a unique place in the mass media spectrum. While the textual properties and reception of film and television have received considerable critical attention, until now radio has only really been considered in terms of its history and its modes of production. 'On Air' adopts a wide-ranging theoretical and critical approach. It provides an in-depth examination of radio's codes (speech, music, noise and silence),and the conventions of using these codes and the dominant modes of reception. The text offers a vocabulary and methodology for analysing radio programmes, drawing on work by both media theorists and professional broadcasters in Britain, Australia, and North America. Written by an academic and a practitioner, 'On Air' provides a critical overview of radio for media students, as well as suggestions for practical activities, a time-line of major events in the history of radio, and a glossary of key terms.