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Big in the Twenties: The Forgotten Stars of Warner Bros.

Shingler, Martin (2014) Big in the Twenties: The Forgotten Stars of Warner Bros. In: Celebrity Studies Conference, 19-21 Jun 2014, Royal Holloway University, London. (Unpublished)

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

Before the introduction of sound in 1926/27, the biggest and most prestigious stars at Warner Bros. were John Barrymore, Clive Brook, Irene Rich, Louise Fazenda, Marie Prevost, May McAvoy, Pauline Frederick, Monte Blue,Willard Louis and Lilyan Tashman. While Barrymore remains famous to this day, the others (with the possible exception of Clive Brook) have been largely forgotten or, at the very least, consigned to the margins of film history. This paper will set out the reasons behind the success and prestige of these stars between 1923 and 1927, noting how the advent of the ‘Talkies’ transformed their status as Warners’ most successful and prestigious stars, making most of them seem old-fashioned and redundant. While some survived as character actors in the late 1920s and 1930s, others withdrew from the film industry all together and were quickly reclaimed by obscurity. After providing a brief outline of the films and reputations of all the stars named above, the paper will focus in more detail on Marie Provost, the star of Ernst Lubitsch’s The Marriage Circle (1924).

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More Information

Depositing User: Martin Shingler

Identifiers

Item ID: 6623
URI: http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/6623
Official URL: https://celebritystudiesconference.com/page/2/

Users with ORCIDS

Catalogue record

Date Deposited: 09 Sep 2016 12:33
Last Modified: 30 Sep 2019 11:01

Contributors

Author: Martin Shingler

University Divisions

Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries > School of Media and Communications
Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries

Subjects

Media > Film

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