‘What price widowhood?’: The faded stardom of Norma Shearer

Lies Lanckman

doi:10.1057/978-1-137-40733-7_6

‘What price widowhood?’: The faded stardom of Norma Shearer

Lies Lanckman

School of Creative Arts

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

46 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

In this chapter, Lanckman uses fan magazines such as Photoplay to trace the star image of Norma Shearer from the mid1920s to the late 1930s. She focuses particularly on Shearer’s pre-Code films, such as The Divorcee, and on the treatment of the star’s 1927 marriage to MGM mogul Irving Thalberg. Ultimately, she argues that while Shearer’s stable marriage worked together with the films to create a narrative of egalitarian and liberated modernity, the star’s widowhood in 1936 alongside the more conservative nature of post-Code filmmaking condemned her to tragic and forgettable respectability.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Lasting Screen Stars
Subtitle of host publication	Images that Fade and Personas that Endure
Editors	Lucy Bolton, Julie Lobalzo Wright
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Chapter	5
Pages	71-83
Number of pages	13
ISBN (Electronic)	9781137407337
ISBN (Print)	9781137407320
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-40733-7_6
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 29 May 2016

Keywords

stardom
fan magazines
norma shearer

Access to Document

10.1057/978-1-137-40733-7_6

Lanckman-aam
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of a chapter published in Lasting Screen Stars: Images that Fade and Personas that Endure. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-40733-7_6
Accepted author manuscript, 820 KBLicence: Other

Cite this

@inbook{bb0b175aca0647b4bf17d8cefa07422f,

title = "{\textquoteleft}What price widowhood?{\textquoteright}: The faded stardom of Norma Shearer",

abstract = "In this chapter, Lanckman uses fan magazines such as Photoplay to trace the star image of Norma Shearer from the mid1920s to the late 1930s. She focuses particularly on Shearer{\textquoteright}s pre-Code films, such as The Divorcee, and on the treatment of the star{\textquoteright}s 1927 marriage to MGM mogul Irving Thalberg. Ultimately, she argues that while Shearer{\textquoteright}s stable marriage worked together with the films to create a narrative of egalitarian and liberated modernity, the star{\textquoteright}s widowhood in 1936 alongside the more conservative nature of post-Code filmmaking condemned her to tragic and forgettable respectability.",

keywords = "stardom, fan magazines, norma shearer",

author = "Lies Lanckman",

note = "{\textcopyright} The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of a chapter published in Lasting Screen Stars: Images that Fade and Personas that Endure. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-40733-7_6",

year = "2016",

month = may,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1057/978-1-137-40733-7_6",

language = "English",

isbn = "9781137407320",

pages = "71--83",

editor = "Lucy Bolton and {Lobalzo Wright}, Julie",

booktitle = "Lasting Screen Stars",

publisher = "Palgrave Macmillan UK",

}

TY - CHAP

T1 - ‘What price widowhood?’

T2 - The faded stardom of Norma Shearer

AU - Lanckman, Lies

N1 - © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of a chapter published in Lasting Screen Stars: Images that Fade and Personas that Endure. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-40733-7_6

PY - 2016/5/29

Y1 - 2016/5/29

N2 - In this chapter, Lanckman uses fan magazines such as Photoplay to trace the star image of Norma Shearer from the mid1920s to the late 1930s. She focuses particularly on Shearer’s pre-Code films, such as The Divorcee, and on the treatment of the star’s 1927 marriage to MGM mogul Irving Thalberg. Ultimately, she argues that while Shearer’s stable marriage worked together with the films to create a narrative of egalitarian and liberated modernity, the star’s widowhood in 1936 alongside the more conservative nature of post-Code filmmaking condemned her to tragic and forgettable respectability.

AB - In this chapter, Lanckman uses fan magazines such as Photoplay to trace the star image of Norma Shearer from the mid1920s to the late 1930s. She focuses particularly on Shearer’s pre-Code films, such as The Divorcee, and on the treatment of the star’s 1927 marriage to MGM mogul Irving Thalberg. Ultimately, she argues that while Shearer’s stable marriage worked together with the films to create a narrative of egalitarian and liberated modernity, the star’s widowhood in 1936 alongside the more conservative nature of post-Code filmmaking condemned her to tragic and forgettable respectability.

KW - stardom

KW - fan magazines

KW - norma shearer

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84986592720&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1057/978-1-137-40733-7_6

DO - 10.1057/978-1-137-40733-7_6

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:84986592720

SN - 9781137407320

SP - 71

EP - 83

BT - Lasting Screen Stars

A2 - Bolton, Lucy

A2 - Lobalzo Wright, Julie

PB - Palgrave Macmillan UK

ER -

‘What price widowhood?’: The faded stardom of Norma Shearer

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this