Hollywood Noir's Women PerformersInternational Stars

Chronicles the variety of performance in film noir, defined by the dialectic between dynamic star images and the demands of individual roles

• Includes a lengthy introduction on the substantial role of women in film noir, revising a traditional emphasis on noir as a male genre or series
• Rethinks and provides fresh readings of classic noir films with an emphasis on dynamic female performance
• Devotes individual chapters to exploring the noir films of 15 important women performers
• Brings women performers on the margins, such as Theresa Harris, to the center in understanding women’s contributions to film noir
• Introduces readers to new ways of understanding classic Hollywood film stars, such as Marilyn Monroe

Hollywood Noir’s Women Performers explores the meaning of performance through an analysis of the unfolding oeuvres of women performers in film noir. The case studies aim to illuminate classic noir films through the lens of performance by women. Shifting the usual emphasis in studies of film noir from genre, character patterns and socio-historical context to performance, each chapter addresses the defining contributions of the women who appeared in these films.

The volume builds on scholarship in recent decades that focuses on the centrality of women in film noir, adding material evidence for that approach in fresh readings of films and Hollywood production practices. Hollywood Noir’s Women Performers not only explores how women dominate in the narrative, style or influence of these films through their dynamic performances, but also considers these women’s distinct positions in Hollywood, their roles in the industry and their multiple and mutually informing portrayals in classic noir.