McDonald, Paul (1997) Public bodies, private moments : method acting and American cinema in the 1950s. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The thesis deals with two central issues:
a) the construction of a framework for the study of film acting which places
performance in a cultural context
b) the cultural significance of Method acting during the 1950s with specific
reference to American cinema of the period
The first chapter considers the ways in which the voice and body in film acting are made
meaningful in the context of beliefs about acting and personal identity. The chapter also
proposes ways for situating the practical activity of film acting in a context of cultural
production.
The remaining chapters study the cultural significance of Method acting through
separate analyses of the Method technique, style, representation of gender, and image of
star performance. Readings of the Method technique and style are placed in the context of
a `culture of personality', in which the significance of the Method was produced in the
ways that acting signified beliefs about personal identity. The discussion of the Method
style is then developed in the analysis of the ways in which the style was used in film
melodramas to represent the gendered anxieties of the rebel hero. Finally, Marlon
Brando's image and performances are studied for how the actor personified the meaning
of the Method. Together, technique, style, gender representation, and stardom, are
studied as various aspects of what is called the Method discourse.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Motion picture acting, Method acting, Motion pictures, American -- History -- 20th century
Official Date:	January 1997
Dates:	Date Event January 1997 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Film and Television Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Dyer, Richard, 1945-
Extent:	[vii], 219 leaves
Language:	eng

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