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The screen test 1915-1930

How Stars Were Born

Bibliographic Data

ID5675264
AuthorsElizabeth Ezra (0000-0003-2877-9565, University of Stirling, corresponding author), Ana Salzberg (0000-0003-4600-1933, University of Dundee)
Year2017
Volume8
Issue3
Pages477-488
Publication date2017-07-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCelebrity Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1939-2397 • E-ISSN: 1939-2400
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19392397.2017.1312469
OpenAlexW2614434526
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited10

This article examines the emergence of the screen test as a cultural phenomenon during the silent era in the USA and Europe and its role in the development of the star system. The lore that grew up around the screen test almost from its inception held out the possibility for members of the public to cross a threshold into the rarefied world of celebrity. The screen test itself is situated in the liminal space not only between audience and actor, but also between fiction and non-fiction, Europe and Hollywood, the silent era and the talkies, and the public and private spheres. In order to trace the ways in which the screen test as such was narrativised and conceptualised in its foundational stages, this article will analyse accounts from Hollywood and European fan magazines of the silent era, including articles, short fiction, and early cinema apocrypha. The article culminates in a discussion of the 1930 film Prix de Beauté (Beauty Prize) starring Louise Brooks, herself a transnational film icon whose film career spanned the divide between Hollywood and Europe

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Beauty · Hollywood · Icon · Literature · Media studies · Movie theater · Situated · Sociology · Visual arts · Cinema and Media Studies · European history and politics · French Historical and Cultural Studies · History

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Citations per year0.33
Citation span2023 - 2023 (1)
Highly citedNo

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae