Shakespearean Star
Subtitle: Laurence Olivier and National Cinema
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 226
ISBN-13: 9781107181113
Subjects: Motion pictures, production and direction; Shakespeare, william, 1564-1616, in literature
Description: Laurence Olivier was one of the best-known and most pioneering actor-directors of Shakespeare on screen. This is the first study to provide a comprehensive analysis of Olivier's Shakespearean feature films and his unique Shakespearean star image. Through an in-depth examination of Olivier's little-known, unmade film Macbeth, as well as his adaptations of Shakespeare's Henry V, Hamlet and Richard lll, Jennifer Barnes offers a detailed exploration of Olivier's entire cinematic Shakespearean oeuvre in relation to his distinctive form of stardom. Considering the development of Olivier's image in relation to the industrial and cultural contexts of the wartime and post-war British film and theatre industries, the volume also analyses Olivier's life writing and published autobiographies and is supplemented by numerous illustrations.