Femme Fatale
Subtitle: Cinema's Most Unforgettable Lethal Ladies
By: by Dominique Mainon and James Ursini.
Contributors: Ursini, James.
Publisher: Limelight Editions
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 400
ISBN-13: 9780879103699
Subjects: Femmes fatales in motion pictures; Sex in motion pictures; Feminism and motion pictures
Description: From the femme fatale of the early cinema to her post-feminist rebirth, this lavishly illustrated book and comprehensive guide traces the history of these dangerously alluring, manipulative, and desperate lethal ladies. Femme Fatale surveys the history of the femme fatale in world cinema, with more than 300 photographs testifying to the power of these mysterious women. The book begins with the silent period and its vamps, like Theda Bara, Pola Negri, Clara Bow, and Bebe Daniels, then moves on to the Pre-Code sound period of American films, which, showing liberated attitudes toward sex and women, featured actresses like Jean Harlow, Marlene Dietrich, and Greta Garbo. The story continues with the noir 1940s, when the femme fatale became truly lethal - including actresses like Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, and Barbara Stanwyck. In the repressive 1950s, the international femme fatale took the fore - Brigitte Bardot, Maria Felix, Elizabeth Taylor, Anita Ekberg, etc. Finally, the authors turn to the revolutionary post-feminist modern period, with an array of lethal ladies from all over the world, like Pam Grier, Salma Hayek, Gong Li, Angelina Jolie, and Sharon Stone.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Pre-code femme fatales in the early cinema : from liberation to repression; title: Film noir's deadly female : subversion and transgression; title: The femme fatale is silenced in the U.S. : the rise of the international femme fatale; title: The post-feminist explosion : the femme fatale comes into her own.