Overview

Claire Trevor was unparalleled throughout a Hollywood acting career that spanned seven decades. She found reward and critical acclaim hard to come by despite being unexpectedly Oscar nominated as Best Supporting Actress for just a few seconds of powerful dialogue in the movie Dead End (1937), and although she eventually won an Oscar for her portrayal of a down and out gangster's moll in Key Largo (1948), she never really 'made it' to the stratospheric heights of stardom that others took for granted. Despite her magnificently sensitive portrayal of Dallas opposite John Wayne in Ford's Stagecoach (1939), a cursory glance in her direction might suggest she was subsequently type-cast in Poverty Row Westerns even as she later transformed into the bad-girl of Film Noire. However she was gloriously successful as a stage performer, radio celebrity and television star and fully deserving of this modern retrospective. The diversity of roles she was prepared to tackle and take in her stride set her apart from more glamorous colleagues and made her the go-to darling of those leading producers and directors who sought out a thoroughly professional and unfussy actress. It seemed that she could almost effortlessly raise the level of what might otherwise have been a humdrum characterisation into one of heart-wrenching clarity. Here, McGivern investigates Trevor's many screen representations in detail, often focussing on contemporary dominant historically specific concepts of American society and culture that gave rise to the Western and Film Noire. She delves deep into the life and image of Claire Trevor, looking at how her starring roles often seemed to reflect the tensions, paradoxes and contradictions of a bleak and uncertain future for many Americans who existed in a period of unprecedented national power and prosperity.

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9781905764174

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