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• Winner of <DIV>A <I>Choice</I> Outstanding Academic Title, 2016</DIV> 2016

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Addresses the chasm in criticism between a lionizing of Sarah Bernhardt's stage work on one hand, and the dismissal of her filmed performances on the other. --French Studies Conceptually ambitious and highly stimulating. --Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film Sarah Bernhardt was one of the first well-known actresses to turn to moving pictures, proving that the movies could be taken seriously by major artists and attracting an audience cinema had not had before. Film historians have dismissed these films as 'filmed theater,' but Victoria Duckett demands we take a closer look. In our era of hybrid media, we can rediscover Bernhardt's use of gesture and movement as linking cinema to Art Nouveau while forging a link between theater and film. Duckett's careful research reveals the impact a woman had in establishing cinema as an art that drew on--rather than ignored--theater. Bernhardt not only became the first international movie star--she pioneered the role women might have in this new medium. --Tom Gunning, author of The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity Well written and insightful, this is required reading for those interested in theater, film, or women's studies. . . . Essential. --Choice Radically revises our understanding of why Sarah Bernhardt chose to engage in the new medium of motion pictures and why her 1910s films were received (and are still readable) as both artistic and popular works far beyond France. --Richard Abel, author of Americanizing the Movies and Movie-Mad Audiences, 1910-1914 Duckett's excellent skills as a researcher and a writer shine through. . . . Seeing Sarah Bernhardt therefore not only adds much needed context and analysis to the performances of the legendary Bernhardt, but it also shows the promise of intermedial research. --Theatre Journal

Sarah Bernhardt was one of the first well-known actresses to turn to moving pictures, proving that the movies could be taken seriously by major artists and attracting an audience cinema had not had before. Film historians have dismissed these films as 'filmed theater, ' but Victoria Duckett demands we take a closer look. In our era of hybrid media, we can rediscover Bernhardt's use of gesture and movement as linking cinema to Art Nouveau while forging a link between theater and film. Duckett's careful research reveals the impact a woman had in establishing cinema as an art that drew on--rather than ignored--theater. Bernhardt not only became the first international movie star--she pioneered the role women might have in this new medium. --Tom Gunning, author of The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity

Sarah Bernhardt was one of the first well-known actresses to turn to moving pictures, proving that the movies could be taken seriously by major artists and attracting an audience cinema had not had before. Film historians have dismissed these films as 'filmed theater, ' but Victoria Duckett demands we take a closer look.In our era of hybrid media, we can rediscover Bernhardt s use of gesture and movement as linking cinema to Art Nouveau while forging a link between theater and film. Duckett s careful researchreveals the impact a woman had in establishing cinema as an art that drew on--rather than ignored--theater. Bernhardt not only became the first international movie star--she pioneered the role women might have in this new medium. --Tom Gunning, author of The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity

Radically revises our understanding of why Sarah Bernhardt chose to engage in the new medium of motion pictures and why her 1910s films were received (and are still readable) as both artistic and popular works far beyond France. --Richard Abel, author of Americanizing the Movies and Movie-Mad Audiences, 1910--1914 Sarah Bernhardt was one of the first well-known actresses to turn to moving pictures, proving that the movies could be taken seriously by major artists and attracting an audience cinema had not had before. Film historians have dismissed these films as 'filmed theater,' but Victoria Duckett demands we take a closer look. In our era of hybrid media, we can rediscover Bernhardt's use of gesture and movement as linking cinema to Art Nouveau while forging a link between theater and film. Duckett's careful research reveals the impact a woman had in establishing cinema as an art that drew on--rather than ignored--theater. Bernhardt not only became the first international movie star--she pioneered the role women might have in this new medium. --Tom Gunning, author of The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2016- A Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2016

Sarah Bernhardt was one of the first well-known actresses to turn to moving pictures, proving that the movies could be taken seriously by major artists and attracting an audience cinema had not had before. Film historians have dismissed these films as 'filmed theater,' but Victoria Duckett demands we take a closer look. In our era of hybrid media, we can rediscover Bernhardt's use of gesture and movement as linking cinema to Art Nouveau while forging a link between theater and film. Duckett's careful research reveals the impact a woman had in establishing cinema as an art that drew on--rather than ignored--theater. Bernhardt not only became the first international movie star--she pioneered the role women might have in this new medium. --Tom Gunning, author of The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity Radically revises our understanding of why Sarah Bernhardt chose to engage in the new medium of motion pictures and why her 1910s films were received (and are still readable) as both artistic and popular works far beyond France. --Richard Abel, author of Americanizing the Movies and Movie-Mad Audiences, 1910-1914

Author Information

Victoria Duckett is a film historian and a lecturer in media studies at Deakin University, Melbourne. She is the coeditor of Researching Women in the Silent Cinema: New Findings and Perspectives.

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