Overview

Show People offers a comprehensive history of the film star from Mary Pickford to Andy Serkis, traversing more than one hundred years and drawing on examples from America, Britain, Europe, Asia and elsewhere.  Newton builds up an expansive picture of movie stardom through striking and diverse figures such as Ingrid Bergman and John Wayne, Anna Karina and Sidney Poitier, Maggie Cheung and Raj Kapoor. He celebrates the great performers of the past, and looks forward to developments in the future, while also illuminating the inner workings of the movie industry and what moves us in a film, and in an actor's performance.  Ultimately, Show People is a book about cinephilia, the love of cinema, and our complex connection to that celebrated and beleaguered figure, the movie star.

Full Product Details

9781789141566

Table of Contents

Reviews

Newton has subtlety, originality, and a wide range of reference. . . . He has the knack of apt quotation . . . and sharp summary. --Genevieve Valentine Sight and Sound Thorough and thoughtful, Newton's Show People is a major addition to existing literature on the subject of film stardom. I can't wait to read it a second time. --Gary D. Rhodes, author of The Perils of Moviegoing in America and The Birth of the American Horror Film Sight and Sound In Show People, professor and columnist Newton waxes rhapsodic about a century of acting, with a special fondness for performances about performance. . . . I spent a few nights rewatching movies I hadn't seen in a while, simply because of the way Newton writes about those small beats we love without knowing how to quite explain, the ones that can get reframed with new, wider context when you think about them more. --Genevieve Valentine NPR Show People, by academic Newton, examines how film stars shaped the medium, rather than vice versa. In fact, it's a collection of essays on individual actors, from Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin to Scarlett Johansson, sometimes focusing on a single film, sometimes on whole careers, and sometimes just on gossip. . . . [Made] me want to seek out some of the oddities and forgotten classics he mentions. --Genevieve Valentine Evening Standard

Show People, by academic Newton, examines how film stars shaped the medium, rather than vice versa. In fact, it's a collection of essays on individual actors, from Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin to Scarlett Johansson, sometimes focusing on a single film, sometimes on whole careers, and sometimes just on gossip. . . . [Made] me want to seek out some of the oddities and forgotten classics he mentions. --Evening Standard Thorough and thoughtful, Newton's Show People is a major addition to existing literature on the subject of film stardom. I can't wait to read it a second time. --Gary D. Rhodes, author of The Perils of Moviegoing in America and The Birth of the American Horror Film

Thorough and thoughtful, Newton's Show People is a major addition to existing literature on the subject of film stardom. I can't wait to read it a second time. --Gary D. Rhodes, author of The Perils of Moviegoing in America and The Birth of the American Horror Film

Author Information

Michael Newton teaches literature and film at Leiden University. He is the author of numerous popular books on film and cultural history, including Savage Girls and Wild Boys: A History of Feral Children (2002), and Age of Assassins (2012), both for Faber & Faber, and two BFI Film Classics – Kind Hearts and Coronets (2003) and Rosemary’s Baby (2019).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available