1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910496140103321

Autore

Pearson Roberta E.

Titolo

Eloquent Gestures : The Transformation of Performance Style in the Griffith Biograph Films / / Roberta Pearson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, California : , : University of California Press, , [1992]

©1992

ISBN

0-585-29940-4

0-520-91104-0

Edizione

[First edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (x, 184 p. ) : ill. ;

Disciplina

791.430973

Soggetti

Silent films - United States - History and criticism

Motion picture acting

Movement (Acting)

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Theatrical Heritage -- 3. The Histrionic and Verisimilar Codes in the Biograph Films -- 4. Performance Style and the Interaction of Signifying Practices -- 5. D. W. Griffith and the Biograph Company -- 6. Henry B. Walthall -- 7. Trade Press Discourse -- 8. Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Between 1908 and 1913, D. W. Griffith played a key role in the reformulating of film's narrative techniques, thus contributing to the creation of what we now think of as the classical Hollywood cinema. This book is the only extensive treatment of a critical period in the history of film acting: the emergence of the realistic "verisimilar" style in Griffith's biograph films. Roberta Pearson shows how Griffith gradually abandoned the deliberately affected "histrionic" acting style derived from the nineteenth-century stage. No longer did actors mime distress by raising their arms to heaven or clutching their heads--a subtle facial expression, a slight change in posture would convey a character's extreme emotions instead.    Pearson makes detailed comparisons of certain Biograph films and brings a freshness to her analysis by closely examining contemporary journalistic writing, acting



manuals, and the recollections of actors of the time. Her work is important for anyone interested in early cinema and performance, and it will enliven the study of American cultural history and mass communications.