The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck

A captivating look at one of the most accomplished actresses in Hollywood through her body of work and her long and successful professional career that lasted from 1927 to 1986.

This books meticulously explores Barbara Stanwyck's growth as a performer within the industry over the years and her professional legacy in Hollywood history through the many great movies she starred in. And what I really find extraordinary is that throughout her long and brilliant career she remained a multifaceted performer, taking on both comedic and dramatic roles.

Always the consummate, professional, she judiciously knew how to move over to television when realizing that her career on the big screen was waning thus kickstarting one of the most successful career transitions in Hollywood.

I really enjoyed this terrific book. It allowed me to spend a beautiful week with one of my favorite stars of the Hollywood Golden Age and to watch and rediscover many of her great movies throughout the week!

Many thanks to the University of Illinois Press and Netgalley for this fabulous ARC!

What a fantastic treat for classic film lovers and Barbara Stanwyck fans. Catherine Russell eschews the typical biography for a specific look at the different Stanwycks we got through her career. She places Stanwyck's talent and biography in relation to her film and t.v. characters. Russell looks at the Stanwyck iconography and how it fits into her film choices, film roles, and how audiences responded to her movies and television shows.

As an example, she discusses the image of her as an "absentee mother" to her son Dion which contrasts with many of her film roles. Stanwyck is known for her long-suffering mother character in the 1937 film, Stella Dallas. Russell suggests we look at motherhood and mothers differently so we're not stuck to one idea of what it means to be a mother (or even a child).

Throughout the book, Russell forces us to look at how we idolize and dehumanize actresses because of our need to turn them into images to be consumed. We fit them into our idea of who and what they are. Russell wants to see Stanwyck as an artist and woman rather than merely an image. The book was a wonderful surprise.

As an aside, the cover is fantastic.

#TheCinemaofBarbaraStanwyck #NetGalley

I have been a fan of Barbara Stanwyck for a long time and have read many biographies. This book is not a biography.
What a pleasure to find a book that actually a critique of her films and TV work I can't say I understood or agreed with all of her critiques but I did enjoy reading her opinions.
This is a wonderful book to read and actually use this book to watch each of these movies and shows and see if you agree with Ms. Russell. I have seen many of her movies and was a big fan of The Big Valley.
I highly recommend this book for all fans of Barbara Stanwyck and even for movie buffs like myself.

I am a film buff and really appreciated this book of 26 essays - using a style of A to Z (or abecedary which is a collection of short essays organized alphabetically and titled by a key word or words"). This enables the author to pick various themes and do a deep dive around the theme in each essay. This was a really effective way to bring a new perspective to the films of Barbara Stanwyck in a unique and different way. (for example "Crimes of Passion" or "Gambling Ladies"). The author does a fantastic job pulling in descriptions of the various films while setting them in the context of society at that time as well as what was going on in Stanwyck's personal life. This book could get academic at times but still was extremely accessible for all types of readers. These essays have a feminist perspective which I really value. I am motivated to watch more of her films!

Thank you to Netgalley and University of Illinois Press for an ARC and I left this review voluntarily.

It's not a biography and it's not a critical survey of her work -- it's a rather arbitrary selection of 26 (one for each letter of the alphabet) essays about some aspect of Barbara Stanwyck's work. Her pre-Hays Code movies, her insistence of doing her own stunts, her TV career, and a host of other topics, big and small. Often in this sort of book, I end up reading about half the essays, but in this case, I read them all. Some essays lean toward gossipy, such as those about her marriages and her son, but mostly the essays are informative and thoughtful, bringing up aspects of Stanwyck's acting or choice of roles that I had never considered. Fascinating right up to the final essay, about Stanwyck's first agent, Zeppo Marx. (Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital review copy.)

I found this book to be very interesting in getting a look at a little bit of the life of the person outside of the screen. I was surprised to find out that at one time that she had a T.V. show that had her name on its way before Big Valley. I was also surprised to find that during her time when most actors were working with contracts, she did not and was free to go from studio to studio and was able to do the different films she wanted to do. She also had her own makeup and hair person as well and she was always ready to go once it was time, she knew her lines and that she took her craft as a job and knew everyone around was earning a paycheck as well. All interesting when you hear stories about other actors. She did have an adopted son and they did not have a good relationship which was sad. Overall a good book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of “The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck” by Catherine Russell. All opinions are my own.

This book includes a collection of 26 essays about the great actress Barbara Stanwyck. I love the style of this book and felt it to be very interesting and informative.

I really enjoyed this book , as a cinema fan and also someone who loved watching Ms . Stanwyck on The Big Valley I was unaware of all the movies she was in . It was fascinating to read about the movies and the behind the scenes working that made Barbara Stanwyck the legend she was .

I just reviewed The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck by Catherine Russell. #TheCinemaofBarbaraStanwyck #NetGalley

***** I have received and read an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for giving my honest feedback. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.*****

A great collection of essays that show Barbara Stanwyck and her impact on the film industry.

The essays are just long enough to be interesting without being boring, but short enough you can read one or two in a single sitting.

Catherine Russell The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck University of Illinois 2023.

Thank you, NetGalley , for this uncorrected proof for review.

Barbara Stanwyck was not one of my favourite actresses, she seemed too pushy somehow, and her films did not appeal – nor did the characters she played. With this in mind, I thought it was time to understand this actress and her roles from the perspective of years of feminist study, writing and activism. It seemed to me that my prejudices could have been those of a young woman who knew very little about feminism, certainly not the sort of feminism that Barbara Stanwyck might have been portraying. I was not disappointed. Catherine Russell opened a whole new perspective in this multi-talented and courageous actress. Her collection covers such a wide range of the ideas and activities that Stanwyck represents. An exciting read indeed.

The cover of the book is instructive with its subtitle including the words ‘of a working star’ and its portrayal of Stanwyck as a jaunty independent looking woman, attractive but not glamorous, booted but not short skirted – she is indeed a working person who feels positive about herself and her craft. The essay titles include references to melodrama, crimes of passion, the bad mother, clothing and its role in women’s lives, angry women, gambling women, cross dressing, gaslighting, cultural labour, and exotica and bitter tears - clearly a plethora of ides and stances relate to Stanwyck’s work. And this is but a short number of the topics Russell has assembled in this collection.

Russell’s titles tell a story about both Stanwyck and Hollywood. However, Stanwyck’s working life portrays an experience different from the Hollywood studio system as she was a freelancer. The role of agent therefore becomes an important factor, and the last essay is particularly interesting as it discusses that feature of Stanwyck’s success. Zeppo Marx was a particularly enterprising agent, and it is engaging to see him in this role rather than that of a lesser Marx brother of comedy fame. Stanwyck’s contracts then, and throughout her career, were well written, so much so that she was free to work for any studio rather than being controlled by one as happened with so many stars.

The chapters abound with information about the films and television series that Stanwyck made, with some asides to her personal life. What a refreshing approach! Here there is so much material that is illuminating about feminism and how it can be seen (or not seen) in the films and roles Stanwyck revelled (or did not) in. Here, the choices she made, or were made for her because of her approach to her career make fascinating reading. Sometimes the links between her own mothering and that she exhibited on the screen are made, but this commentary is set firmly in Russell’s feminist approach to Stanwyck and her work.

The role of the costume designer is given an emphasis that is appealing, with some good analysis of the importance of costuming in the performance. Sometimes Russell alerts the reader or viewer of the films to anomalies, such as the mink coat worn by her as Lee, a homeless thief in Remember the Night (1940). Here, Russell makes the pint that the clothing, although not in keeping with her financial situation, designated her as a ‘willful woman’. She was not always dressed so, in many films being portrayed in drab clothing - and attempt at appearing ‘natural’.

Russell has written about such an appealing range of topics in the essays she has gathered for this book. She has brought Barbara Stanwyck and her film and television career into an impressive feminist account of an individual and her working world. This book of essays makes an impressive contribution to the Women’s Media History Now! Series. It has certainly made me rethink my opinion of Stanwyck and her work and has set me on a search for some of her films.

As you might expect from a book published by a university press, this is a bit more academic than your typical biography of an entertainer. If you're looking for a bio of Barbara Stanwyck, there are already six of them out there (!!), including one "authorized" during her lifetime. Rather, this book is a collection of essays looking at the cultural impact of her film and television roles, and her working process. Although we can't really expect someone born in 1907 to be a feminist in the modern sense of the word, she is an ancestor of modern women both through the characters she played and the way she handled her career. Indeed, it was super interesting to learn how she resisted studio "ownership" and stayed freelance for her whole career, working with all kinds of studios and directors and being very picky about the scripts she took. This would be a great book to use for a gender studies college course.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I absolutely reveled in Catherine Russell's "The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck"! It offered a captivating dive into not just Stanwyck's filmography but also the vibrant era in which she rose to stardom. The book is a treasure trove of information, unveiling aspects of Stanwyck's life and career that were entirely new to me.

Even with my somewhat limited knowledge of Barbara Stanwyck, I believe diehard fans would discover hidden gems in this book. It's a riveting exploration that goes beyond the surface, making it a must-read for anyone fascinated by the golden age of cinema and the indomitable Barbara Stanwyck.

Wholeheartedly, I recommend it!

I am a HUGE Barbara Stanwyck fan and was happy to be approved for this book.
Although it was not what I was expecting (I thought it would be stories from the sets of the movies), I enjoyed reading it.
Any time I can learn a tidbit about a favorite actor or old time Hollywood,l it is time well spent!