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Research interests• Film, especially Australian film and silent film • Vaudeville, especially the connections between early film
and vaudeville • Celebrity and the star system • Theatre • Popular culture (Barbie dolls, Disney, freak shows,
amusement parks) • Visual culture (hair, makeup, body, costume, advertising
art) • Creative writing, especially literary non-fiction PhD ThesisAbstract:
Louise Lovely was an Australian film actress who featured in Hollywood
productions between 1915 and 1921—a period when the strategies of constructing,
promoting, maintaining and using stars became central to the film industry. The
dissertation examines these strategies, as well as the meanings of stardom—and
sources of pleasure—for audiences.
Surprisingly, the strategies, meanings, and pleasures of stars are
similar to those in operation today, even though the film industry has
radically changed since the silent era. Based
on theoretical work by Richard Dyer and Richard deCordova, the thesis looks at
the star person as an intertextual, cross-media construction that engages
audiences through the dynamics it generates. Since
few of Lovely’s 55-plus films still exist, the star persona is explored through
ephemera produced in constructing it:
interviews, stills, photographic portraits, reviews, advertisements,
product endorsements, flyers and posters. The
“star” constructions incorporates tensions between private/public,
authentic/artificial, and extraordinary/ordinary. The “star” also circulates cultural discourses on gender
roles, race and ethnicity, and class, as well as consumerism, fashion and
beauty. The
chapters form a narrative of Lovely’s career, both in Australia and the
US. Each chapter looks closely at
an aspect of the star construction that seems particularly prominent at that
time: the name “Louise Lovely” and
its ramifications as a brand name; her blonde hair, lightened at the same time
as she received her new name, and among other meanings, a symbol of whiteness;
costume and body type; her male screen partners and how “male” and “female”
construct each other; her personal appearance tours in vaudeville, promoting a
chance to become a star through success in her on-stage “screen tests.” These
elements are set in social, historical, legal and industrial contexts in order
to understand the complexities and contradictions of their potential meanings
for audiences. Current Project: “The First Gum-Leaf Mafia”
An extension of the work I did for my PhD, this
project looks at the large numbers of Australians who worked in the Hollywood
film industry between 1915 and 1925.
So far I have identified close to one hundred, working in positions
ranging from stunt man and body double to studio owner. At the same time, many Americans were
working in the film industry in Australia. What does this cultural exchange mean, and what kinds of
people were they? This project
will necessitate research in archives in the US. Current Project: “The Aesthetics of Duress”
The study looks at the psychological and physical difficulties of
expeditions under extreme conditions—such as those in Antarctica or Papua New
Guinea—and how those difficulties are depicted in documentaries. What is cut out, what is left in, and
why? The aesthetic decisions bring
into play notions of empire, masculinity, modernity, science, religion, and
good taste. Current Project: “Carnival Week in
Rockhampton” By looking at Rockhampton’s show week in the years 1925, 1935, 1945 and
1955, this project aims at constructing a cultural history of the city by
exploring changes in the entire range of entertainments and amusements
available. These are affected by
changes in technology, wealth, family patterns, mobility through automobiles,
and wider political and social issues such as the Depression and World War
II. The impact of other
entertainments such as television, will be touched on by briefly looking at the
year 1975. Current Project: “Vaudeville as an agent of modernity in regional
Queensland” Vaudeville performers were global citizens, traveling circuits which
encompassed North and South America, Europe, South Africa, Asia and
Australasia. When they performed
in isolated locations such as Charters Towers or Rockhampton during the late
19th-early 20th century, what did audiences make of them, and what did they
think of the audiences? What
effects did each have on the other?
The cultural exchanges, especially in the climate of “White Australia,”
reflect issues of race, gender, the rural/metropolitan divide,
tradition/modernity, and local/global communities. Current Project: “Rockhampton and the 1927 Royal Commission into
Moving Pictures” The Royal Commission into Moving Pictures, conducted in 1927, delved
into concerns of US influence; Australian cultural production; and the harmful
effects of movies, especially on children. In Rockhampton, evidence was giving to the commission by
theatre owners, a police magistrate, a window cleaner, and school
principals. My interest is in
establishing the kind of cultural climate of Rockhampton film exhibition, as
well as looking at the ways in which the Rockhampton evidence differs from, or
is similar to, evidence given elsewhere. Conference PapersAccepted: "Plastic people, bare bones, and blowouts: Weekly women's
magazines and the celebrity body as freakshow" Body Modification MarkII Conference,
Macquarie University, April 21-23 2005. 2004: “The Fall of a Nation: Thomas Dixon’s
‘Mighty message of warning’,” 12th Biennial Film and History Conference, ScreenSound Australia in
association with Australian National University, December 2-5 2003: “‘More than the Sum
of Its Frocks’?: Elizabeth’s Costumes and the
Visual Pleasures of the Cinema,” paper presented at “Making an Appearance: An International Conference on Fashion,
Dress and Consumption,” the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, The
University of Queensland, in association with the Creative Industries Faculty,
QUT, July 10-13 2003 2002: “Hollywood’s First
Gum-Leaf Mafia,” 11th Biennial Film and History Conference, Flinders
University, Adelaide, November 28-December 1 2002 2000: “Louise Lovely: Commodification, Spectacle and
Self-fashioning,” Women’s Studies Conference, Women and Modernity: Flapper-Trappers and Modish Maids, Whitley College,
University of Melbourne, December 4-5 2000 1998: “Louise Lovely and
the Nationalism of Commodification,” National Cinemas: Sites of Resistance, 9th Australian and
New Zealand History and Film Conference, South Bank, Brisbane, November 28-30
1998 1998: “Woman as Spectacle
in Raise the Red Lantern,” Gender in Asia Conference, Central
Queensland University, Rockhampton, April 24 1997: “The Movie Star’s
Dress: Costume, Character,
Persona,” Disturbing Boundaries:
1997 English and Cultural Studies Postgraduate Conference, School of
Graduate Studies, University of Melbourne, November 27-28 1997 1997: “Styling a Star:
‘Call Her Louise Lovely,’” Everyday Wonders: Popular Culture:
Past and Present, University of Queensland Department of History in
association with the Australian Studies Centre and the Popular Cultural
Association, Brisbane, June 9-13 1996: “Early Cinema’s Twin
Heritage: Narrative and
Spectacle,” The Dawn of Cinema 1894-1915 Conference, Museum of
Contemporary Art, Sydney, August 16-18 1996: “Making a Name: Louise Lovely as Star and Commodity,”
International Association for Mass Communication Research, Australian
Film: Into the Next Hundred Years, Melbourne,
August 15 1996 1995: “Narrative and
Spectacle in Early Film,” 7th Australian History and Film Conference, Australian
National University, Canberra, November 30-December 2 1995 1995: “Louise Lovely Goes
West,” A Century of Cinema: Australian and French Connections, University of
Melbourne, April 28-30 1995 Faculty Seminar Series“The Fall of
a Nation: Thomas Dixon’s ‘Mighty message of warning’,” October
6 2004 “‘More than the Sum of Its Frocks’?: Elizabeth’s Costumes and the
Visual Pleasures of the Cinema,” October 1 2003 “Hollywood’s First Gum-leaf Mafia,” September 25 2002 “Tom and Nicole: What Can
We Learn about Celebrity from Their Split?” September 24 2001 “Painted Ladies:
The Perils and Pleasures of Research,” May 31 2000 “Louise Lovely, Silent Film Star,” May 5 1999 |
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Last Modified: Mon Feb 13 16:10:37 2006 by webmaster |
