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eBook Barbara Stanwyck: The Miracle Woman (Hollywood Legends Series) download

by Dan Callahan

Dan Callahan Arts and Literature English

eBook Barbara Stanwyck: The Miracle Woman (Hollywood Legends Series) download

ISBN: 1617031836
Author: Dan Callahan
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi; 1st Ed. edition (February 3, 2012)
Language: English
Pages: 272
ePub: 1587 kb
Fb2: 1325 kb
Rating: 4.5
Other formats: doc lrf mbr mobi
Category: Biography
Subcategory: Arts and Literature

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Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) rose from the ranks of chorus girl to become one of Hollywood's most talented leading women-and America's highest paid woman in the mid-1940s.

Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews (Hollywood Legends Series).

Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) rose from the ranks of chorus girl to become one of Hollywood's most talented leading . Shuttled among foster homes as a child, she took a number of low-wage jobs while she determinedly made the connections that landed her in successful Broadway productions. Stanwyck then acted in a stream of high-quality films from the 1930s through the 1950s. The book positions Stanwyck where she belongs-at the very top of her profession-and offers a close, sympathetic reading of her performances in all their range and complexity.

Film scholar Dan Callahan on what really interests him about his subject: not Tinseltown gossip, but what Stanwyck accomplished on screen'eŠ Callahan's enthusiasm informs every page. Dennis Drabelle, The Washington Post, "Barbara Stanwyck was better than Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn. As word gets around about his excellent new book, Barbara Stanwyck: The Miracle Woman I think most cinephiles will agree with m. byfilmpossessed. com, "Ideal for Stanwyck fans (so, everybody) and any cinephile who takes acting seriously.

Dan Callahan considers both Stanwyck's life and her art, exploring her seminal collaborations with Capra in such great films as Ladies of Leisure, The Miracle Woman, and The Bitter Tea of General Yen; her Pre-Code movies Night Nurse and Baby Face; and her classic roles in Stella Dallas, Remember the Night, The Lady Eve, and Double Indemnity. After making more than eighty films in Hollywood, she revived her career by turning to television, where her role in the 1960s series The Big Valley renewed her immense popularity.

Written by Dan Callahan, Audiobook narrated by Colleen Patrick. By Steve on 12-06-18. American Legends: The Life of Barbara Stanwyck. Narrated by: Charles McKibben.

Back to Our Shelves . Barbara Stanwyck: The Miracle Woman (Hollywood Legends). Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) rose from the ranks of chorus girl to become one of Hollywood's most talented leading women-and America's highest paid woman in the mid-1940s.

Book Description: Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) rose from the ranks of chorus girl to become one of Hollywood's most talented leading women-and America's highest paid woman in the mid-1940s. Dan Callahan considers both Stanwyck's life and her art, exploring her seminal collaborations with Capra in such great films asLadies of Leisure,The Miracle Woman, andThe Bitter Tea of General Yen; her Pre-Code moviesNight NurseandBaby Face; and her classic roles inStella Dallas,Remember the Night,The Lady Eve, andDouble Indemnity. Shuttled among foster homes as a child, she took a number of low-wage jobs while she determinedly made the connections that landed her in successful Broadway productions

Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) rose from the ranks of chorus girl to become one of Hollywood's most talented leading women-and America's highest paid woman in the mid-1940s. Shuttled among foster homes as a child, she took a number of low-wage jobs while she determinedly made the connections that landed her in successful Broadway productions. Stanwyck then acted in a stream of high-quality films from the 1930s through the 1950s. Directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang, and Frank Capra treasured her particular magic. A four-time Academy Award nominee, winner of three Emmys and a Golden Globe, she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy.

Dan Callahan considers both Stanwyck's life and her art, exploring her seminal collaborations with Capra in such great films as Ladies of Leisure, The Miracle Woman, and The Bitter Tea of General Yen; her Pre-Code movies Night Nurse and Baby Face; and her classic roles in Stella Dallas, Remember the Night, The Lady Eve, and Double Indemnity. After making more than eighty films in Hollywood, she revived her career by turning to television, where her role in the 1960s series The Big Valley renewed her immense popularity.

Callahan examines Stanwyck's career in relation to the directors she worked with and the genres she worked in, leading up to her late-career triumphs in two films directed by Douglas Sirk, All I Desire and There's Always Tomorrow, and two outrageous westerns, The Furies and Forty Guns. The book positions Stanwyck where she belongs-at the very top of her profession-and offers a close, sympathetic reading of her performances in all their range and complexity.

Comments: (7)

Vrion

I think it's very unfortunate that so many readers gave this book a bad review simply based on what they expected or wanted it to be. I suppose I expected a biography of Barbara Stanwyck, but I just started reading the book and found it very insightful from beginning to end. It is plainly evident that the author has seen all of Barbara Stanwyck's movies and has put a lot of thought into his analysis of them. His admiration for Barbara Stanwyck is also obvious, but he remains objective when discussing her performances. I appreciated all of the background information on what was going on in her life and in Hollywood at the time the movies were made. I'm not disappointed that there were not more details of Barbara Stanwyck the woman because I love her for her movies, and knowing that she was such a private person, I would not expect a lot of intimate information to be available. This book definitely enhanced my already considerable appreciation of one of Hollywood's greatest actresses.

Thetalas

While parts of this biography were informative and enjoyable, the author clearly wrote with an agenda. An inordinate time was spent discussing the sexual orientation of not only Barbara but a number of other players in the tale. It wasn't often even salient to the story of Ms. Stanwyk. I am also puzzled by the lack of mention of Robert Wagner in her life. Mr. Wagner wrote lovingly and at length about their relationship and the author mentions Wagner only once and not in terms of their affair. Once I began to doubt the information, it was hard to give credence to the rest. Dissapointing.

Micelhorav

There is a lot to say about this book, but I will try to be fairly brief.

I gave it three stars because it was a good book. As the title of this review states, I don't think it was that warm. The author clearly admires Miss Stanwyck, but, to my mind, the book reads like he is just going through the motions. He often get things wrong, in my mind. It also deserves three stars because of the approach he takes: He groups movies together, according to commonalities: Same directors; or same time period; or same type film; things like that. But, because of some annoying traits, I would never rate it more than 3.

He let's his politics shine through on most pages. I could well imagine Callahan leading a perade for Feminism down the center of the city. I feel like I am reviewing Dan Callahan as much as the book. An author should concentrate on the person he is writing about, and less on himself.

But The Miracle Woman does chronicle Barbara Stanwyck's career in a good way; and he does deserve credit for that. Not so much a full-fledged biography as a look at her through her movies, it is an engaging way to confront a towering career. We do learn why she picked her name; what happened with her marriages; her bitter childhood (a little bit anyway); and her sad non-relationship with her adopted child. This is all good.

He devotes a chapter to Stella Dallas, for example, which is appropriate. But towards the end of it, he talks about Stella's ex-husband's new wife. He relates a selfless proposal that Stella makes to the new wife. She is rich, and Stella proposes that he daughter live with the new wife and Stephen. It is very selfless of her, and shows what a giving Mother Stella is. The new wife is touched by it too, I believe, having recently seen this good movie. And yet Callahan says her reaction feels wrong. That is just dopey. She is genuinely touched by Stella's proposal and shows it. Then, a little later he says that the new wife draws the curtain, so as not to let anyone see the wedding between her rich son and Stella's daughter. This is just factually wrong. She specifically tells the butler to open the curtains. I believe that she knows Stella is out there, and wants her to see the wedding. Callahan is just asserting his bias against people with money. It is wrong, and it doesn't belong in this book.

One more movie: Barbara did a fine movie called "Executive Suite". June Allison plays a loyal and loving wife of one the executives. He calls her portrayal "Tiresome" and "Unctuous". Why is such nastiness called for?

He also looks down on TV, slamming "The Big Valley". If it wasn't for The Big Valley, I never would have found Miss Stanwyck, and decided to try and watch whatever see did. He hated the old version of Charley's Angels; he hated the Anthology show that Barbara did in 1960; and he makes fun of Aaron Spelling, who was silly enough to want to entertain people.

Miss Barbara Stanwyck was a standout, who just wanted to do her work, and be the best she could be, and she deserved a better chronicler.

Bolv

Great actress and interesting lady and didn't take crap from anyone. She was her own woman. Well written and easy to read.

Modred

an interesting book but a little too wordy.

Wafi

Intesesting book. I have read bits and pieces of this book. But very informative.

Cyregaehus

Good!

Barbara Stanwyck: The Miracle Woman by Dan Callahan is an insightful if not wordy account of the most dedicated and hard-working actress in cinema history. This biography would've been helped with more photos from Stanwyck's classic films - and with an editing pencil: Too often I found myself having to re-read the author's incomprehensible sentences. And the freshness and vitality Stanwyck brought to her work is lost in his sometimes overly harsh criticism of her films and subsequent TV work. Nevertheless, Callahan solicits admiration and respect for his subject by tracing Stanwyck's rise from abusive childhood to chorus girl to major star. He avoids the trashy tell-all route by sprinkling in nuggets in the text about Stanwyck's personal life only to show how the star may have drawn on emotional traumas to create many of her memorable characterizations. And Callahan places great emphasis on Stanwyck's naturalistic acting style, which set her apart from the scenery-chewing style of her two closest acting peers, Davis and Crawford. There's no doubt about it: Stanwyck's rough beginning and productive career make her a miracle woman. This book is a good choice for devotees of the actress - but a great deal of patience is needed to plow through Callahan's verbose writing style.

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