Description
Before she achieved immortality on the long-running situation comedy Bewitched, Agnes Moorehead had established a distinguished career as a character actress. After her screen debut in Citizen Kane (1941), Moorehead became one of the most familiar female faces on the silver screen. For moviegoers of the 1940s and '50s, she was the quintessential character actress, earning four Academy Award nominations during a career that saw her gain the respect of her peers in all four major entertainment media: radio, film, theater, and television. In The Films of Agnes Moorehead, Axel Nissen looks at the actress's sixty-three feature films between 1941 and 1973. Each film is profiled here, with particular emphasis placed on the films that merit closer attention: Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Mrs. Parkington, Dark Passage, All That Heaven Allows, The Left Hand of God, The Swan, Tempest, The Bat, and Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Arranged in chronological order, the discussion of these films highlights Moorehead's contribution to each feature. In addition to analyzing her performances, the author discusses the development of Moorehead's career as a whole, along with her relationship with various studios, directors, producers, and fellow actors. Based on extensive interviews with the actress's surviving friends and co-workers, as well as detailed archival research into primary sources, this book brings to light new information not just about Moorehead's work in film, but on her life and career in general. Though this book will certainly appeal to movie buffs, The Films of Agnes Moorehead will also be of interest to students and scholars of classic Hollywood films, including those interested in women and film, gender studies, and film history.
About the Author
Axel Nissen is a professor of American literature in the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages at the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway. He is the author of Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces from the Thirties to the Fifties (2007) and Mothers, Mammies and Old Maids: Twenty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood (2012), among several other books.
Reviews
Happily, it's a book worthy of both the author and his much-admired subject. . .Each film is represented with a cleanly reproduced production still. . .he clearly appreciates the best of [Moorehead's] work, and writes about it in a style that's approachable, informed, and often very funny. * David C. Tucker *
The book is a well studied examination of a character actress and her films. * Filmwerk *
Book Information
ISBN 9780810891364
Author Axel Nissen
Format Hardback
Page Count 382
Imprint Scarecrow Press
Publisher Scarecrow Press
Weight(grams) 712g
Dimensions(mm) 236mm * 159mm * 34mm
About the Author
Axel Nissen is a professor of American literature in the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages at the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway. He is the author of Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces from the Thirties to the Fifties (2007) and Mothers, Mammies and Old Maids: Twenty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood (2012), among several other books.
Reviews
Happily, it's a book worthy of both the author and his much-admired subject. . .Each film is represented with a cleanly reproduced production still. . .he clearly appreciates the best of [Moorehead's] work, and writes about it in a style that's approachable, informed, and often very funny. * David C. Tucker *
The book is a well studied examination of a character actress and her films. * Filmwerk *
Book Information
ISBN 9780810891364
Author Axel Nissen
Format Hardback
Page Count 382
Imprint Scarecrow Press
Publisher Scarecrow Press
Weight(grams) 712g
Dimensions(mm) 236mm * 159mm * 34mm
