Love Goddesses of the Movies [antikvár]

l^TP0DlCTl0^ It might appear easy to choose 20 or so star actresses of the international cinema from its beginnings to the present time, the key films of which, in one way or another, have been about the relationships and complications of love. But it is not so easy as it appears. The film is over three-quarters of a century old, and actresses achieving world fame have starred in it since the teens of the century. The vast majority of films made have featured either love or action (adventure, war, the chase, domestic intrigue, and so on) and quite often both at once, told in romantic, dramatic, or melodramatic terms, so the range of choice on which to draw is formidable-in effect, the greater part of cinema. The actresses I have chosen, therefore, to represent the 'star image' in each decade since the 1910s have to fulfil many different conditions and possess many different qualities that give them special significance in comparison with others of their time - at least in my view. This inevitably leads to some consideration of the broad social attitude to women held during the whole period involved, from 1910 or thereabouts, to the 1970s. For a film star to become universally acclaimed and admired (or perhaps abused) not only in her own but in other countries, she must be at once representative and unique. What is representative about her conforms to the current idea of what an attractive woman should be like; in this sense she belongs to the social 'climate' of her time, a climate which is all the while, year by year, shifting and evolving; what is unique about her is her own particular personality, the way she speaks, her individual looks and qualities of facial expression, her physical appearance, style and manner, her attitude to men and to other women, and so forth. Her beauty - if indeed she is beautiful, as distinct from being exceptionally attractive, a difference which arises often - is, like her clothes, very much a creation of her time. In this she virtually has to be representative, however much she may manage to adapt or tone current styles to suit her private taste. In this a star's individual personality counts for a great deal; some accept a considerable degree of moulding by the stylists and the so-called 'charm schools', while others resist - Garbo was exceptionally strong in this respect. But in almost all cases there is a degree of conformity by the stars to the generally accepted pattern of hair-styling and costume of the period, however much their particular styles may modify what is general to women of their age-group, either simplifying or elaborating current trends. The film industry itself, so closely geared to fashion as part of its audience appeal, brings exceptional pressure to bear, in this, as in other respects, on its women stars, and nothing is more closely geared to its period than yester- day's film. Even historical costume is normally restyled in a contemporary fashion, giving it a supplementary style which can change with the period when the film was made. But beyond this characteristic - the shift in appearance which takes place year by year in the stars of the past - lie the social values and attitudes the films themselves reflect. Each decade, in effect, produces its own thrust and counter-thrust in the attitude to and the attitude of women. The thrust is the standard to which conventional society tries to make its women conform; the counter-thrust is what women do more particularly to suit themselves, frequently in defiance of convention. Since films, like plays and novels, are concerned with situations involving conflict, the characters played by star actresses of strong personality usually reflect the counter-thrust, that is, they seem determined to get themselves into trouble. Women as a whole tend to be conformist, responding readily to the pattern of life, the values and conventions, society appears to approve for their age-group. The 'revolt' of the young against the behaviour-patterns of the middle aged is only a reflex kind of conformism to the new patterns set up by their own generation. Each generation also expects to find its particular values and attitudes faithfully reflected on the screen, indeed emphasized, exaggerated and idealized, with consequent dramatic clashes between the generations, and between those individual women who get into trouble and the society which is determined to oppose and, if necessary, punish them. Each star has to find her own place in this network of social attitudes. If Mary Pickfprd (the first major woman star) aimed to be acceptable as the 'world's sweetheart' (a kind of 'girl next door' with exceptional verve and pretti-ness), this was scarcely the image of Garbo. While some might expect (in vain) to find Sophia Loren or Gina Lollobrigida or even Brigitte Bardot next door, the innate power of such enterprising "personality' stars as Ingrid Thulin, Jeanne Moreau and Glenda Jackson (all inevitable counter-thrusters) place them in a new kind of category for female stardom, unique and memorable and nonconformist, but nevertheless in their own way the products of their age, as of course we all are. Others are nonconformist in a different way-Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hay-worth - playing bad women as conventionally understood, exciting the sexuality in men without forming permanent or satisfying relationships, the kind of women established society condemns, while nevertheless finding them fascinating to watch in action on the screen. We like (in fact) to use drama, novels, and fiction films to typify human nature, to discover its curiosities and eccentricities, to explore its heights and plumb its depravities. The extreme contemporary interest in crime, sexual irregularities and violence is largely exploration by people who have little desire or opportunity to practise these things themselves, but are nevertheless curious about them, since