MOVIE CRAZY: Fans, Stars, and the Cult of Celebrity

This neatly presented (though not very thorough) work explores how movie fans sought to understand, control and participate in U.S. films from 1900 to 1950. Barbas, a teacher at Arizona State's interdisciplinary studies program, uses distinctive examples and film fan archives to prove that "[t]he story of film fandom, in large part, is the story of the way that fans refused to accept mass culture passively and, instead, became actively involved in their entertainment." She cites some well-known themes, among them the lure of going to Hollywood to be an actress and the desire to know the person presented on-screen—an emotion that evolved into star adulation. More interesting are the often unexamined intricacies of the movie fan world, such as the variations among budding movie fan magazines and movie fan club activities like boosting (doing everything one could to publicize a star). Also captivating are the familiar ideas rendered originally, such as the rise of film-related consumerism, which was the film industry's attempt to get "movie-struck girls" to transform their cinematic ambitions into vicarious participation in the Hollywood dream. Throughout, Barbas offers specific examples (on Gable, Crawford and others) and tidy presentations of facts and figures (on fan letters and movie attendance, particularly) in a modest prose style. Esspecially, for those unfamiliar with early film history, this is a useful survey of fandom. (Nov. 19)