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Exporting Perilous Pauline: Pearl White and the Serial Film Craze

Online ISBN:
9780252094941
Print ISBN:
9780252037689
Publisher:
University of Illinois Press
Book

Exporting Perilous Pauline: Pearl White and the Serial Film Craze

Marina Dahlquist (ed.)
Marina Dahlquist
(ed.)
Stockholm University
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Published online:
20 April 2017
Published in print:
1 June 2013
Online ISBN:
9780252094941
Print ISBN:
9780252037689
Publisher:
University of Illinois Press

Abstract

Exceptionally popular during their time, the spectacular American action film serials of the 1910s featured exciting stunts, film tricks, and effects set against the background of modern technology, often starring resourceful female heroines who displayed traditionally male qualities such as endurance, strength, and authority. The most renowned of these “serial queens” was Pearl White, whose career as the adventurous character Pauline developed during a transitional phase in the medium's evolving production strategies, distribution and advertising patterns, and fan culture. This book explores how American serial films starring Pearl White and other female stars affected the emerging cinemas in the United States and abroad. The book investigates the serial genre and its narrative patterns, marketing, cultural reception, and historiographic importance, with chapters on Pearl White's life on and off the screen as well as the “serial queen” genre in Western and Eastern Europe, India, and China.

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