02606cam a2200265 i 4500008004100000020001800041020001800059040000800077050002300085100002900108245010100137260004600238300002000284505001700304518001500321520159000336650003001926650007401956650005802030650004602088900001402134942001302148999001902161952016002180131121s2014    njua     b    001 0 eng    a9780813562650  a9780813562643  aSDU00aPN1995bP982 L20141 aPullen, Kirsten.920897010aLike a natural woman :bspectacular female performance in classical Hollywood /cKirsten Pullen.  aLondon :bRutgers University Press,c2014  a 245 p. :bill.  aHKBU library  aYT2025 M09  a" Bathing beauty Esther Williams, bombshell Jane Russell, exotic Carmen Miranda, chanteuse Lena Horne, and talk-show fixture Zsa Zsa Gabor are rarely hailed as great actors or as naturalistic performers. Those terms of praise are given to male stars like Marlon Brando and James Dean, whose gritty dramas are seen as a departure from the glossy spectacles in which these stars appeared. Like a Natural Woman challenges those assumptions, revealing the skill and training that went into the work of these five actresses, who employed naturalistic performance techniques, both onscreen and off. Bringing a fresh perspective to film history through the lens of performance studies, Kirsten Pullen explores the ways in which these actresses, who always appeared to be "playing themselves," responded to the naturalist notion that actors should create authentic characters by drawing from their own lives. At the same time, she examines how Hollywood presented these female stars as sex objects, focusing on their spectacular bodies at the expense of believable characterization or narratives.Pullen not only helps us appreciate what talented actresses these five women actually were, but also reveals how they sought to express themselves and maintain agency, even while meeting the demands of their directors, studios, families, and fans to perform certain feminine roles. Drawing from a rich collection of classic films, publicity materials, and studio archives, Like a Natural Woman lets us take a new look at both Hollywood acting techniques and the performance of femininity itself"-- 0aWomen in motion pictures. 0aMotion picture actors and actresseszCaliforniazLos Angeles.9208971 7aPERFORMING ARTS / Film & Video / History & Criticism. 7aSOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's Studies.9126932  a= C.1 SDU  cGBE2lcc  c108604d108604  00102lcc406PN1995 P982 L2014708CGB9282962aSDUbSDUcGEN3d2025-09-24e2l0oPN1995 P982 L2014p1000362738r2025-09-24 00:00:00tC.1w2025-09-24yGBE