Precocious Charms Stars Performing Girlhood in Classical Hollywood Cinema

Reviews

"Lushly illustrated and compellingly written, this fascinating, timely book will easily suit both academic and general readers."—G. A. Foster Choice

“Studlar's work in Precocious Charms is especially remarkable considering the scope of film and femininity she has presented. Touching on questions of the youthful female, sexuality, pleasure and disavowal, the book is a fresh approach to studying the characteristics of these celebrated actresses and films.” —Lucy Fischer, Distinguished Professor of Film Studies and English, University of Pittsburgh

“Going far beyond the hackneyed ‘images of’ writing on movie stars we have seen so much of in the past, Gaylyn Studlar's Precocious Charms makes a major contribution to our understanding of how Hollywood works by enabling us to understand the complicated way in which stars function within culture.” —Virginia Wright Wexman, author of Creating The Couple: Love, Marriage, And Hollywood Performance

"Gaylyn Studlar’s study of young female actors is an eye-opening and provocative revisitation of stars that long have been revered by fans and analyzed by film scholars. Thanks to the close analyses of these films that have also marked her previous scholarship, Precocious Charms will be at home on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the vicissitudes of Hollywood’s performances of adolescence, gender, and sexuality." —Donald Crafton, Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Film, Television, and Theatre, University of Notre Dame