Yul Brynner
Exoticism, Cosmopolitanism and Screen Masculinity
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Edinburgh University Press
Published:30th Nov '24
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Yul Brynner’s star image was built on cosmopolitan flair, shifting tales of origin, baldness, as well as film roles as foreign rulers, freedom fighters, army officials, gunslingers and secret agents of ever-shifting ethnicities. Whether Cossacks, marauding pirate captains or cross-dressing torch singers, Brynner’s characters were invariably stand-outs. This book explores his exotic and masculine star image and its transformations from lavish Orientalist Hollywood spectacles of the 1950s to 1960s European co-productions, 1970s action films and scifi. Extensively researched, it covers the actor’s entire film catalogue, his rumoured yet unrealised projects, television work and stage appearances, as well as their international media reception. Thematically organised, the book inquires after racial casting politics, the construction of sex symbols, Brynner’s humanitarian work and the recurring poses and gestures that characterised his performance style.
This is perhaps the most extensive academic treatise ever written on Russian-born actor Yul Brynner (1920–85). Paasonen does not deliver a standard biography of the famed actor; rather, she studies Brynner in a number of ways that transcend him as an individual. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. -- G. R. Butters Jr., Aurora University * CHOICE connect *
Susanna Paasonen has written a substantial and scholarly study of one of the major male stars of the 20th century that is as rigorously researched as it is engaging and witty. This book is a delight and an important contribution to the study of stardom and mid-century masculinity. -- John Mercer, Birmingham City University
One of the world’s foremost sexuality scholars provides an overdue analysis of one of the world’s sexiest stars. Through the lens of cosmopolitanism, Paasonen delves into the star persona and spectacular acting style of Yul Brynner. This book challenges postwar masculinity studies’ over-determination of authenticity and problematic associations with whiteness. -- Rebecca Sullivan, University of Calgary
ISBN: 9781474497954
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
304 pages