Download or read book The Original Million Dollar Mermaid written by Emily Gibson and published by Allen & Unwin Academic. This book was released on 2005 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early twentieth century, a young Australian woman became one of the highest paid and most adored Hollywood and vaudeville stars of the day. Her name was Annette Kellerman. Born into a musical family in suburban Sydney in 1886, Annette's first love was performing. Yet when she took up swimming to overcome a childhood illness, she quickly found herself breaking records and beating the boys and loving it. When the Depression hit, Annette and her father headed for England to seek their fortune. It was to be the start of a dazzling international career. After winning over Londoners with her death-defying swims in the Thames and the English Channel, she was soon wowing them at the Palladium with her trademark vaudeville act: a performance that included diving into a giant glass tank where she captivated the crowds with her graceful and athletic underwater ballet. Hollywood beckoned and Annette quickly became the darling of the silent film era, starring in the first-ever million-dollar film, Daughter of the Gods. She was soon a household name; dubbed The Perfect Woman', crowds queued for blocks to see her on the screen, men flocked to catch a glimpse her provocative costumes or lack thereof-and women thronged to hear her views on health and fitness. Annette's life was often controversial but always exhilarating, and was immortalised in the 1950s Esther Williams classic The Million Dollar Mermaid. Yet she was to end her days alone and penniless on Queensland's Gold Coast, selling her old fur coat to pay the bills. Strong minded and fiercely brave, Annette Kellerman high-dived onto the international stage, challenging preconceptions of how women should look, act and think, and capturing the hearts of a generation. Here, for the first time ever, is her extraordinary story.
Download or read book The Million Dollar Mermaid written by Esther Williams and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not since David Niven wrote the bestselling THE MOON'S A BALLOON has one of Hollywood's great stars written with real wit and candour about what it was like to work in the movie factories. In this glamorous world actors were pampered and coddled, yet expected to work without complaint for long, hard hours; made into an object of desire for millions of people and live in a world of almost total unreality, while still being expected to go about the business of finding a partner and raising a family, and avoiding personal scandal at all costs. Now, for the thousands of fans of the Golden Age of Hollywood comes Esther William's wonderfully witty, fresh and frank autobiography, all about an 18 year old girl who reluctantly answers the call of MGM and finds herself launched in a career that will last almost twenty years. During her career, she helped to create a genre of film that seems almost unimaginable today, yet which still holds its original freshness and fascination. Whether speaking of her own marriages, divorces, and love affairs or telling tales about the legends of the studio era, Williams is acutely perceptive and always uncompromisingly honest.
Download or read book The Original Million Dollar Mermaid written by Emily Gibson and published by Allen & Unwin. This book was released on 2014-05-28 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early twentieth century, a young Australian woman became one of the highest paid and most adored Hollywood and vaudeville stars of the day. Her name was Annette Kellerman. Born into a musical family in suburban Sydney in 1886, Annette's first love was performing. Yet when she took up swimming to overcome a childhood illness, she quickly found herself breaking records and beating the boys and loving it. When the Depression hit, Annette and her father headed for England to seek their fortune. It was to be the start of a dazzling international career. After winning over Londoners with her death-defying swims in the Thames and the English Channel, she was soon wowing them at the Palladium with her trademark vaudeville act: a performance that included diving into a giant glass tank where she captivated the crowds with her graceful and athletic underwater ballet. Hollywood beckoned and Annette quickly became the darling of the silent film era, starring in the first-ever million-dollar film, Daughter of the Gods. She was soon a household name; dubbed The Perfect Woman', crowds queued for blocks to see her on the screen, men flocked to catch a glimpse her provocative costumes or lack thereof-and women thronged to hear her views on health and fitness. Annette's life was often controversial but always exhilarating, and was immortalised in the 1950s Esther Williams classic The Million Dollar Mermaid. Yet she was to end her days alone and penniless on Queensland's Gold Coast, selling her old fur coat to pay the bills. Strong minded and fiercely brave, Annette Kellerman high-dived onto the international stage, challenging preconceptions of how women should look, act and think, and capturing the hearts of a generation. Here, for the first time ever, is her extraordinary story.
Download or read book Muscles in the Movies written by John D. Fair and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 2020-11-16 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Fair and David Chapman tell the story of how filmmakers use and manipulate the appearance and performances of muscular men and women to enhance the appeal of their productions. The authors show how this practice, deeply rooted in western epistemological traditions, evolved from the art of photography through magic lantern and stage shows into the motion picture industry, arguing that the sight of muscles in action induced a higher degree of viewer entertainment. From Eugen Sandow to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, muscular actors appear capable of performing the miraculous, and with the aid of stuntmen and filming contrivances, they do. By such means, muscles are used to perfect the art of illusion, inherent in movie-making from its earliest days.
Download or read book Merpeople written by Vaughn Scribner and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2020-08-13 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: People have been fascinated by merpeople and merfolk since ancient times. From the sirens of Homer’s Odyssey to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid and the film Splash, myths, stories, and legends of half-human, half-fish creatures abound. In modern times “mermaiding” has gained popularity among cosplayers throughout the world. In Merpeople: A Human History, Vaughn Scribner traces the long history of mermaids and mermen, taking in a wide variety of sources and using 117 striking images. From film to philosophy, church halls to coffee houses, ancient myth to modern science, Scribner shows that mermaids and tritons are—and always have been—everywhere.
Download or read book Swimming Pretty The Untold Story of Women in Water written by Vicki Valosik and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2024-06-25 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking history of how women found synchronicity—and power—in water. “If you’re not strong enough to swim fast, you’re probably not strong enough to swim ‘pretty,’?” said a young Esther Williams to theater impresario Billy Rose. Since the nineteenth century, tensions between beauty and strength, aesthetics and athleticism have both impeded and propelled the careers of female swimmers—none more so than synchronized swimmers, for whom Williams is often considered godmother. In this revelatory history, Vicki Valosik traces a century of aquatic performance, from vaudeville to the Olympic arena, and brings to life the colorful cast of characters whose “pretty swimming” not only laid the groundwork for an altogether new sport but forever changed women’s relationships with water. Williams, who became a Hollywood sensation for her splashy “aquamusicals,” was just one in a long, bedazzled line of swimmers who began their careers as athletes but found greater opportunity, and often social acceptance, in the world of show business. Early starlets like Lurline the Water Queen performed “scientific” swimming, a set of moves previously only practiced by men—including Benjamin Franklin—that focused on form and exhibited mastery in the water. Demonstrating their fancy feats in aquariums and water tanks rolled onto music hall stages, these women stunned Victorian audiences with their physical dexterity and defied society’s rigid expectations of what was proper and possible for their sex. Far more than bathing beauties, they ushered in sensible swimwear and influenced lifesaving and physical education programs, helping to drop national drowning rates and paving the way for new generations of female athletes. When a Chicago physical educator matched their aquatic movements to music in the 1920s, young girls flocked to take part in “synchronized swimming.” But despite overwhelming love from audiences and the Olympic ambitions of its practitioners, “synchro” was long perceived as little more than entertaining pageantry, and its athletes would face a battle against the current to earn a spot at the highest echelons of sport. Now, on the fortieth anniversary of synchronized swimming’s elevation to Olympic status, Swimming Pretty honors its incredible history of grit, glamor, and sheer athleticism.
Download or read book American Silent Horror Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films 1913 1929 written by John T. Soister and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 831 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Silent Era, when most films dealt with dramatic or comedic takes on the "boy meets girl, boy loses girl" theme, other motion pictures dared to tackle such topics as rejuvenation, revivication, mesmerism, the supernatural and the grotesque. A Daughter of the Gods (1916), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), The Magician (1926) and Seven Footprints to Satan (1929) were among the unusual and startling films containing story elements that went far beyond the realm of "highly unlikely." Using surviving documentation and their combined expertise, the authors catalog and discuss these departures from the norm in this encyclopedic guide to American horror, science fiction and fantasy in the years from 1913 through 1929.
Download or read book Strong Like Her written by Haley Shapley and published by Gallery Books. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beautiful and powerful, Strong Like Her presents the awe-inspiring account of women’s athleticism throughout history. Journalist Haley Shapley takes us through the delightful untold history of female strength to understand how we can better encourage—and celebrate—the physical power of women. Part group biography, part cultural history, Strong Like Her delves into the fascinating stories of our muscular foremothers. From the first female Olympian (who entered the chariot race through a loophole) to the circus stars who could lift their husbands above their heads and make it look like “a little light housework with a feather duster,” these brave and brawny women paved the way for the generations to follow. Filled with Sophy Holland’s beautiful portraits of some of today’s most awe-inspiring athletes, including Peloton instructor Robin Arzón, bodybuilder Dana Linn Bailey, actress/dancer Patina Miller, and many others, Strong Like Her celebrates strength in all its forms. Illuminating the lives and accomplishments of storied female sports stars—whose contributions to society go far beyond their entries in record books—Shapley challenges us to rethink everything we thought we knew about the power of women.
Download or read book Fish Out of Water written by MaryJanice Davidson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-11-25 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fred the Mermaid has taken the bait and chosen to date Artur, Prince of the Black Sea, over human marine biologist Thomas. And just in time. The existence of the Undersea Folk is no longer a secret, and someone needs to keep them from floundering in the media spotlight. Fred has all the right skills for that job, but has a hard time when her real father surfaces and tries to overthrow Artur’s regime.
Download or read book Nils Thor Granlund written by Larry J. Hoefling and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nils T. Granlund (1882-1957) created the first movie preview, filmed the first commercial, was the first to broadcast a live sports event, and, as a popular radio personality, introduced the Jazz Age to America via his broadcasts from Harlem's Cotton Club. He is also acknowledged as the creator of the modern nightclub, introducing the high-kicking chorus line to the stages of Las Vegas. But though he was among the highest-grossing entertainers of the World War II era--famous enough to star as "himself" in several Hollywood films--he died virtually penniless, and today is all but forgotten. This work is a comprehensive biography of the man known as NTG, from his herding reindeer in Sweden to shepherding the most beautiful chorus girls on Broadway.
Download or read book The Woman Who Dared written by William M. Drew and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2023-03-07 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early days of motion pictures—before superstars, before studio conglomerates, before even the advent of sound—there was a woman named Pearl White (1889–1938). A quintessential beauty of the time, with her perfectly tousled bob and come-hither stare, White's rise to stardom was swift; her assumption of the title of queen of American motion picture serials equally deserved. Born the youngest of five children in a small, rural Missouri farm town, White first began performing in high school. She would eventually make the decision to cut her education short, dropping out to go on the Trousdale Stock Company. A bit player in the early years of her career, she was eventually spotted by the Powers Film Company in New York. She made her film debut in 1910 and soon set herself apart from her female colleagues with her reputation for fearless performances that often involved her own stunt work. It was that same daring attitude that would put her on the map internationally as an actress. From flying airplanes to swimming across rapid rivers, to racing cars in serials like The Perils of Pauline (1914), White was undaunted by the demands of her onscreen career. She went on to star in popular serial classics such as The New Exploits of Elaine (1915), The Iron Claw (1916), The Fatal Ring (1917), and The Lightning Raider (1919). As active socially as she was professionally, White would also lend her audacious spirit to activism as she took part in the early feminist movement. Her bravery and mastery of her craft made her a positive role model for suffragettes who battled for women's rights in the United States. The Woman Who Dared: The Life and Times of Pearl White, Queen of the Serials, is the first full-length biography of this pioneering star. In this study of film history and female agency, Drew delves into the cultural impact of White's work and how it evolved along a concurrent trajectory with the social upheavals of the Progressive Era.
Download or read book Australian Book Review written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 692 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book America s Girl written by Tim Dahlberg and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2009-08-04 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America's Girl is an intimate look at the life and trials of Gertrude Ederle, who in 1926 not only became the first woman to swim across the English Channel, but broke the record set by men. The feat so thrilled America that it welcomed her home with a ticker tape parade that drew two million people. This fascinating portrait follows Ederle from her early days as a competitive swimmer through her gold medal triumph at the 1924 Olympics, to the first attempt the next year by Ederle to swim from France to England in frigid and turbulent waters, a feat that had been conquered by only five men up to that time. This is also a stirring look at the go-go era of the 1920s, when the country was about to recognize that women not only could vote, but compete on an international scale as athletes. At the height of Prohibition, Ederle's triumph over the formidable Channel was a triumph for women everywhere. America's Girl immerses readers in a pivotal era of American history and brings to life the spirit of that time.
Download or read book That Was Entertainment written by Bernard F. Dick and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2018-06-04 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: That Was Entertainment: The Golden Age of the MGM Musical traces the development of the MGM musical from The Broadway Melody (1929) through its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s and its decline in the 1960s, culminating in the notorious 1970 MGM auction when Judy Garland's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, Charlton Heston's chariot from Ben-Hur, and Fred Astaire's trousers and dress shirt from Royal Wedding vanished to the highest bidders. That Was Entertainment uniquely reconstructs the life of Arthur Freed, whose unit at MGM became the gold standard against which the musicals of other studios were measured. Without Freed, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ann Miller, Betty Garrett, Cyd Charisse, Arlene Dahl, Vera-Ellen, Lucille Bremer, Gloria DeHaven, Howard Keel, and June Allyson would never have had the signature films that established them as movie legends. MGM's past is its present. No other studio produced such a range of musicals that are still shown today on television and all of which are covered in this volume, from integrated musicals in which song and dance were seamlessly embedded in the plot (Meet Me in St. Louis and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) to revues (The Hollywood Revue of 1929 and Ziegfeld Follies); original musicals (Singin' in the Rain, Easter Parade, and It's Always Fair Weather); adaptations of Broadway shows (Girl Crazy, On the Town, Show Boat, Kiss Me Kate, Brigadoon, Kismet, and Bells Are Ringing); musical versions of novels and plays (Gigi, The Pirate, and Summer Holiday); operettas (the films of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy); mythico-historical biographies of composers (Johann Strauss Jr. in The Great Waltz and Sigmund Romberg in Deep in My Heart); and musicals featuring songwriting teams (Rodgers and Hart in Words and Music and Kalmar and Ruby in Three Little Words), opera stars (Enrico Caruso in The Great Caruso and Marjorie Lawrence in Interrupted Melody), and pop singers (Ruth Etting in Love Me or Leave Me). Also covered is the water ballet musical--in a class by itself--with Esther Williams starring as MGM's resident mermaid. This is a book for longtime lovers of the movie musical and those discovering the genre for the first time.
Download or read book The Swimsuit written by Christine Schmidt and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-07-18 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Swimsuit: Fashion from Poolside to Catwalk documents the modern swimsuit's trajectory from men's underwear and circus/performance wear to its unique niche in world fashion. It emphasizes the relationship between fashion, media, celebrity, sport and the cultivation of the modern body. This fascinating book provides an historical, sociological and cultural context in which to view how the swimsuit - and Australia, the country that significantly influenced its modern form - migrated from the cultural and colonial periphery to the centre of international attention. In addition, the book offers new perspectives on national histories of the swimsuit and investigates how traditional European fashion centers have opened up to new markets and modes of living, bringing together influences from around the globe. The Swimsuit is essential reading for students, scholars, and the general reader interested in fashion, popular culture, history, media, sport, and gender studies.
Download or read book Mermaids 13 written by John French and published by Padwolf Publishing. This book was released on 2012-12-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They are the sirens of the sea, beautiful creatures that can lure a sailor to destruction. They are beings both aquatic and human. They are the Mer folk and we'd like you tell their stories. Join us for tails, or rather, tales of these mysterious, exotic and sometimes dangerous creatures. Read of tragedy, comedy and adventure, of loves both lost and found, of horrors inflicted on them or by them. The stories in this book will take you on back yard adventures and to a big city night club, to war ravaged oceans and the realms of fantasy and, since you're one of the lucky ones, on a much desired tour. Featuring the talents of: Danielle Ackley-McPhail Michael A. Black James Chambers John L. French C. J. Henderson C. Ellett Logan Roy Mauritsen Terri Osborne Darren W. Pearce and Neal Levin KT Pinto Hildy Silverman Patrick Thomas Robert E. Waters
Download or read book Hollywood and the Female Body written by Stephen Handzo and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2020-01-17 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the first, brief moving images of female nudes in the 1880s to the present, the motion picture camera made the female body a battleground in what we now call the culture wars. Churchmen feared the excitation of male lust; feminists decried the idealization of a body type that devalued the majority of women. This history of Hollywood's treatment of women's bodies traces the full span of the motion picture era. Primitive peepshow images of burlesque dancers gave way to the "artistic" nudity of the 1910s when model Audrey Munson and swimmer Annette Kellerman contended for the title of American Venus. Clara Bow personified the qualified sexual freedom of the 1920s flapper. Jean Harlow, Mae West and the scantily clad chorus girls of the early 1930s provoked the Legion of Decency to demand the creation of a Production Code Administration that turned saucy Betty Boop into a housewife. Things loosened up during World War II when Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth ruled the screen. The postwar years saw the blonde bombshells and "mammary madness" of the 1950s while the 1960's brought bikini-clad sex kittens. With the replacement of the Production Code by a ratings system in 1968, nudity and sex scenes proliferated in the R-rated movies of the 1970s and 1980s. Recent movies, often directed by women, have pointed the way toward a more egalitarian future. Finally, the #MeToo movement and the fall of Harvey Weinstein have forced the industry to confront its own sexism. Each chapter of this book situates movies, famous and obscure, into the context of changes in the movie industry and the larger society.
