Dudley Murphy, Hollywood wild card
"Dudley Murphy (1897-1968) was one of early Hollywood's most intriguing figures. Active from the 1920s through the 1940s, Murphy was one of the industry's first independents and a guiding intelligence behind some of the key films in early twentieth-century cinema." "In the first full-length biography of Murphy, author Susan Delson gives full rein to an American original whose life was as audacious as his films. As expertly chronicled here, Murphy caromed between film and the other arts, between Hollywood and other cultural capitals - Greenwich Village, Harlem, London, and Paris - hobnobbing with some of the era's leading cultural figures, including Ezra Pound, Man Ray, Duke Ellington, and Charlie Chaplin, and leaving many a scandal in his wake." "Delson pays close attention to Murphy's cinematic style, which favored visual play over narrative and character, and she offers new insights into his two most important works, Ballet mecanique and The Emperor Jones. A lively portrait, Dudley Murphy, Hollywood Wild Card provides a perspective on the evolution of the classical Hollywood aesthetic, the development of the film industry, and the century's broader cultural currents."--Jacket
Print Book, English, ©2006
University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, ©2006