Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability (Theories of Representation and Difference) [Paperback]

Patricia White (Author)

Book Description

Series: Theories of Representation and Difference | Publication Date: October 22, 1999

"White writes with considerable flair, and her arguments are always interesting..." —Choice

"Uncovering a massive trove of what she calls 'lesbian representability'—images of lesbian desire, love and life—in mainstream movies, White provides an insightful look at classic American films.... her myriad examples and finely wrought arguments prove both convincing and engaging." —Publishers Weekly

"Conspiratorial and witty, Uninvited is a mischievous invitation to dissect classical cinema by someone who wields the razor with glee." —OUT Magazine

Lesbian characters, stories, and images were barred from onscreen depiction in Hollywood films from the 1930s to the 1960s, together with all forms of "sex perversion." Looking at the lure of some of the great female stars and at the visual coding of supporting actresses, the book identifies lesbian spectatorial strategies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Uncovering a massive trove of what she calls "lesbian representability" images of lesbian desire, love and life in mainstream movies, White provides an insightful look at classic American films. While some of the images and situations she cites are relatively obvious, as in A Member of the Wedding (1952), in which Julie Harris plays the tomboy Frankie Addams, many are more coded, as in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940) or All This and Heaven Too with Bette Davis (1940). Ranging across an impressive span of films, White proves as conversant with the little-known ghost story The Uninvited (1944) as she is with the more famous (and openly lesbian) The Killing of Sister George (1969) or All About Eve (1944). While some readers may greet White's revelations of lesbian images in so many mainstream films with suspicion or weariness, her myriad examples and finely wrought arguments prove both convincing and engaging. She is at her most provocative when discussing lesbian innuendoes in the performances (and careers) of such leading lady sidekicks as Ethel Waters, Agnes Moorehead and Thelma Ritter. Grounding her analysis in feminist film theory, White expects her readers to have some knowledge of the works of Mary Ann Doan, Teresa De Lauretis and Annette Kuhn, although she is careful to explain their often complicated theories in accessible prose. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

White (Swarthmore College) seeks traces of lesbian desire and difference in the films of the classic era. Since the Production Code forbade even the slightest hint of sexual deviancy, White must engage in a great deal of what she calls retrospectatorship, with somewhat mixed results. She begins by discussing the Code itself; moves on to a discussion of star personae (e.g., Davis, Hepburn, Dietrich, Garbo), the gothic/horror film and maternal melodrama, overt lesbian overtones among supporting players such as McDaniel, Waters, Fitter, McCambridge, and—especially—Moorehead; and closes with a chapter on retrospectatorship. She draws on all of the major figures in feminist film theory, if only to chastise them for ignoring the lesbian spectator. Since White covers much of the same ground that Mary Ann Doane does in The Desire to Desire: The Woman's Films of the 1940s (CH, Oct'87), she is particularly concerned with correcting Doane's omissions. White writes with considerable flair, and her arguments are always interesting, if not always fully convincing. A useful addition to studies of spectatorship in and of the classic era. Upper—division undergraduates through professionals.W. A. Vincent, Michigan State University, Choice, July 2000

(W. A. Vincent, Michigan State University Choice 2000)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 396 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (October 22, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253213452
• ISBN-13: 978-0253213457
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,465,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down, April 11, 2006

By 

Simone Federman "Theatre Director/Professor" (New York,New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability (Theories of Representation and Difference) (Paperback)

This book is fascinating and compelling to read. I am thankful to Patricia White for doing all this research. I can't wait to watch these films.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent film theory, July 9, 2006

By 

O. R. Gonzalez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability (Theories of Representation and Difference) (Paperback)

applicable to literary theory as well. so well written, especially for a scholarly book! don't miss the conclusion, where you will be blown away. and the intense reading of "all about eve" will take your breath away.

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, August 30, 2011

By 

anonymous - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability (Theories of Representation and Difference) (Paperback)

This book is good when it covers new ground, but can be dull and didactic when it isn't. Like many LGBT books one has to go through the standard regurgitations of Foucault, Sedgwick, and even a few shaky analogies to the case histories of Freud to get to the author's points, which are often steeped in jargon. And by the time it is set aside there isn't much; "The Haunting" is the only one of the films and icons that gets a "full" treatment, a blow by blow interpretation of the film's "lesbian" (as defined by code era Hollywood) symbols and imagery. Often the author writes up enough on a film to note a particular favored icon and drops it. The woman's film of the 30-40's she rightly argues encompasses lesbian desire and imagery, but the choices are suited to the author's tastes: five Bette Davis films (NOT including "Dark Victory" and its near overt homoeroticism?) but a few measly paragraphs about "Mildred Pierce," a pondering of "Stella Dallas," and that's it. I found myself wondering how broad the author's knowledge of early cinema is. In an earlier chapter discussing classic Hollywood images in gay art, the author wonders why a queer artist chooses to superimpose a picture of herself helping Linda Darnell (just because Darnell is not a gay icon?) tie a tie, appearing not to know that there is just such a scene in one of Darnell's early films. She has a rigid canon borrowed from past authors and, deeply talented as she is, seems unwilling to step out of it. This book was 3.5 stars good when it could have been brilliant...