Eric Smoodin
University of California, Davis, American Studies, Faculty Member
Research Interests:
During the transition to sound, from about 1929 to 1934, Marlene Dietrich and Maurice Chevalier emerged in France as the first and greatest stars of the new technology. This article examines French primary materials from the period –... more
During the transition to sound, from about 1929 to 1934, Marlene Dietrich and Maurice Chevalier emerged in France as the first and greatest stars of the new technology. This article examines French primary materials from the period – movie magazines, trade journals and newspapers – as a means of analyzing changes in film stardom during this era. Studying Dietrich and Chevalier in the French context indicates the international reach of cinema from the period, the cultural relation- ships between France and its colonies, the relative status of the cinematic image and voice for film audiences, and also the impact on stardom of rapid technological innovation and implementation. The primary materials allow for an examination of the transition to sound and its effects on stardom at the level of film reception, so that we can understand how movie enthusiasts learned about films and stars as local, regional and international phenomena. Thus the early film careers of Dietrich and Chevalier serve as instructive case studies on the manner in which new technologies affect the cinema broadly and, more narrowly, a specific cinematic practice, the production of celebrity.
