Deals analytically with the fascinating topic of the great film stars (and some thought-provoking lesser ones) of the British cinema, from Alma Taylor and Ivor Novello in the Silent period, up to the present day. Looks both at stars who attained worldwide fame through the Hollywood cinema, and those whose contribution is primarily to the national cinema.. First collection of essays on the subject with a wide historical coverage including major figures, such as Connery, Mason, Trevor Howard, Deborah Kerr, Mary Millington, Albert Finney and James Mason. Major figures in UK film studies have contributed, including Marcia Landy, Andrew Higson, Peter Evans, Charles Barr, Pam Cook and Andy Medhurst.
1. Introduction - British Stars and Stardom
2. 'Our English Mary Pickford': Alma Taylor and ambivalent British stardom in the 1910s - Jon Burrows
3. The curious appeal of Ivor Novello - Lawrence Napper & Michael Williams
4. The extraordinary ordinariness of Gracie Fields: anatomy of a British star - Marcia Landy
5. Britain's greatest contirbution to the screen: Flora Robson and character acting - Andrew Higson
6. Dangerous limelight: Anton Walbook and seduction of the English - Andrew Moor
7. 'Queen of British Hearts': Margaret Lockwood revisted - Bruce Babington
8. James Mason: The man between - Peter Evans
9. The nun's story: femininity and Englishness in the films of Deborah Kerr - Celestino Deleyto
10. Trevor, not Leslie, Howard - Geoffrey MacNab
11. Sir Alec Guinness: the self-effacing star - Neil Sinyard
12. 'Madness, madness': the brief stardom of James Donald - Charles Barr
13. The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde Bombshell phenomenon - Pam Cook
14. 'The Angry Young Man is tired': Albert Finney and 1960s British cinema - Justine Ashby
15. Song, narrative, and the Mother's voice: A deepish reading of Julie Andrews - Bruce Babington
16. 'There's Something About Mary.....' - Julian Petley
17. Sean Connery: loosening his Bonds - Andrew Spicer
18. 'Bright particular stars': Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, and William Shakespeare - Richard Schoch
