book
Australian comedy films of the 1930s : modernity, the urban and the international / Lesley Speed St. Kilda, Vic.: Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM), c2015.
Call No: 732(94) SPEAuthor: Speed, Lesley Source: ATPlace: St. Kilda, Vic.Publisher: Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM)PubDate: c2015PhysDes: 128 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.Subject: COMEDIES. AUSTRALIA ; HISTORY AND THE CINEMA. AUSTRALIA ; EFFTEE STUDIO ; CINESOUND STUDIOS ; HANNA, PAT ; WALLACE, GEORGE ; CO-RESPONDENT'S COURSE (AT, E.A. Dietrich-Derrick, 1931) ; DIGGERS (AT, F.W. Thring, 1931) ; HAUNTED BARN, THE (AT, E.A. Dietrich-Derrick, 1931) ; SHOWGIRL'S LUCK (AT, Norman Dawn, 1931) ; SENTIMENTAL BLOKE, THE (AT, F.W. Thring, 1932) ; ON OUR SELECTION (AT, Ken G. Hall, 1932) ; HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS (AT, F.W. Thring, 1932) ; DIGGERS IN BLIGHTY (AT, Pat Hanna, 1933) ; HARMONY ROW (AT, F.W. Thring, 1933) ; HAYSEEDS, THE (AT, Beaumont Smith, 1933) ; TICKET IN TATTS, A (AT, F.W. Thring, 1934) ; CLARA GIBBINGS (AT, F.W. Thring, 1934) ; STRIKE ME LUCKY (AT, Ken G. Hall, 1935) ; SPLENDID FELLOWS (AT, Beaumont Smith, 1934) ; GRANDAD RUDD (AT, Ken G. Hall, 1935) ; WHITE DEATH (AT, Edwin G. Bowen, 1936) ; RANGLE RIVER (AT, Clarence G. Badger, 1936) ; IT ISN'T DONE (AT, Ken G. Hall, 1937) ; TALL TIMBERS (AT, Ken G. Hall, 1937) ; LET GEORGE DO IT (AT, Ken G. Hall, 1938) ; DAD AND DAVE COME TO TOWN (AT, Ken G. Hall, 1938) ; GONE TO THE GOGS (AT, Ken G. Hall, 1939) ; ANTS IN HIS PANTS (AT, William Freshman, 1939) Summary: Comedy has been a perpetual part of Australian film, in which humour reflects Australia's adaptation in times of crisis, social change and technological advances. This was never more so than in the 1930s, when Australia produced more comedy feature films than in any other decade before 1970. These films of the 1930s embraced the new technology of sound, made local vaudeville performers into movie stars, offered escape from the Depression and revealed a diverse and international Australia. In these films, Australia moved further from Empire and the bush, forged the Digger legend, responded to cultural diversity and viewed itself as a modern, urban nation. Influenced by Hollywood, Australian comedies of the 1930s adapted international styles to local points of view. Based on research at the National Film and Sound Archive, Lesley Speed's book provides new insight into Australian comedy films of the 1930s and the extraordinary period of social change in which they were produced. [taken from the back cober]ISBN: 9781876467258Contents: Contents: Introduction -- Comedy films and 1930s Australia -- Comedian comedies, Pat Hanna and George Wallace -- 'The best men in the metropolis' : Speech and language in films of Pat Hanna and George Wallace -- Strike me lucky, silly ass: Ethnicity and class difference -- From bush to the city: The Dad and Dave films -- Looking at home for 'something really ultra': Modernity, gender and the international -- Select filmography -- Select bibliography -- Notes
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book
Clueless : American youth in the 1990s / Lesley Speed Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Routledge, 2018.
Call No: 79 CLU SPEAuthor: Speed, Lesley Edition: 2018Place: Abingdon, Oxon, UKPublisher: RoutledgePubDate: 2018PhysDes: 118 pages : illustrated ; 23 cmSeries: cinema and youth culturesSubject: CLUELESS (US, Amy Heckerling, 1995) ; TEEN FILMS Summary: Clueless: American Youth in the 1990s is a timely contribution to the increasingly prominent academic field of youth film studies. The book draws on the social context to the film’s release, a range of film industry perspectives including marketing, audience reception and franchising, as well as postmodern theory and feminist film theory to assert the cultural and historical significance of Amy Heckerling’s film and reaffirm its reputation as one of the defining teen films of the 1990s.
Lesley Speed examines how the film channels aspects of Anita Loos’ 1925 novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the 1960s television series Gidget and Jane Austen’s Emma, to present a heightened, optimistic view of contemporary American teenage life. Although seemingly apolitical, Speed makes the case for Clueless as a feminist exploration of relationships between gender, comedy and consumer culture, centring on a contemporary version of the ‘dumb blonde’ type. The film is also proved to embrace diversity in its depiction of African American characters and contributing to an increase in gay teenagers on screen. Lesley Speed concludes her analysis by tracking the rise of the Clueless franchise and cult following. Both helped to cement the film in popular consciousness, inviting fans to inhabit its fantasy world through spinoff narratives on television and in print, public viewing rituals, revivalism and vintage fashion. -- publisher's web siteISBN: 9781138681217Contents: Preface to the series.-- Acknowledgements. -- Introduction.-- 1. Building a fantasy that you could live in: production history and initial reception, Director and writer Amy Heckerling. -- Development and Production. -- Clueless sources. -- Production. -- Release and reception. -- 2. ‘A way normal life’: Clueless as a teen film of the 1990s. -- Clueless, the 1990s and youth culture. -- Youth, adulthood and history. -- ‘It looks like the best-tasting bubble gum’: the world of Clueless. -- 3. All the young girls and dudes: gender and sexuality. -- Girls in teen film. -- Feminism, consumer culture and girls. -- Ethnicity. -- Sexuality. -- 4. ‘It’s, like, a famous quote’: Adaptation, franchise and cult film. -- Clueless as adaptation. -- The Clueless franchise. -- Inhabiting the storyworld: Clueless as a cult film. -- Conclusion: Clueless in the popular cultural landscape. -- Bibliography. -- Appendix: The Clueless novelisations. -- Index
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