In 1995 and 1996 six film or television adaptations of Jane Austen's novels were produced -- an unprecedented number. More amazing, all were critical and/or box office successes. What accounts for this explosion of interest? Much of the appeal of these films lies in our nostalgic desire at the end of the millennium for an age of greater politeness and sexual reticence. Austen's ridicule of deceit and pretentiousness also appeals to our fin de siècle sensibilities. The novels were changed, however, to enhance their appeal to a wide popular audience, and the revisions reveal much about our own culture and its values. These recent productions espouse explicitly twentieth-century feminist notions and reshape the Austenian hero to make him conform to modern expectations. Linda Troost and Sayre Greenfield present fourteen essays examining the phenomenon of Jane Austen as cultural icon, providing thoughtful and sympathetic insights on the films through a variety of critical approaches. The contributors debate whether these productions enhance or undercut the subtle feminism that Austen promoted in her novels. From Persuasion to Pride and Prejudice, from the three Emmas (including Clueless ) to Sense and Sensibility, these films succeed because they flatter our intelligence and education. And they have as much to tell us about ourselves as they do about the world of Jane Austen. This second edition includes a new chapter on the recent film version of Mansfield Park.

With a new introduction by the authors, this edition takes the complete body of work of Jane Austen as the basis for rethinking ethnographic representation and cross-cultural analysis.

Legend has it that Hollywood lures gifted writers into its service with sunshine and money, only to treat them as glorified typists and plot-mechanics, peripheral to the main business of moviemaking. This is what Ian Hamilton describes as 'the writer-in-chains saga that emerges from any study of Hollywood during its so-called golden years - the period I have marked as running from 1915-1951.' But in this superb account of what befell the likes of Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Chandler and Huxley by working for the Dream Factory, Hamilton argues that these writers 'were in the movies by choice: they earned far more money than their colleagues who did not write for films, and in several cases they applied themselves conscientiously to the not-unimportant task at hand. And they had a lot of laughs...' 'Fascinating and enjoyable.' New Statesman 'Abounds in marvelous stories, apocryphal, fabulous, funny and even true.' Observer Faber Finds is devoted to restoring to readers a wealth of lost or neglected classics and authors of distinction. The range embraces fiction, non-fiction, the arts and children's books. For a full list of available titles visit www.faberfinds.co.uk. To join the dialogue with fellow book-lovers please see our blog, www.faberfindsblog.co.uk.

"My Hollywood Diary" is a diary of Edgar Wallace, an English writer who is probably most famous for the J. G. Reeder detective stories. In the book, Wallace gives his personal views on life in Hollywood, his friends, and the people working there. A reader dives into the gloss of parties, bright events, and exciting meetings.

Get all five Hollywood to Olympus romances in one great set. Screen Idol If actor Chris Peck plays his cards right, acting as the slave-for-a-day could earn him the leading roll in an upcoming movie, but the winner wants nothing to do with him. Sydney Richardson should have locked the door when a Greek god appeared on her front step at sunrise. After months of work to ensure her fundraiser goes off without a hitch, she can't afford to waste time with a TV hunk, no matter how good he looks in a toga. Chris is captivated by Sydney and he promises to put her charity efforts over the top. However, just when he convinces Sydney they could have a real chance together, the movie's producers offer him an audition that means leaving Sydney in the lurch. The king of the gods has until sunset to prove to his new off-screen love interest that Hollywood magic and true-life romance can co-exist. Drama Queen Layla Andrews isn't really a bitch – she just plays one on television. For the last year, she's acted like one while she was forced to serve probation for something she didn't do. Now she's done her time and she's ready to start living again. Russ Vukovich, the show's fight coordinator, had been attracted to Layla since the first time he saw her, but as they gets closer, he also sees more of what she hides beneath the mask she wears. As Layla and Russ try to navigate their new relationship, families, danger, and secrets work against them at every turn. Can they find a true happily-ever-after when they are surrounded by lies? Leading Man Olympus heartthrob Nick Thurston is a leading man with a problem. His new play opens in a month and when it comes to the pivotal waltz scene, he can't lead. Ashleigh Jessup needs to find a new building to take her booming dance studio to the next level. She doesn't have time for a private student, but she'll make an exception to earn extra money for her down payment. Things heat up on the dance floor and between the sheets, but when past relationships intrude on the present, Nick and Ashleigh must decide if their future is worth a fight. It Girl Sean Glenn fell for Caitlin the first time he saw her, almost a year ago. Now that the rising star is working on his show, he could finally have a shot with her, if it weren't for his well-known history as a player. Entertainer Caitlin Kelly has spent the last decade taking every job she could get. When her new role on a hit show brings fame and a potential real-life love interest, she has to make some serious choices about her priorities. While Caitlin is torn about decisions the spotlight forces on her, especially those regarding Sean, the actor is suffering his own problems with stardom. Sean finds himself in a stalker's sights, and the safest place for Caitlin may be far away from him. Is love strong enough to keep them together? Action Hero Nobody in Hollywood takes cable television star Glinda Crawford seriously, and that's not going to change with her next movie, which has descended into a cheesy flick about rabid, cyborg, panda assassins. Mike Mosley has leveraged his teen-age TV heartthrob days into a successful adult acting career, but the first week on the set of his new movie with his Olympus co-star Glinda has him second-guessing everything: his plans, his single status, and just how dangerous robot pandas can be. When script shenanigans spill into the real world, the attraction Glinda and Mike have been faking turns into a hot, real-life adventure. If they can survive this movie, they can survive anything together. However, the shocking finale surprises them both.

Drawing on new archival research into Hollywood production history and detailed analysis of individual films, Hollywood and the Invention of England examines the surprising affinity for the English past in Hollywood cinema. Stubbs asks why Hollywood filmmakers have so frequently drawn on images and narratives depicting English history, and why films of this type have resonated with audiences in America. Beginning with an overview of the cultural interaction between American film and English historical culture, the book proceeds to chart the major filmmaking cycles which characterise Hollywood's engagement with the English past from the 1930s to the present, assessing the value of English-themed films in the American film industry while also placing them in a broader historical context.

A fun but informative look at Hollywood’s more-than-a century long love affair with historical figures, events, and places, this book delves into what really happened in history, as opposed to the Hollywood interpretation of events, and reveals why the movies don’t usually reflect the reality of our known history.

This wide-ranging text is one of the first to look in detail at some of the principal genres, cycles and trends in Hollywood's output during the last two decades. It includes analysis of such films as Sense and Sensibility, Grifters, The Mask, When Harry Met Sally, Pocahontas, Titanic, Basic Instinct, Coppola's Dracula, and Malcolm X.

Do Jane Austen novels truly celebrate—or undermine—romance and happy endings? How did Jane Austen become a cultural icon for fairy-tale endings when her own books end in ways that are rushed, ironic, and reluctant to satisfy readers' thirst for romance? In Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness, Austen scholar Inger Sigrun Bredkjær Brodey journeys through the iconic novelist's books in the first full-length study of Austen's endings. Through a careful exploration of Austen's own writings and those of the authors she read during her lifetime—as well as recent cultural reception and adaptations of her novels—Brodey examines the contradictions that surround this queen of romance. Brodey argues that Austen's surprising choices in her endings are an essential aspect of the writer's own sense of the novel and its purpose. Austen's fiercely independent and deeply humanistic ideals led her to develop a style of ending all her own. Writing in a culture that set a monetary value on success in marriage and equated matrimony with happiness, Austen questions these cultural norms and makes her readers work for their comic conclusions, carefully anticipating and shaping her readers' emotional involvement in her novels. Providing innovative and engaging readings of Austen's novels, Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness traces her development as an author and her convictions about authorship, novels, and the purpose of domestic fiction. In a review of modern film adaptions of Austen's work, the book also offers new interpretations while illustrating how contemporary ideas of marriage and happiness have shaped Austen's popular currency in the Anglophone world and beyond.