Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Gérard Philipe est le seul acteur de sa génération, celle émergée à la Libération, à avoir acquis le rang de star. L'objectif de cette thèse est de comprendre l'ampleur du phénomène, comment et pourquoi, lui et pas les autres acteurs. En me référant au contexte de l'époque et inspirée par l'Histoire culturelle et les star studies, je propose l'analyse de sa persona cinématographique, sa construction médiatique, son image d'homme à la ville. Par la suite, j'émets donc l'hypothèse que Gérard Philipe est devenu une star car il a offert une figure nouvelle de masculinité juvénile et engagée, en opposition avec les normes genrées dominantes dans la société et le star-système en France. / After World War II, Gerard Philipe is the only actor of the young generation emerged after the war to become a star. The aim of this thesis is to understand why and how the process took place. Exploring the historic context and inspired by «Histoire culturelle» and the star studies, I try to examine his cinematographic persona, his representation in media, the image of the man in the city. I submit the hypothesis that Gerard Philipe became a star because he offered a figure of young manliness opposed to dominant gender standards in French society and star system.

Partant du constat de l’extraordinaire pérennité de Katharine Hepburn en tant que star hollywoodienne de premier plan, ce travail se propose d’élucider les raisons de ce succès durable en examinant la réception dont l’actrice a fait l’objet aux États-Unis tout au long de sa carrière. À la croisée des star studies et des études de réception, cette étude articule analyse de sa persona (rôles interprétés à l’écran et à la scène, jeu d’actrice et image médiatique) et des traces de sa réception auprès du public états-unien (critiques de professionnels, courriers de fans, sondages, données de box-office, etc.). Grâce à une approche diachronique, les évolutions de son image et de sa réception sont réinscrites dans un contexte socio-historique en perpétuelle évolution, auquel la star a tenté de s’adapter avec plus ou moins de succès suivant les périodes. L’examen des matériaux extra-filmiques participant à la construction de son image ou témoignant de sa réception permettent d’éclairer sous un nouveau jour les performances de Hepburn, analysées dans leur dimension socio-culturelle, esthétique et actorale. Une attention particulière est portée aux dimensions de genre, de classe et de génération de sa persona. / Acknowledging the extraordinary longevity of Katharine Hepburn as a high-profile Hollywood star, this study seeks to shed light on the reasons behind this lasting success by examining her reception in the United States throughout her career. Combining both star studies and reception studies, this thesis articulates the analysis of her persona (her theater and film roles, her acting and media image) with evidence of her reception by the United States audience (critics, fan letters, polls, box-office figures, etc.). Using a diachronic approach, the evolutions of her image and its reception are incorporated within the framework of a socio-historical context in constant evolution, to which Hepburn tried to adapt with differing success depending on the period. The examination of the extra-filmic materials that contribute to her image or testify to her reception allow us to shed new light on Hepburn’s performances, analyzed from a socio-cultural, aesthetic and acting perspective. Special attention is given to the gender, class and age-related dimensions of her persona.

Since performers first became credited for their on-screen work in the early twentieth century, stardom has been understood as a primary factor distinguishing cinema as a unique, discrete art form. Much of the work done by canonical film scholars emphasizes film as a continuous medium defined by relation, as well as the irreducible value of human presence in creating meaning that transcends the boundaries of film. These are important cornerstones of star studies, a subfield within film studies that interrogates how film performers accrue and project meaning and value. They also isolate continuity as a singular tool for developing approaches to understanding cultural and ideological value of film stars – determining why certain stars are such powerful commodities and addressing the deceptively elusive question of what they actually mean. Through careful inspection of the transactions between film production and culture, my dissertation – “He’ll Just Be Paul Newman Anyway: Film Continuity and the Star Image” – pursues two primary goals regarding the cultivation of stardom and our understanding of star persona. First, I reestablish the star image as a discrete force, informed by on-screen performances and off-screen biography but remaining distinct from both (following the framework of French film theorist Edgar Morin). I attempt to disentangle these figures, asserting star image – the intangible, ethereal collection of values, expectations, and investment constituted from both performer and character – as the central mechanism for interpreting human presence. Second, I explore the notion that narrow range of performance and on-screen consistency are more essential to developing stardom than the revelation of the performer’s actual self. This position applies both to the production of stars and to our critical understanding of them, creating compelling connections to central debates of film studies. In doing so, my goal is to reassert the star as the most valuable and definitive source of meaning in film. The combination of Paul Newman’s on-screen continuity, enduring persona, and career trajectory (rising to stardom during the fall of the studio system) makes him uniquely valuable for understanding the evolution of film stardom and encourages new perspective on the development and deployment of star image. Moreover, Newman is an ideal subject for investigating the star image as a discrete force and the function of range in its development. Through critical examination of his on-screen tendency to “go his own way,” I demonstrate the immense value stars can offer to our understanding of the moving image and surrounding culture(s). Moreover, in asserting star persona as a discrete force integral to interpreting the meaning of human presence in film, I also cultivate a contextual understanding of the rebel archetype in response to changing dominant cultural ideologies. In doing so, my work directly addresses valuable questions essential to and extending beyond film studies: why stardom is essential to defining film and understanding how it signifies, how star persona is accumulated and deployed in individual films and across a whole career, and what meanings are generated and revealed by the star as an projection of social values and ideals.

This thesis traces the construction and evolution of the star text of Laurence Olivier as it relates to cinematic Shakespeare production and formulations of nationhood in 1940s and 1950s Britain. Organised around an examination of Olivier’s four Shakespearean film adaptations (including the unmade Macbeth), the project focuses on the ways in which the concept of 'Shakespeare' – signalled throughout by its italicisation – is appropriated through Olivier’s image in relation to the industrial and cultural contexts of the wartime and post-war British film industry. It also examines articulations of Shakespearean selfhood and related reappropriations of the filmic image in Olivier’s life writing, exploring how Olivier engages with his own star persona. In examining the relationship that exists between broader industrial-cultural appropriations of 'Shakespeare' and a sense of a star’s personal connection with the national poet, the thesis explores (in addition to the film texts) extratextual materials such as fan letters, publicity documents, theatre and film ephemera, magazine interviews, newspaper criticism, industrial reports and personal and professional correspondence in order to interrogate the national-cultural function of a star text whose image is aligned to 'Shakespeare'. This thesis seeks to make an original contribution to Shakespeare on screen studies by constituting the fullest study of Laurence Olivier’s cinematic Shakespearean career to date. In introducing and analysing previously unseen archival material (including screenplays and shooting scripts relating to the unmade Macbeth), the thesis informs our understanding of the evolving history of British Shakespeare production and, therefore, of the history of Shakespeare on screen. Rethinking Olivier’s cultural currency as a Shakespearean star in 2012 and in the space of the archive, the thesis also contributes to the theoretical thinking underpinning Shakespearean performance studies and archival studies. Finally, the thesis opens the way for further considerations as to how (and to what effect) the Shakespearean star operates as a national and transnational phenomenon.

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Cette thèse explore les masculinités comme un terrain pluridisciplinaire pour penser les rapportsde pouvoir. A partir d’un rapprochement entre les films musicaux et les mélodrames réalisés parJacques Demy et Vincente Minnelli, ce travail examine les performances masculines dans lecontexte de l’après-guerre. Cette période de transformations sociales voit l’avènementd’une culture filmique transatlantique qui interroge et remet en cause les normes liées au genreet à la sexualité. Articulant approches esthétique et actorale, l’étude de la mise en scène met aujour la production de discours genrés ambivalents, historicisés en fonction des spécificités socio-culturelles propres aux cadres de production hollywoodien et français. Le film musical et lemélodrame, dans leur esthétique camp, se révèlent des lieux de négociations identitaires où seconstruit un rapport inédit au politique. On montre ici que les deux cinéastes, réunis par leur stylemélodramatique analogue, imaginent et rêvent des modèles de masculinités alternatives fondéessur des valeurs empathiques. Devant la caméra, la vulnérabilité, les émotions et les grandssentiments deviennent des armes politiques pour refonder et réinventer la communauté. / This thesis explores masculinities as a multidisciplinary field for thinking power relations. By connecting musical films and melodramas by Jacques Demy and Vincente Minnelli, this work examines male performances in the post-war context. This period of social transformations has given rise to the emergence of a transatlantic film culture that questions and challenges normsrelated to gender and sexuality. Articulating aesthetic and cultural studies approaches, the study of mise en scène brings to light the production of ambivalent gendered discourses, historicized according to the specific socio-cultural aspect of Hollywood and French film production environments. Musical films and melodramas, through their camp aesthetics, reveal themselvesas spaces of identity negotiation where an unprecedented rapport with politics is constructed. Both filmmakers, united by their similar melodramatic style, imagine and dream about models of alternative masculinities based on empathic values. In front of the camera, vulnerability, emotions and strong feelings become political weapons to refound and reinvent the community.

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