Blue Jeans Stage and Screen. Issue 1 (May 2019)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Blue Jeans Stage and Screen. Issue 1 (May 2019)
- Main Title:
- Blue Jeans Stage and Screen
- Authors:
- Mayer, David
Day-Mayer, Helen - Abstract:
- Scholars of Victorian and Edwardian theatre necessarily piece together their accounts of ephemeral performance through manuscripts, reviews, and other responses preserved in print and visual culture. However, films made between 1895 and 1935 offer frequent, unexpected, and sometimes curiously skewed glimpses of the Victorian and Edwardian stage. This essay focuses on John H. Collins's 1917 silent film adaptation of Blue Jeans, Joseph Arthur's melodrama, popular from its New York debut in 1890. The melodrama is perhaps most famous for 'the great sawmill scene'. This iconic scene, an early example of an episode in which a helpless victim is tied to a board approaching a huge buzz saw, turns a mundane setting into a terrifying site for suspense, violence, and attempted murder. Whilst the film made alterations and abridgements, the overall effect was to preserve the play's distinctive features. Our essay shows how the stage version is preserved within Collins's film adaptation so that the cinematic artefact gives unique access to the Victorian theatrical work. Films not only preserve Victorian forms in modern media and extend the reach of Victorian culture, but also open a new resource and methodology for understanding Victorian and Edwardian theatre.
- Is Part Of:
- Nineteenth century theatre and film. Volume 46:Issue 1(2019)
- Journal:
- Nineteenth century theatre and film
- Issue:
- Volume 46:Issue 1(2019)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 46, Issue 1 (2019)
- Year:
- 2019
- Volume:
- 46
- Issue:
- 1
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2019-0046-0001-0000
- Page Start:
- 59
- Page End:
- 72
- Publication Date:
- 2019-05
- Subjects:
- Melodrama -- early film -- research tool
Performing arts -- History -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Performing arts -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Performing arts -- Social aspects -- Periodicals
Theater -- History -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Theater -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Theater and society -- Periodicals
Drama -- History and criticism -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Silent films -- History and criticism -- Periodicals
306.48409034 - Journal URLs:
- http://journals.mup.man.ac.uk/cgi-bin/MUP?COMval=journal&key=NCTF ↗
http://manchester.metapress.com/content/122708 ↗
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/manup/nttf ↗
http://www.uk.sagepub.com/home.nav ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1177/1748372718791055 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1748-3727
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 10047.xml