Now on the Criterion Channel, we’re celebrating three subversive takes on gender and genre fro
Now on the Criterion Channel, we’re celebrating three subversive takes on gender and genre from Golden Age Hollywood’s preeminent woman filmmaker. ✨ In the boy’s club of the Hollywood studio system, Dorothy Arzner stood out as a true original: an openly gay woman director whose career spanned from the silent era into the 1940s. Her fascinating films—often imbued with daring queer and feminist subtexts—were career-launching showcases for some of the era’s most iconic performers: Katharine Hepburn as a daredevil aviator in the outré pre-Code romance CHRISTOPHER STRONG, Rosalind Russell as a ruthless social climber in the delirious melodrama CRAIG’S WIFE, and Lucille Ball as a cynical showgirl in the proto-feminist backstage musical DANCE, GIRL, DANCE. These works, introduced by critic B. Ruby Rich, offer a unique perspective on gender roles rarely seen in classic Hollywood cinema. -- source link
#dorothy arzner#christopher strong#craigs wife#katharine hepburn#rosalind russell#lucille ball#classic hollywood