Lana Turner as Star (Discussion)

"Four Films of Lana Turner"

Ava Gardner and Lana Turner "embrace".

"Authentic" emotion in The Bad and the Beautiful.

A production still of Turner wearing haute couture in Imitation of Life.

Frame grab from Imitation of Life, in color.

1. Dyer contends that "Turner illustrates three of the ways that stars function cinematically (that is, within the total signifying practice of the cinema industry situated within society as a whole)".
   • What does Dyer mean by "signifying practice"?
   • List those three ways that stars function.
2. What, according to Dyer, is the relationship between glamor and ordinariness?
   • How does the photograph of Ava Gardener and Turner "embracing" illustrate this contrast?
   • How is it expressed in The Bad and the Beautiful?
3. What role does the father play in The B & the B, according to Dyer? How does this relate to the off-screen representation of Turner and her father?
4. In general terms, what does haute couture (pronounce "oht koo-toor") connote? How is this specifically embodied in Turner's image—as Dyer argues regarding the Imitation of Life scene in which she meets David Edwards (Dan O'Herlihy)?
5. What characterizes Turner’s acting style? How is it disrupted by emotions presented as more "authentic" in Imitation of Life and The B & the B?
   • How does Dyer make the case for the "hysterics in the car" scene as "authentic"?
6. How was Turner’s sexy-ordinary contradiction "crystallized" in four "moments" in her early career?

Bibliography

1. Richard Dyer, "Four Films of Lana Turner," Movie 25: 30-52.