A survey of the ways in which women have been represented in British cinema from the 1930s to the end of the 20th century. It analyzes the input women have had on the industry, and charts the difficulties they encountered and the successes they achieved. Using a range of archive and interview material, the author raises the issues of representation and the studio system, and different types of creative control. She also establishes the historically specific nature of the social and sexual fantasies produced by the cinema. The book is written in a lively and confrontational manner and contains some swinging attacks on received opinions about women and the cinema.

Author Biography

Sue Harper is reader in film history at the University of Portsmouth. Her most recent book is Picturing the Past: The Rise and Fall of the British Costume Film.