Belinda Lee: fame and female identity in British and Continental cinema of the 1950s
This thesis charts the film career of British actress Belinda Lee to present a study deliberating on fame and female identity in British and Continental cinema of the 1950s. Changes in societal values and Lee’s screen roles are juxtaposed to indicate many of the populist and progressive trends of the era and the ways in which these may have influenced her career opportunities. The research is presented within a biographical framework divided into four chapters. Each chapter reflects on sociological and financial influences affecting cinema during this period and relates this to the films Belinda Lee appears in, many of which are new to film studies. Chapter One describes Lee’s early training in drama school and theatre, and her first film roles in Anglo/American thrillers and British comedy. Her subsequent contract with a major film company of the period, the Rank Organisation, is described in relation to the company’s structure and ideology. Chapter Two expands on this to discuss the problems of gender representation in the media as Lee is groomed and marketed by Rank for film roles as Britain’s latest sex symbol. Chapter Three presents evidence of the growing influence of a youth and working-class audience in the mid to late 1950s, and Lee’s first starring role in an early ‘social problem’ drama. Chapter Four gives a brief account of Lee’s departure from Rank and her move to Italy to appear in Continental film. Here, as the glamorous foreigner, the final stages of her career are charted within a brief description of the development of Italian film during the 1950s. Opportunities are taken throughout this thesis to discuss the early work of veterans who were involved in film-making during the 1950s, the problems of employment as a contract artist in the studio system, and the representation of women in a male oriented film industry. As the era progressed, a shift towards greater affluence for the masses served to liberate British society from the strictures of post-war austerity. This thesis demonstrates, by charting one woman’s career in film during the 1950s, how such social change was being reflected in cinematic entertainment.
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