{"id":623,"date":"2019-07-02T15:11:57","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T15:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbc.sllf.qmul.ac.uk\/?page_id=623"},"modified":"2019-07-03T08:24:53","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T08:24:53","slug":"focus-on-james-mason","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lbc.sllf.qmul.ac.uk\/?page_id=623","title":{"rendered":"Focus on James Mason"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Upturned Glass (Lawrence Huntington, 1947)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Focus on James Mason<\/h1>\n

Birkbeck Cinema, Gordon Square, London, 26 May 2018<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

This symposium explored the work and career of James Mason and marked the publication of a new study of the actor. A leading star of British and Hollywood cinema during the 1940s and 1950s, Mason had a long and diverse career. His early British success in such Gainsborough Studio melodramas as The Man in Grey\u00a0<\/em>and The Wicked Lady\u00a0<\/em>established his identification with cruel and sensual villainy, an image he later sought to escape in America. While never achieving the conventional leading man status he aspired to, Mason achieved international success in such later roles as the tragic, self-destructive Norman Maine in A Star is Born\u00a0<\/em>and the predatory Humbert Humbert in Lolita<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The event began with a presentation by Adrian Garvey, Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck, on Mason\u2019s work in film noir\u00a0<\/em>in both Britain and Hollywood. Drawing on such examples as Odd Man Out<\/em>, The Upturned Glass<\/em>and North by Northwest<\/em>, this talk considered the actor\u2019s frequent association with the noir <\/em>archetype of the homme fatal<\/em>, a charismatic and alluring figure associated with danger and deathliness.<\/p>\n

This talk was followed by a screening of The Reckless Moment<\/em>, one of the actor\u2019s first Hollywood films and the second of his collaborations with the auteur\u00a0<\/em>Max Ophuls. A fusion of film noir and melodrama, the film shows middle class American family life polluted by crime and violence, as Mason\u2019s character, the blackmailer James Donnelly, invades the respectable world of Lucia Harper over her daughter\u2019s relationship with a small time criminal. This was a rare opportunity to see the film on 35mm, and for many in the audience it was a revelation on a big screen. The screening was followed by a discussion of the film and Mason\u2019s wider career, which was led by Adrian Garvey and Sarah Thomas of the University of Liverpool.<\/p>\n

The final presentation was given by Sarah Thomas, author of the recently published James Mason<\/em>, a volume in the BFI Film Stars series of monographs. Sarah\u2019s focus was on the underexamined and undervalued latter period of the actor\u2019s film career, from the early 1960s until his death in 1984, when he worked extensively as a character actor in American and European cinema. Focussing on two examples, The Deadly Affair <\/em>and The Flower in His Mouth<\/em>, Sarah offered detailed performance analysis to consider his complex representation of ageing masculinity in roles which emphasised compromise, corruption and perversity.The event concluded with a reception to celebrate the publication of Sarah\u2019s book, with a toast given by the BFI series\u2019 co-editor, Martin Shingler of the University of Sunderland.<\/p>\n

The symposium was organised by Birkbeck Institute of the Moving Image and supported by Living British Cinema. Adrian and Sarah would like to thank Michael Temple and Matthew Barrington of BIMI and LBC\u2019s Lucy Bolton for all their help and support.<\/span><\/p>\n

The day\u2019s presentations and discussions were recorded for inclusion on a Blu-ray edition of The Reckless Moment<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>which was released in May 2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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  Focus on James Mason Birkbeck Cinema, Gordon Square, London, 26 May 2018   This symposium explored the work and career of James Mason and marked the publication of a new study of the actor. A leading star of British and Hollywood cinema during the 1940s and 1950s, Mason had a long and diverse career. … <\/p>\n

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