Stephen Gundle

Glamour is one of the most tantalizing and bewitching aspects of contemporary culture--but also one of the most elusive. The aura of celebrity, the style of the fashion world, the vanity of the rich and beautiful, and the publicity-driven rites of café society are all imbued with magnetism. But what exactly is glamour? Where does it come from? And can anyone quite capture its magic? From eighteenth-century Paris to Hollywood, New York, and Monte Carlo in the twenty-first, from glamorous fictional characters to iconic figures such as Dietrich and Princess Diana, this book maps the origins of glamour and investigates the forms that it takes in modern times. Author Gundle entertainingly discusses the role of writers, artists, filmmakers and designers, occupations, cities and resorts, and products such as luxury cars and jets, and shows how glamour feeds on the middle-class yearning for a thrilling and colorful life.--From publisher description.

A History

Glamour

On 9 April 1953 an attractive twenty-one-year-old woman went missing from her family home in Rome. Thirty-six hours later her body was found washed up on a neglected beach at Torvaianica, forty kilometres from the Italian capital. Some said it was suicide; others, a tragic accident. But as the police tried to close the case, darker rumours bubbled to the surface. Could it be that the mysterious death of this quiet, conservative girl was linked to a drug-fuelled orgy, involving some of the richest and most powerful men in Italy? It was a crime that the newspapers, the public and one particularly determined detective wanted to get to the heart of. The short life and tragic death of Wilma Montesi was played out against a fascinating backdrop. By the 1950s Italy, in the wake of Mussolini's brutal Fascist government, was in the process of reinventing itself. And with the help of Hollywood stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, it seemed to be succeeding. Suddenly Italy, and Rome in particular, was the most glamorous place on earth. But the murder of Wilma Montesi exposed a darker side of Roman life - a life of corruption, cover-ups and carnal pleasures.In Death and the Dolce Vita the distinguished cultural historian Stephen Gundle uses the gripping and tragic story of Wilma Montesi to explore the fascinating contradictions of this most complex country.

The Dark Side of Rome in the 1950s

Death and the Dolce Vita

This true story of the 1950s murder scandal that rocked Italy portrays the Rome of romance, luxury, and glamour—as well as a city of carnal crimes, sex, drugs, corruption, and cover-ups On April 9, 1953, an attractive 21-year-old woman went missing from her family home in Rome. Thirty-six hours later her body was found washed up on a neglected beach at Torvaianica, 40 kilometers from the Italian capital. Some said it was suicide, others, a tragic accident. But could the mysterious death of this quiet, conservative girl be linked to a drug-fueled orgy involving some of the richest men in Italy? The short life and tragic death of Wilma Montesi was played out against a fascinating backdrop. By the 1950s Italy, in the wake of Mussolini's brutal Fascist government, was in the process of reinventing itself, and with the help of Hollywood stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, it seemed to be succeeding. Suddenly Italy, and Rome in particular, was the most glamorous place on earth. But the murder of Wilma Montesi exposed a darker side of Roman life—a life of corruption, cover-ups, and carnal pleasures.

Simon Parker

First published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

From the Fall of the Berlin Wall to Berlusconi

The New Italian Republic

12 Mussolini as monument: the equestrian statue of the Duce at the Littoriale Stadium in Bologna: Simona Storchi -- 13 Mussolini and the city of Rome: Eugene Pooley -- Part IV After the Fall of Fascism -- 14 The destiny of the art and artefacts: Giuliana Pieri -- 15 The aftermath of the Mussolini cult: history, nostalgia and popular culture: Stephen Gundle -- 16 Mussolini and post-war Italian television: Vanessa Roghi -- Afterword: R.J.B. Bosworth -- Index

Mussolini and the Italians

The Cult of the Duce

Christopher Duggan

Giuliana Pieri

The cult of the Duce is the first book to explore systematically the personality cult of the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. It examines the factors which informed the cult and looks in detail at its many manifestations in the visual arts, architecture, political spectacle and the media. The conviction that Mussolini was an exceptional individual first became dogma among Fascists and then was communicated to the people at large. Intellectuals and artists helped fashion the idea of him as a new Caesar while the modern media of press, photography, cinema and radio aggrandised his every public act. The book considers the way in which Italians experienced the personality cult and analyses its controversial resonances in the postwar period. Academics and students with interests in Italian and European history and politics will find the volume indispensable to an understanding of Fascism, Italian society and culture, and modern political leadership. Among the contributions is an Afterword by Mussolini’s leading biographer, R.J.B. Bosworth.

The cult of the Duce

DIVA study of the cultural policies of the Italian communist party following the collapse of fascismand the struggle with popular consumer culture that led to its demise in 1991./div

The Italian Communists and the Challenge of Mass Culture, 1943–1991

Between Hollywood and Moscow

David Forgacs

From the 1930s to the 50s in Italy commercial cultural products were transformed by new reproductive technologies and ways of marketing and distribution, and the appetite for radio, films, music and magazines boomed. This book uses new evidence to explore possible continuities between the uses of mass culture before and after World War II.

Mass Culture and Italian Society from Fascism to the Cold War

The intersection between film stardom and politics is an understudied phenomenon of Fascist Italy, despite the fact that the Mussolini regime deemed stardom important enough to warrant sustained attention and interference. Focused on the period from the start of sound cinema to the final end of Fascism in 1945, this book examines the development of an Italian star system and evaluates its place in film production and distribution. The performances and careers of several major stars, including Isa Miranda, Vittorio De Sica, Amedeo Nazzari, and Alida Valli, are closely analyzed in terms of their relationships to the political sphere and broader commercial culture, with consideration of their fates in the aftermath of Fascism. A final chapter explores the place of the stars in popular memory and representations of the Fascist film world in postwar cinema.

Film Stardom in Fascist Italy

Mussolini's Dream Factory

A history of glamour examines the phenemenon from its appearance in Paris in the final decades of the eighteenth century through today, discussing the nature of the magical allure, where it comes from, and what exactly is its magical elements.

Glamour is one of the most tantalizing and bewitching aspects of contemporary culture - but also one of the most elusive. The aura of celebrity, the style of the fashion world, the vanity of the rich and beautiful, and the publicity-driven rites of café society are all imbued with its irresistible magnetism. But what exactly is glamour? Where does it come from? How old is it? And can anyone quite capture its magic? Stephen Gundle answers all these questions and more in this first ever history of the phenomenon, from Paris in the tumultuous final decades of the eighteenth century through to Hollywood, New York, and Monte Carlo in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, from Napoleon to Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe, from Beau Brummell to Gianni Versace. Throughout, the book captures the excitement and sex appeal of glamour while exposing its mechanisms and exploring its sleazy and sometimes tragic underside. As Gundle shows, while glamour is exciting and magnetic, its promise is ultimately an illusion that can only ever be partially fulfilled.

Stephen Gundle

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