Unveiling Hollywood's silver screen partner: public lecture explores movie magazines and their enduring influence

The public lecture by Professor Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Dean of the School of Art and Media at the University of Brighton, will explore the evolution of movie magazines from the very first publication in 1911. The talk will explore how these magazines, with their vibrant visuals and focus on Hollywood glamour, captivated audiences, particularly in America.

In “Movie magazines and Hollywood: An interdependent history”, Professor McDonald will trace these magazines’ roots as cheap options for leisurely reading of celebrity gossip through to their domination of the newsstands with over 20 titles available weekly, monthly, quarterly and as annuals by the 1930s.

The lecture will analyse why the wide proliferation of titles did not alter the contents of movie magazines which remained fairly homogenous, concentrating on star gossip, providing reviews, news, competitions, and readers’ letters.

Professor Tamar Jeffers McDonald

Professor Jeffers McDonald said: “My lecture is focusing on the different ways Hollywood movies used the magazines – as symbolism, as forecast – and how these depictions are not as simple as ‘product placement’. In the days when even a hit film would be out for three weeks or so in the big metropolitan areas, and much less time elsewhere, before vanishing off the screens basically forever, movie magazines fulfilled a key function in keeping up interest in movie stars until their next film could appear.”

She added that: “Mostly the relationship between the movie magazines and Hollywood studios was cordial: both needed the other industry to function and was aware of this. Occasionally, however, sniping went on from one side or the other, and occasionally the relationship got too close, with lines blurred between magazine ‘reporting’ and just giving free press.”

This presentation explores the often-fraught relationship between the movie magazines and the Hollywood studios; although they frequently managed to operate symbiotically, the relationship between them was ripe for exploitation.

Professor Jeffers McDonald approaches the conversation by reversing the usual arrangement, in which magazines discussed films. She examines how Hollywood movies from movies from the 1930s depicted movie magazines, revealing that this exploration provides a means to gauge relations between these two co-dependent and occasionally warring elements of the Hollywood film industry.

The details of the event are as follows:

Wednesday 22 May 2024 at 6.30pm

Sallis Benney Theatre
University of Brighton
58-67 Grand Parade
Brighton, BN2 0JY

Book a place for free online.