Books by Sarah Thomas

Examining films from several genres by key directors of the Transition, Inhabiting the In-Between explores how the child is represented as both subject and object, self and other, and consistently cast in a position between categories or binary poles.

This engaging critical study moves beyond the image of the brooding, destructive man at odds with employers and his own star status to explore the complexity of Mason's career with an analysis framed through three strands central to understanding stardom: the star persona, industry and power, and screen performance.

Peter Lorre described himself as merely a 'face maker'. His own negative attitude also characterizes traditional perspectives which position Lorre as a tragic figure within film history: the promising European artist reduced to a Hollywood gimmick, unable to escape the murderous image of his role in Fritz Lang's M. This book shows that the life of Peter Lorre cannot be reduced to a series of simplistic oppositions. It reveals that, despite the limitations of his macabre star image, Lorre's screen performances were highly ambitious, and the terms of his employment were rarely restrictive. Lorre's career was a complex negotiation between transnational identity, Hollywood filmmaking practices, the ownership of star images and the mechanics of screen performance.