Fame Amid the Ruins

Italian cinema gave rise to a number of the best-known films of the postwar years, from Rome Open City to Bicycle Thieves. Although some neorealist film-makers would have preferred to abolish stars altogether, the public adored them and producers needed their help in relaunching the national film industry. This book explores the many conflicts that arose in Italy between 1945 and 1953 over stars and stardom, offering intimate studies of the careers of both well-known and less familiar figures, shedding new light on the close relationship forged between cinema and society during a time of political transition and shifting national identities.

Stephen Gundle is Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick. He is the author of several books and many articles about modern and contemporary Italy. His most recent volumes are Death and the Dolce Vita: The Dark Side of Rome in the 1950s (Canongate, 2011) and Mussolini’s Dream Factory: Film Stardom in Fascist Italy (Berghahn, 2013).

“This elegantly produced [and exceptionally attractive] book, complete with a lavish choice of illustrations all supplied by the author, confirms Stephen Gundle’s status as the leading historian of Italian cinema in the English-speaking world.” • Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television

“This book will be of great interest to scholars of Italian cinema. Its clear and direct prose makes it particularly suitable for students.”  • European History Quarterly

“Fame amid the Ruins is a comprehensive study with an impressive scope and great relevance for questions of history, politics, and intellectual life in postwar Italy. In clear and direct prose, it encompasses a variety of important topics and approaches, including individual biographies, stars’ roles within the wider industry, performance, and film style.” • Louis Bayman, University of Southampton

“Stephen Gundle admirably devotes close and sustained attention to the stardom phenomenon by providing profiles of stars rarely examined and, most importantly, by looking at the sum of their impact on Italian culture. This is a tour de force for its range and argumentative depth.” • Giorgio Bertellini, author of The Divo and The Duce: Promoting Film Stardom and Political Leadership in 1920s America