"She Was Just a Chorus Girl, Baby": Nina Mae McKinney and the Hollywood Supernova.
Published In: JCMS: Journal of Cinema & Media Studies, 2024, v. 64, n. 1. P. 115 1 of 3
Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3
Authored By: Payton, Philana 3 of 3
Abstract
This article confronts stardom and its historically inadequate application to Black women performers by centering Nina Mae McKinney, Hollywood's first Black woman lead in a feature-length synchronized sound film. I argue that McKinney's role as Chick in the 1929 film Hallelujah (King Vidor) functioned as the cinematic representation of the Black chorine just as the iconography of the chorus girl became representative of modernity's failures. Juxtaposing Production Code Administration (PCA) archival documents with a close reading of McKinney's performance, I situate McKinney as the progenitor of an alternative framework that redefines Black women's relationship to Holly-wood stardom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Additional Information
- Source:JCMS: Journal of Cinema & Media Studies. 2024/10, Vol. 64, Issue 1, p115
- Document Type:Article
- Subject Area:Film
- Publication Date:2024
- ISSN:2578-4900
- DOI:10.1353/cj.2024.a944428
- Accession Number:181120152
- Copyright Statement:Copyright of JCMS: Journal of Cinema & Media Studies is the property of Society of Cinema & Media Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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