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ROMY SCHNEIDER: A Star Across Europe
by Marion Hallet

ROMY SCHNEIDER: A Star Across Europe by Marion Hallet

April 2022 - 280 pages

The beautiful Austrian­ born Romy Schneider was one of Europe’s most popular film stars and a cult figure from the moment she played ‘Sissi’ (Empress Elisabeth of Austria) in the hugely popular Sissi trilogy in the mid-1950s. Although Schneider died in 1982 she continues to be one of the most popular stars in European cinema history. This book analyses her impressive career so as to place her within a range of European female stars, particularly Germanic and French, who defined cultural and ideological images of femininity on European screens. Schneider, who worked and was celebrated in Austria, Germany, Hollywood, and France, represents a fascinating case study to explore key questions of trans-European and transnational stardom, and Marion Hallet makes a valuable intervention in this growing field within star studies. Romy Schneider: A Star Across Europe shows how the representations of women stemming from Schneider’s star image supported specific and shifting cultural and social agendas regarding femininity, from the 1950s to the 1980s. This book explores the significance of Schneider’s image both when she was working and since, within Western European film culture and celebrity culture.

Schneider, who worked and was celebrated in Austria, Germany, Hollywood, and France, represents a fascinating case study to explore key questions of trans-European and transnational stardom, and Marion Hallet makes a valuable intervention in this growing field within star studies. Romy Schneider: A Star Across Europe shows how the representations of women stemming from Schneider’s star image supported specific and shifting cultural and social agendas regarding femininity, from the 1950s to the1980s. This book explores the significance of Schneider’s image both when she was working and since, within Western European film culture and celebrity culture.

About the author:

Marion Hallet has a PhD in Film Studies from King’s College London, UK. She specializes in star studies, gender representations, popular films and francophone cinema. She is a Scientific Fellow at the University of Namur, Belgium, and a political advisor for higher education and research in francophone Belgium. She has published articles in French Screen Studies, Genre en séries and is a regular contributor to the feminist site le genre et l’écran.