In this Book
- The Salome Ensemble: Rose Pastor Stokes, Anzia Yezierska, Sonya Levien, and Jetta Goudal
- Book
- 2016
- Published by: Syracuse University Press
- Series: New York State Series
The Salome Ensemble probes the entangled lives, works, and passions of a political activist, a novelist, a screenwriter, and a movie actress who collaborated in 1920s New York City. Together they created the shape-shifting, genre-crossing Salome of the Tenements, first a popular novel and then a Hollywood movie. The title character was a combination Cinderella and Salome like the women who conceived her. Rose Pastor Stokes was the role model. Anzia Yezierska wrote the novel. Sonya Levien wrote the screenplay. Jetta Goudal played her on the silver screen.
Ginsberg considers the women individually and collectively, exploring how they shaped and reflected their cultural landscape. These European Jewish immigrants pursued their own versions of the American dream, escaped the squalor of sweatshops, knew romance and heartache, and achieved prominence in politics, fashion, journalism, literature, and film.
Table of Contents
- Illustrations
- pp. ix-x
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xiii-xvi
- Introduction
- pp. xvii-xxvi
- 1. Character Building
- pp. 1-22
- 3. Anzia Yezierska Was between the Lines
- pp. 70-118
- 4. Sonya Levien Was behind the Scenes
- pp. 119-158
- 5. Jetta Goudal Was the Forbidden Woman
- pp. 159-207
- 6. Novel Approaches
- pp. 208-249
- 7. Moving Pictures
- pp. 250-263
- Chronology
- pp. 277-280
- Bibliography
- pp. 317-334
- About the Author
- pp. 365-366