Localizing Sarah Bernhardt: exploring celebrity reception in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum by Dr Victoria Duckett

This report explores questions raised by materials found in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, Exeter. It asks: What can late nineteenth and early twentieth century intervisual culture reveal about theatrical celebrity in the nascent cinema? Can we learn about networks of transnational exchange between famous European actresses and local UK audiences through a study of film ephemera? Can the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum give me insight into the fluid and overlapping relationship between the late nineteenth century theatre, early film, and celebrity female actresses? In other words, is there room for exploration in the collection that does not focus on male technological invention, the colonial reach of lecture circuits, and/or the historic significance of (often male) film and television directors