by Lesley Porcelli

Just as some film actors transcend their national origins to become international stars, so, too does A&S scholarship cross country lines to have global influence in many different fields. One recent example this year was when the British Film Institute (BFI), whose mission is film research, preservation, exhibition and education, reached out to associate professor of English and department chair Will Scheibel.

BFI curator Aga Baranowska considered his monograph, Gene Tierney: Star of Hollywood’s Home Front, an “absolutely fascinating” resource that she had relied on during the conception of their latest film series about the actress, and she also wanted to invite Scheibel to record an introduction for the series itself. “I had known of the BFI since my days as a film undergraduate, so it was a dream come true,” says Scheibel.

The film series, “Out of the Shadows: The Films of Gene Tierney” will run at the BFI Southbank theater in London through the end of April and will include many of her films from the 1940s, Tierney’s most prolific decade. Scheibel, who works in the English department’s film and screen studies track, applauds this programming, as it goes beyond just Tierney’s most iconic films, Laura and Leave Her to Heaven, for which she is above all recalled as a great beauty. “She’s not a forgotten star, but a misremembered star,” says Scheibel. Her most famous roles “have locked her into this monolithic way of interpreting her image: beautiful but flat. This series shows how well she adapted to the different demands of the studio system.”

For his introduction, Scheibel focused on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, “a lighter film that shows her gift for comedy but also sensitive drama, within a single performance. My argument is that she had a great flexibility.” Tierney was often compared—negatively—against actresses with strong, identifiable screen personas like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. “She was in the shadow of those stars, and considered a weak actress by comparison,” says Scheibel. “But I believe that the failure to typecast her shows just how adaptable she was—she could disappear into a range of different genres. She had a nuance that her reputation has eclipsed.”

For more information, visit BFI.org.uk. Now through April 30, Scheibel's book, Gene Tierney: Star of Hollywood’s Home Front, is available at 40% off from the publisher’s website with the coupon code RMAR40.