Larger Than Life offers a comprehensive view of the star system in 1950s Hollywood and also in-depth discussions of the decade's major stars, including Montgomery Clift, Judy Holliday, Jerry Lewis, James Mason, Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Jayne Mansfield, and Audrey Hepburn.

Introduction / R. Barton Palmer
Montgomery Clift : Hollywood pseudohomosexual / Tison Pugh, Barry Sandler
Charlton Heston and Gregory Peck : organization men / R. Barton Palmer
James Stewart and James Dean : the darkness within / Murray Pomerance
James Mason : a star is born bigger than life / Amy Lawrence
Reflexivity and metaperformance : Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Kim Novak / Matthew Solomon
Audrey Hepburn : the film star as event / William Brown
Doris Day and Rock Hudson : the girl next door and the brawny he-man / Foster Hirsch
Marlon Brando : actor, star, liar / Susan White
Jerry Lewis : from Hamlet to clown / Frank Krutnik
Judy Holliday : the hungry star / Pamela Robertson Wojcik
What a swell party this was : Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra / Adrienne L. McLean
In the wings / R. Barton Palmer

R. BARTON PALMER is the Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature at Clemson University, where he also directs the film studies program. He is the author, editor, or general editor of numerous books on various literary and cinematic subjects, including Traditions in World Cinema (Rutgers University Press).