ABSTRACT
If the 1950s is characterised by the failure of female stars to fulfil their potential, the same cannot be said of the men. Male stars such as Jack Hawkins, Kenneth More, Dirk Bogarde and John Mills dominated British productions and, despite Hollywood’s counter-attractions, held their own in polls and fan surveys, backed up by a host of character actors like Alastair Sim and comedy stars such as Norman Wisdom. While the women were being tested against standards of glamour defined elsewhere, in Hollywood or Europe, the male star image made Britishness a virtue. Their distinctiveness was confirmed by their nationality, and they were praised for their difference from Hollywood’s models.
