Jane Fonda, IPC Films and Hollywood, 1977-1982 Rafferty, James Michael
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Politicising stardom: Jane Fonda, IPC Films and Hollywood, 1977-1982 Rafferty, James Michael The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author For additional information about this publication click this link. https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/jspui/handle/123456789/675 Information about this research object was correct at the time of download; we occasionally make corrections to records, please therefore check the published record when citing. For more information contact [email protected] 1 Politicising Stardom: Jane Fonda, IPC Films and Hollywood, 1977-1982 James Michael Rafferty Queen Mary, University of London Thesis submitted for the qualification of Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) 2 Abstract This thesis is an empirical analysis of Jane Fonda’s films, stardom, and political activism during the most commercially successful period of her career. At the outset, Fonda’s early stardom is situated in relation to contemporaneous moral and political ideologies in the United States and how she functioned as both an agent and symbol of these ideologies. Her anti-war activism in the early-1970s constituted the apex of Fonda’s radicalisation and the nadir of her popular appeal; a central question of this thesis, therefore, is how her stardom was rehabilitated for the American mainstream to the point of becoming Hollywood’s most bankable actress. As the star and producer of IPC Films, Fonda developed political projects using commercial formats, namely Coming Home (1978), The China Syndrome (1979), Nine to Five (1980), and Rollover (1981). The final IPC film, On Golden Pond (1981), signalled an ideological breach in this political strategy by favouring a familial spectacle, and duly outperformed its predecessors significantly. The first and last chapters of this work provide historical parameters for IPC in Fonda’s career, while the remaining chapters are structured by the conceptual and political aspects of each IPC project. Julia (1977) is discussed as an IPC prototype through its dramatisation of political consciousness. Coming Home, The China Syndrome, Nine to Five, and Rollover all exhibit this motif whereas On Golden Pond employs melodramatic nostalgia. Often discussed reductively as a star symbolising change, this thesis instead uses archival and published sources to analyse Fonda’s individual agency in historical context, as well as the cultural and political impact of her stardom. The IPC enterprise provided cinematic apparatus for Fonda’s political recuperation within the American mainstream, which, more broadly, harboured significance for the nation’s conservative resurgence at the end of the 1970s. 3 Contents List of illustrations 4 Acknowledgements 5 Introduction 6 Chapter One 29 From Rebellion to Recuperation: Jane Fonda’s Stardom and Identity, 1960-1977 Chapter Two 67 Julia (1977): The Year of the Actress Chapter Three 106 Coming Home (1978): Fonda as Auteur Chapter Four 150 The China Syndrome (1979) and Nine to Five (1980): The Commercial-Political Formula of IPC Films Chapter Five 188 Politicising Genre: Jane Fonda and Alan J. Pakula Chapter Six 234 Henry Fonda’s Daughter: On Golden Pond (1981) and the Legacy of Stardom Chapter Seven 288 Rise and Fallout: Fonda and the 1980s Epilogue 334 Bibliography 342 Select Filmography 350 4 List of illustrations 1. Jane Fonda on the cover of American Heritage (July/August 2001) 10 2. Jane Fonda as Barbarella on the cover of Newsweek (13 November 1967) 42 3. Jane Fonda as Barbarella on the cover of Newsweek (13 November 1967) and Jane Fonda on the cover of Life (23 April 1971) 46 4. ‘Movie star Fonda still fights the supermarket life everyone else, with her kids, Vanessa Vadim, 6, and Troy, 2.’ Article photograph, People (23 June 1975) 61 5. Jane Fonda on the cover of Ms. (October 1977) 118 6. Jane Fonda on the cover of People (16 May 1977) 119 7. Jane Fonda on the cover of Us (November 1977) 120 8. Jane Fonda on two covers of Rolling Stone (25 May 1972 and 9 March 1978) 141 9. Theatrical release poster for Coming Home (1978) 145 10. Publicity still for Rollover (1981) 227 11. Jane Fonda and Henry Fonda on the cover of Life (22 February 1960) 242 12. Jane Fonda as Barbarella on the cover of Life (29 March 1968) 246 13. Juxtaposition of Jane Fonda on three covers of Life (22 February 1960, 29 March 1968 and 23 April 1971) 255 14. Theatrical release poster for On Golden Pond (1981) 279 15. Jane Fonda and Henry Fonda on the cover of People (12 April 1982) 285 16. Jane Fonda and Henry Fonda holding his Best Actor Academy Award for On Golden Pond. Article photograph, People (12 April 1982) 285 17. Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden family photograph from Jane Fonda’s Workout Book (1981) 300 18. Album cover of Jane Fonda’s Workout Record (1981) 303 19. Jane Fonda on the cover of Life (May 1986) 331 20. Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden on two covers of People (23 June 1975 and 24 May 1982) 341 5 Acknowledgements My thanks must go first to Dr. Mark Glancy. Dr. Glancy has provided outstanding academic supervision in every respect, from intuitive encouragement to invaluable suggestions for strengthening the breadth and depth of my argument. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Glancy for his generous guidance and constant belief in both the potential of this project and of my abilities as a junior scholar. I am also grateful to Professor Mark White for mentoring my time as a research student. Dr. Glancy and Professor White were an exemplary supervisory team for a project of this kind. I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding me throughout my research, which included a three month research trip to the United States. I am indebted to Barbara Hall at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for allowing me access to the special collections of the Margaret Herrick Library and also wish to acknowledge her assistance in assembling research materials for this and future projects. My thanks also go to Jenny Romero at the Margaret Herrick Library and Lauren Buisson at the Arts Special Collections division of UCLA. At Queen Mary, I am indebted to Professor Mark White and Dr. Sue Harris for a rigorous and supportive upgrade examination, and to Dr. Joel Isaac for giving his time generously as the nominated reader for the Department of History in advance of final submission. Many individuals helped me throughout the process of undertaking this thesis. Special thanks go to Jim Morrow and Paul Tawadrous for providing lodging and companionship in Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively, and I am grateful to Rachel Webb for providing free office space at her own expense. I salute my family for supporting all my hopes for this project, especially my sister Helen, whose belief in my abilities frequently far exceeds my own. Lastly, I thank Silva Neves, my partner in life, for his absolute faith and limitless support. 6 Introduction ‘Stars represent typical ways of behaving, feeling and thinking in contemporary society, ways that have been socially, culturally, historically constructed. Much of the ideological investment of the star phenomenon is in the stars seen as individuals, their qualities seen as natural.’ Richard Dyer, Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1986), pp. 17- 18. ‘It may be more important to accept the viewing assumptions of narrative realism in order to be better able to change the dominant figures of thought, value, and action that are the substance of society.’ Michael Ryan and Douglas Kellner, Camera Politica: The Politics and Ideology of Contemporary Hollywood Film (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988), p. 268. ‘During the 1970s and early 1980s, Americans concluded that capitalist accumulation was not the enemy of doing good but the vehicle for it.’ Bruce J. Schulman, The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society and Politics (New York: The New Press, 2001), p. 257. 7 Scope and aims: Fonda and American national identity Jane Fonda’s stardom denotes numerous values for historians of culture, politics, and Hollywood cinema alike, yet as an historical figure in her own right – beyond functioning as a ‘symbol’ of these histories – Fonda has received relatively less scholarly attention.1 This thesis is an empirical study of Fonda’s stardom and political activism, and focuses particularly on the feature films developed through her production company, IPC.2 Fonda’s role as both producer and star in the filmmaking process is analysed using extensive published sources and recently released archival papers from holdings in London and Los Angeles. This, combined with her forthrightness in constructing a nationwide media presence palatable to the American mainstream, highlights neglected issues of individual agency in relation to her cultural, political, and cinematic identities. Fonda wielded remarkable creative and political influence over the films she produced through IPC while also securing her greatest box office successes; these feats were achieved during a period of American history otherwise synonymous with conservative political progress, epitomised by Ronald Reagan’s landslide presidential election in 1980. Although juxtaposing these phenomena ostensibly reveals an anomalous episode, or suggests Fonda’s success railed against popular sentiment given her openly leftist politics, a correlation nonetheless existed with political implications for both nation and star. As a cinematic enterprise, IPC Films fused commercial form with political content in order for Fonda 1 Fonda receives mention, albeit cursory in some cases, in such diverse titles as David Thomson, The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood (London: Little Brown, 2004); Peter Braunstein and Michael William Doyle (eds.), Imagine Nation: The American Counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s (New York: Routledge, 2001); and Paul Alexander, The Candidate: Behind John Kerry’s Remarkable Run for the White House (New York: Riverhead Books, 2004); this range of subjects alludes to her various identities as a Hollywood star, cultural icon, and American political figure.