In The Shadowgraph James Cihlar explores the ways images, performances, and memories shape and inform LGBTQ+ identity. Golden-age Hollywood cinema--in particular the career of fiercely independent actress Barbara Stanwyck--provides the screen on which Cihlar projects characters and stories bravely, even defiantly, performed. Cihlar's commentary on individual films--as well as on human experience and desire--is intense, smart, and right on target.