American film history. [1], Origins to 1960

American Film History......Page 3
The Editors......Page 4
Contents......Page 7
Acknowledgments......Page 14
Preface......Page 15
 Notes......Page 16
Part I Origins to 1928......Page 19
 1 Setting the Stage......Page 21
  The Nickelodeon Era......Page 22
  Censorship Battles......Page 24
  The Industry......Page 25
  Genres and Stars......Page 26
  Hollywood and World Cinema......Page 29
  The Jazz Age On-Screen– Inside and Outside of Hollywood......Page 30
  Newsreels......Page 31
  Animation......Page 32
  The Coming of Sound to the Cinema......Page 33
  References......Page 34
 2 D. W. Griffith and the Development of American Narrative Cinema......Page 36
  Griffiths Move to Biograph: An Industry in Flux......Page 38
  Storytelling Challenges and Stylistic Strategies......Page 39
  1908–1909: Shaping a Story......Page 40
  1910–1911: An Increasingly Confident Style......Page 43
  1912–1913: Refinement and Reconfiguration......Page 47
  References......Page 52
 3 Women and the Silent Screen......Page 54
  Exhibitors, Moviegoers, and Fans: “Remember the 83%!”......Page 55
  Filmmakers, Stars, and Extras: Women at Work in Early Hollywood......Page 56
  Critics, Writers, and Tastemakers: Film Culture as a Feminine Sphere......Page 63
  Censors, Reformers, and Educators: “Ultimately a Womans Responsibility”......Page 65
  Conclusion: “History Has Not Been Kind”......Page 68
  References......Page 69
 4 African-Americans and Silent Films......Page 72
  Early Background: Vaudeville, Blackface Minstrelsy, and Film......Page 73
  Story Films, Melodrama, and Uplift......Page 76
  White-Owned Race Film Companies: Competition and Collaboration......Page 80
  The Minors: Lesser-Known Race Film Companies......Page 82
  The End: The Coming of Sound......Page 85
  References......Page 86
 5 Chaplin and Silent Film Comedy......Page 88
  The Tramp and Chaplins Rise to Stardom......Page 90
  From Willie Work to the Glasses Character: Harold Lloyd......Page 92
  A Calm Demeanor Beneath a Porkpie Hat: Buster Keaton......Page 96
  City Lights: A Farewell to Silent Film Comedy......Page 100
  References......Page 102
  Two Directors and the Rise of the Feature Film......Page 103
  Cecil B. DeMille: The Genius of Jazz-Age Hokum......Page 104
  Erich von Stroheim: The Genius Hollywood Loved to Hate......Page 110
  References......Page 115
 7 The Star System......Page 117
  Larger-than-Life Figures......Page 120
  Reinventing the Star System......Page 122
  Making Stars Pay......Page 123
  Coming to Know the Stars......Page 125
  The Publics Loyalties......Page 127
  The Compulsion to Repeat......Page 128
  Notes......Page 130
  References......Page 131
 8 Synchronized Sound Comes to the Cinema......Page 133
  Warner Bros. Gambit: The Vitaphone......Page 135
  Early Sound Cinema: A Multimedia Distraction......Page 137
  The Technical Demands of Sound......Page 140
  Fine-Tuning: Sound-on-Film Processes and Theories of Sound Recording......Page 141
  Conclusion: The Lost Futures of Sync Sound......Page 145
  Notes......Page 146
  References......Page 147
Part II 1929–1945......Page 149
 9 Setting the Stage......Page 151
  The Studio Industry......Page 152
  The Production Code......Page 154
  Studio House Styles, Genres, and Auteurs......Page 155
  Innovations in Film Technology......Page 162
  Documentary Filmmaking......Page 164
  The Film Avant-Garde......Page 165
  Animation......Page 166
  Hollywood and World War II......Page 167
  References......Page 169
 10 Era of the Moguls......Page 171
  The Historical Context......Page 173
  The Industrial Context......Page 174
  The Corporate Context......Page 176
  Censorship and Self-Regulation......Page 177
  Fox and Twentieth Century-Fox......Page 179
  MGM......Page 180
  Paramount Pictures......Page 181
  RKO......Page 183
  Warner Bros.......Page 185
  Columbia Pictures Corporation......Page 186
  Universal Pictures Corporation......Page 187
  United Artists and Hollywoods Semi-Independent Producers......Page 188
  Conclusion......Page 190
  References......Page 191
 11 “As Close to Real Life as Hollywood Ever Gets”......Page 193
  Realism and Editorial Cinema......Page 196
  Fugitive......Page 199
  Burbanking......Page 202
  Hollywoods Popular Front......Page 204
  Black Legion......Page 206
  Conclusion: “An Official Welcome to Ideas”?......Page 210
  Notes......Page 212
  References......Page 216
 12 Early American Avant-Garde Cinema......Page 218
  Early Avant-Garde Exhibition and Reception......Page 219
  Troubled Modernism and the First American Avant-Garde......Page 220
  Representations of Nature in the Early American Avant-Garde......Page 222
  Light, Color, and Form as Subjects of the Early American Avant-Garde......Page 224
  Music, Movement, and Dance in Early Avant-Garde Film......Page 225
  Surrealist and Psychoanalytic Expressions in the Early Avant-Garde......Page 227
  Other Artistic Influences within the Early Avant-Garde......Page 228
  Parody and Metaphor in the Early Avant-Garde......Page 230
  References......Page 232
 13 “Let ’Em Have It”......Page 233
  Enter the All-Talking Gangster......Page 234
  Early 1930s Gangsters: The Public Enemy, Little Caesar, and Scarface......Page 237
  The Post-Gangster Gangster Movie: “G” Men and Bullets or Ballots......Page 240
  The Post-Gangster Gangster Comedy......Page 246
  Conclusion......Page 247
  References......Page 248
 14 Landscapes of Fantasy, Gardens of Deceit......Page 249
  Generic Configurations......Page 250
  Action and Movement, Spectacle and Performance, the Musical and Opera......Page 252
  Personality versus Genre Hybridity: The Adventurer as Character......Page 253
  Colonialism and Its White Heroes......Page 256
  Tarzan......Page 258
  Landscape on Display......Page 260
  The Encounter with the Mythical and the Magical......Page 261
  Notes......Page 263
  References......Page 264
 15 Cinema and the Modern Woman......Page 266
  Cinema, the New Woman, and Urban Modernity......Page 267
  New Women and Visual Attractions......Page 269
  The Age of Order and the Demise of the New Woman......Page 276
  A Notable Exception: Free Women and Screwball Comedies......Page 278
  References......Page 280
  Queerness and National Crisis......Page 282
  Reading the Code......Page 285
  The Question of Subversion......Page 287
  The Question of Difference......Page 289
  Lesbian Representation During a Masculinity Crisis......Page 290
  Establishing Masculinity......Page 292
  Conclusion......Page 296
  References......Page 298
 17 Theres No Place Like Home......Page 300
  Genre and Modernity......Page 302
  The Hollywood Musical and Wartime America......Page 304
  The Wizard of Oz (1939)......Page 305
  Babes in Arms (1939)......Page 307
  Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)......Page 310
  Notes......Page 313
  References......Page 314
 18 The Magician......Page 315
  Deep Focus and Realism......Page 316
  Faust or Quixote?......Page 325
  Notes......Page 327
  References......Page 328
 19 Classical Cel Animation, World War II, and Bambi......Page 329
  Genre and Mode of Production......Page 330
  Disneys Impact on the Art Form......Page 331
  Changes in the 1940s Cartoon: Speed and Sex......Page 332
  Animation and War......Page 333
  Bambi......Page 337
  Anthropomorphism and the Cycle of Life......Page 338
  Dread and Death......Page 340
  The Musical and Domesticated World of Nature......Page 341
  Notes......Page 342
  References......Page 343
 20 Mapping Why We Fight......Page 344
  Where We Fight......Page 348
  Why We Fight and the Postwar World......Page 354
  References......Page 357
  Introduction: The Promise of a Bloodbath......Page 359
  The “Democratic Tradition” Comes to Hollywood......Page 361
  A Cinema of Presence......Page 363
  Bringing the War into the Hollywood Film......Page 366
  Race, the Hollywood Left, and the War Film......Page 368
  Conclusion......Page 372
  Notes......Page 374
  References......Page 377
 22 Hollywood as Historian, 1929–1945......Page 379
  Film versus History?......Page 381
  A Hollywood Cavalcade......Page 384
  Hollywoods Historians in the SoundEra......Page 386
  History, Prestige, and Women Audiences......Page 391
  References......Page 395
Part III 1945–1960......Page 399
 23 Setting the Stage......Page 401
  Television and the Movies......Page 402
  The Paramount Case and HUAC......Page 403
  Postwar Hollywood Genres and Auteurs......Page 404
  Hollywood Realism and a New Method of Acting......Page 412
  The Studio Era in Transition......Page 413
  The End of the Classical Era......Page 414
  References......Page 415
 24 Taking Stock at Wars End......Page 416
  Constructing a Hollywood Prestige Film......Page 419
  The Martha Ivers Marketing Campaign......Page 421
  Film Noirs Male-Centered Narrative Arc......Page 424
  Crime, Gendered Perspective, and the Womans Film......Page 426
  Company Town......Page 430
  Notes......Page 437
  References......Page 439
 25 Natalie Wood......Page 441
  Coming of Age in Hollywood......Page 442
  Sex and the Single Girl......Page 448
  Identity Crisis and Transition: Star and Actor......Page 455
  Identity Crisis and Transition: Hollywood Old and New......Page 457
  Notes......Page 462
  References......Page 464
  Introduction......Page 466
  Close Description......Page 469
  Combining the Personal and the Political......Page 472
  Considerations of Genre......Page 474
  The Story of Cain and Abel......Page 479
  Spectatorial Affect......Page 480
  The Ending......Page 482
  Minor Imperfections......Page 484
  Notes......Page 485
  References......Page 487
 27 The Actors Studio in the Early Cold War......Page 489
  Cold War Winners (the Actors Studio) and Losers (the Actors Lab)......Page 491
  The Actors Studio and Method Acting: From Kazan to Strasberg......Page 493
  Publicity versus Reality......Page 495
  The Method Acting Style and Cold War Conceptions of Character......Page 497
  Polemics and Cultural Context......Page 499
  References......Page 503
 28 Authorship and Billy Wilder......Page 504
  La politique des auteurs......Page 505
  Auteur Theory......Page 506
  Vienna, Berlin, Hollywood......Page 508
  Double Indemnity......Page 509
  Ace in the Hole......Page 511
  The Apartment......Page 514
  Kiss Me, Stupid......Page 517
  References......Page 519
  A Diplomatic Victory?......Page 521
  Neurotic and Paranoid Views of World Affairs......Page 522
  Fortress America?......Page 524
  Foreign Intrigues......Page 526
  Domestic Discontents......Page 528
  Establishing the Industrys Bona Fides......Page 529
  We Will Not Be Driven by Fear into an Age of Unreason......Page 533
  References......Page 537
 30 American Underground Film......Page 538
  Defining “Underground Cinema”......Page 539
  Roots of the Underground Movement......Page 540
  Maya Deren and Her Influence......Page 541
  Kenneth Angers Fireworks and Joseph Cornells Rose Hobart......Page 542
  Jack Smith: His Work and His Influence......Page 543
  Gregory Markopoulos and Ken Jacobs......Page 545
  Pull My Daisy and Beat Cinema......Page 546
  The Cinema of Andy Warhol......Page 547
  Underground Narrative Filmmaking......Page 549
  Experimental Animation: Harry Smith......Page 550
  Adventures in Perception: Marie Menken, Stan Brakhage, and BruceBaillie......Page 551
  References......Page 553
Index......Page 555
EULA......Page 568