A Paul Rotha Reader

by Rotha, Paul; Kruger, Robert; Petrie, Duncan J.

• ISBN13: 9780859896269
• ISBN10: 0859896269
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of Exeter Pr

Summary

Paul Rotha was one of the major figures of the British Documentary Movement, second only to John Grierson. He was also a prolific writer, beginning with his celebrated book The Film Till Now, published in 1930. This volume brings together an edited collection of some of his most important writings and addresses a variety of topics including the theoretical basis of cinema, the emergence of an intellectual film culture in Britain, the state of the British film industry and his own experience of directing and producing films. A Paul Rotha Reader marks a major reappraisal of Rotha's significance as a theorist, critic and advocate for cinema as the most important form of mass communication in the modern world. It will be essential reading for anyone seriously interested in British cinema history

Author Biography

Duncan Petrie is Senior Lecturer in Film in the University of Exeter and Director of the Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture. His books include Creativity and Constraint in the British Film Industry (Macmillan, 1991), New Questions of British Cinema (BFI, 1992), The British Cinematographer (BFI, 1996). Robert Kruger has worked as an editor, director and producer, mainly within the British documentary movement, and set up the TSW Film and Video Archive, now largest regional archive in the country. He started his working life with Paul Rotha's 'Films of Fact' company and edited Rotha's final two films.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Preface
The Early Years	p. 3
Paul Rotha and the Documentary Film	p. 16
Paul Rotha and Film Theory	p. 45
The Art of the Film: Theory and Criticism	p. 87
The Development of the Film as a Means of Expression (1930)	p. 91
Production - Off the Studio Floor (1929)	p. 110
Rhythm - and its Creation (1929)	p. 113
The Magnificence of Fairbanks (1930)	p. 117
City Lights (1931)	p. 120
Earth (1931)	p. 132
Pabst (1967)	p. 144
Some Principles of Documentary (1935)	p. 148
Films of Fact and Fiction (1938)	p. 161
Neo-realism: Bicycle Thieves (1950)	p. 169
Umberto D (1955)	p. 173
Cinema and Britain: Culture and Industry	p. 179
The 'Unusual' Film Movement (1940)	p. 183
Repertory Film Movement (1931)	p. 187
A Museum for the Cinema (1930)	p. 191
The British Film (1930)	p. 195
Korda
1933 Interview	p. 203
1956 Interview	p. 204
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)	p. 205
The Government and the Film Industry (1945)	p. 208
A Plan for British Films (1949)	p. 221
The Problem of the Short Film (1966)	p. 226
Film Practice	p. 233
The Technique of the Art-Director (1928)	p. 235
The Art-Director and the Film Script (1930)	p. 239
Making Contact 1932-33 (1973)	p. 244
Presenting the World to the World (1956)	p. 273
Select Filmography	p. 277
Select Bibliography	p. 283
Index	p. 287
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.