American Cinema and Hollywood Critical Approaches

by Hill, John; Gibson, Pamela Church; Dyer, Richard; Kaplan, E. Ann; Willemen, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780198742814
• ISBN10: 0198742819
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-02-17
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

American Cinema and Hollywood provides a clear and authoritative guide to one of the most important areas of film study. Comprehensive and up-to-date, it looks at the history of American cinema, the emergence of the studio system, the key characteristics of Hollywood films, and Hollywood's relationship with both American society and the world beyond. A team of international experts explains the key concepts and arguments involved in the study of Hollywood while selected "readings" show how different critical perspectives apply to individual films. The volume is enhanced by illustrations throughout and learning aids such as chapter summaries and guides to further reading. Ideal for courses in film and media studies, American Cinema and Hollywood is also essential reading for anyone interested in American cinema.

Author Biography

EDITORS
John Hill is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Media and Performance Studies at the University of Ulster at Coleraine
Pamela Church Gibson is a Senior Lecturer in Contextual and Cultural Studies at the London College of Fashion, a constituent college of the London Institute
CONSULTANT EDITORS
Richard Dyer is Professor of Film Studies at the University of Warwick
E. Ann Kaplan teaches in the Department of English at the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook, New York
Paul Willemen is Professor, Department of Media Studies, Napier University, Edinburgh

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	p. ix
List of Illustrations	p. xi
General Introduction	p. xii
American cinema: history, industry, and interpretation	p. 1
American cinema and film history	p. 1
History and cinema technology	p. 12
Hollywood as industry	p. 19
Early American film	p. 29
Classical Hollywood film and melodrama	p. 46
Readings: Casablanca	p. 57
Casablanca	p. 61
Post-classical Hollywood	p. 63
Critical concepts	p. 84
Authorship and Hollywood	p. 84
Reading	p. 99
Genre and Hollywood	p. 101
Reading	p. 113
The star system and Hollywood	p. 116
Politics and society	p. 128
Hollywood film and society	p. 128
Reading: Hollywood and ideology	p. 137
Film policy: Hollywood and beyond	p. 139
Hollywood and the world	p. 145
List of Picture Sources and Readings	p. 156
Index of Selected Names and Film Titles	p. 157
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.