Columbia Companion to American History of Film

by Rollins, Peter C.

• ISBN13: 9780231112222
• ISBN10: 023111222X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-03-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

American history has always been an irresistible source of inspiration for filmmakers, and today, for good or ill, most Americans'sense of the past likely comes more from Hollywood than from the works of historians. In important films such as The Birth of a Nation(1915), Roots(1977), Apocalypse Now(1979), and Saving Private Ryan(1998), how much is entertainment and how much is rooted in historical fact? In The Columbia Companion to American History on Film,more than seventy scholars consider the gap between history and Hollywood. They examine how filmmakers have presented and interpreted the most important events, topics, eras, and figures in the American past, often comparing the film versions of events with the interpretations of the best historians who have explored the topic. Divided into eight broad categories -- Eras; Wars and Other Major Events; Notable People; Groups; Institutions and Movements; Places; Themes and Topics; and Myths and Heroes -- the volume features extensive cross-references, a filmography (of discussed and relevant films), notes, and a bibliography of selected historical works on each subject. The Columbia Companion to American History on Filmis also an important resource for teachers, with extensive information for research or for course development appropriate for both high school and college students. Though each essay reflects the unique body of film and print works covering the subject at hand, every essay addresses several fundamental questions: What are the key films on this topic? What sources did the filmmaker use, and how did the film deviate (or remain true to) its sources? How have film interpretations of a particular historical topic changed, and what sorts of factors -- technological, social, political, historiographical -- have affected their evolution? Have filmmakers altered the historical record with a view to enhancing drama or to enhance the "truth" of their putative message?

Author Biography

Peter C. Rollins is Regents Professor of English and American Film Studies at Oklahoma State University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
Eras
The Puritan Era and the Puritan Mind	3	(7)
The 1890s	10	(5)
The 1920s	15	(7)
The 1930s	22	(7)
The 1960s	29	(8)
The 1970s	37	(5)
The 1980s	42	(7)
Wars and Other Major Events
The American Revolution	49	(9)
The Civil War and Reconstruction	58	(11)
The Cold War	69	(12)
The Korean War	81	(5)
The Mexican-American War and the Spanish-American War	86	(7)
The Vietnam War	93	(10)
Westward Expansion and the Indian Wars	103	(6)
World War I	109	(7)
World War II: Documentaries	116	(9)
World War II: Feature Films	125	(14)
Notable People
The Antebellum Frontier Hero	139	(9)
Christopher Columbus	148	(5)
The Founding Fathers	153	(8)
Indian Leaders	161	(8)
The Kennedys	169	(6)
Abraham Lincoln	175	(5)
Richard Nixon	180	(4)
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt	184	(7)
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig	191	(5)
Harry S. Truman	196	(2)
George Washington	198	(9)
Groups
African Americans After World War II	207	(11)
Arab Americans	218	(7)
Asian Americans	225	(9)
Catholic Americans	234	(7)
Children and Teenagers in the Twentieth Century	241	(8)
Irish Americans	249	(7)
Italian Americans	256	(7)
Jewish Americans	263	(6)
Mexican Americans	269	(8)
Native Americans	277	(11)
Radicals and Radicalism	288	(9)
Robber Barons, Media Moguls, and Power Elites	297	(6)
Women from the Colonial Era to 1900	303	(7)
Women in the Twentieth Century	310	(9)
Institutions and Movements
Baseball	319	(7)
City and State Government	326	(5)
Civil Rights	331	(13)
Congress	344	(8)
The Family	352	(11)
Football	363	(11)
Journalism and the Media	374	(9)
The Labor Movement and the Working Class	383	(9)
Militias and Extremist Political Movements	392	(6)
The Political Machine	398	(4)
The Presidency After World War II	402	(7)
Private Schools	409	(4)
Public High Schools	413	(8)
Places
The Midwest	421	(9)
The ``New'' West and the New Western	430	(7)
New York City	437	(10)
The Sea	447	(10)
The Small Town	457	(5)
The South	462	(11)
Space	473	(7)
Suburbia	480	(8)
Texas and the Southwest	488	(9)
The Trans-Appalachian West	497	(12)
Themes and Topics
Crime and the Mafia	509	(9)
Drugs, Tobacco, and Alcohol	518	(9)
Elections and Party Politics	527	(7)
Feminism and Feminist Films	534	(7)
Railroads	541	(4)
Sexuality	545	(7)
Slavery	552	(9)
Myths and Heroes
The American Adam	561	(6)
The American Fighting Man	567	(5)
Democracy and Equality	572	(6)
The Frontier and the West	578	(5)
Hollywood's Detective	583	(7)
The Machine in the Garden	590	(6)
Success and the Self-Made Man	596	(7)
List of Contributors	603	(4)
Index	607