Post-Classical Hollywood

by Langford, Barry

• ISBN13: 9780748638581
• ISBN10: 074863858X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-04
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Summary

At the end of World War II, Hollywood basked in unprecedented prosperity. Since then, numerous challenges and crises have changed the American film industry. Nevertheless, at the start of a new century, Hollywood's worldwide dominance remains intact& -indeed, in today's global economy, the products of the American entertainment industry (of which movies are now only one part) are more ubiquitous than ever. How does today's Hollywood& -embedded within transnational media conglomerates like NewsCorp., Sony, and Viacom& -differ from the legendary studios of its Golden Age? What are the dominant frameworks and conventions, the historical contexts and governing attitudes, through which films are made, marketed, and consumed, and how have these changed over the last seven decades?Barry Langford explains and interrogates the concept of postclassical Hollywood cinema& -its coherence, historical justification, and value in helping or hindering our understanding of Hollywood from the forties to today. Merging film history together with movies' social and political dimensions and Hollywood's distinctive methods of storytelling, Post-Classical Hollywoodcharts key critical debates and the histories they interpret, while offering its own account of the post-classical. Post-Classical Hollywoodoffers new perspective on the most enduringly fascinating artform of our age.

Author Biography

Barry Langford is Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the Royal Holloway, University of London.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
Hollywood in Transition 1945-65	p. 1
Introduction to Part I	p. 3
The Autumn of the Patriarchs	p. 11
The Biggest, the Best: 1946 (The Best Years of Our Lives)	p. 41
The Communication of Ideas	p. 45
The Biggest, the Best: 1955 (Marty, Cinerama Holiday)	p. 69
Modernising Hollywood	p. 73
Crisis and Renaissance 1966-81	p. 97
Introduction to Part II	p. 99
The Biggest, the Best: 1965 (The Sound of Music)	p. 104
The Changing of the Guard	p. 107
New Wave Hollywood	p. 133
The Biggest, the Best: 1975 (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Jaws)	p. 154
Who Lost the Picture Show?	p. 157
New Hollywood 1982-2006	p. 181
Introduction to Part III	p. 183
Corporate Hollywood	p. 191
The Biggest, the Best: 1985 (Out of Africa, Back to the Future)	p. 216
Culture Wars	p. 219
The Biggest, the Best: 1995 (Braveheart, Toy Story)	p. 241
Post-Classical Style?	p. 245
The Biggest, the Best: 2005 (Crash, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith)	p. 265
Conclusion: 'Hollywood' Now	p. 269
Appendix	p. 285
Further Reading	p. 287
Index	p. 295
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