The Wiley-Blackwell History of American Film, 4 Volume Set

by Lucia, Cynthia; Grundmann, Roy; Simon, Art

• ISBN13: 9781405179843
• ISBN10: 1405179848
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-12-12
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Comprising over 90 essays and richly illustrated with over 100 images, the Wiley-Blackwell History of American Film provides a chronological sweep of American film history from its earliest origins to the present day. Unabashedly ambitious, deeply historical, and unprecedented in its multi-faceted examination of film history, this is the most striking and authoritative collection of fresh investigations available in one state-of-the-art resource. Arranged across four volumes richly illustrated with over 100 images Discusses essential concepts in pre-Hollywood and Hollywood production - authorship, genre, marketing, and distribution Provides an overview of non- or quasi-mainstream forms, such as the avant-garde and documentary, that fall under the broad heading of "independent" cinema Examines significant films in clusters tied to either studio genres (silent comedy, the western, etc.), or to social/political phenomena such as the rise of urban society or the impact of World War II Investigates the larger political, social, and economic factors, such as the Great Depression and World War II, that informed industrial change and framed the reception of films Profiles essential industry figures, major directors, and stars, along with important figures outside the industrial mainstream Explores the history of film criticism and culture, along with central issues in American film historiography

Author Biography

Cynthia Lucia is Associate Professor of English and director of the Film and Media Studies Program at Rider University. She is author of Framing Female Lawyers:  Women on Trial in Film (2005) and writes for the film journal Cineaste, where she has served on the editorial board for more than two decades. Among her recent essays are those appearing in Film and Sexual Politics: A Critical Reader (2006) and Authorship in Film Adaptation (2008).

Roy Grundmann is Associate Professor of Film Studies and director of the Film Studies Program in the Department of Film and Television at Boston University. He is the author of Andy Warhol’s Blow Job (2003) and the editor of A Companion to Michael Haneke (2010). Grundmann’s essays have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals, including Continuum, Cinemaya, The Velvet Light Trap, and Cineaste, where he also serves as Contributing Editor. He is the curator of “Michael Haneke: A Cinema of Provocation,” and has further curated retrospectives on Matthias Müller and Andy Warhol.

Art Simon is Associate Professor of Film Studies in the English Department at Montclair State University. He is the author of Dangerous Knowledge: The JFK Assassination in Art and Film (1996). Most recently he contributed to ‘Un-American’ Hollywood: Politics and Film in the Blacklist Era (2007). He has curated two film exhibitions for the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Table of Contents

Volume I: Origins to 1928.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Contributors to Volume I.

Part I: Setting the Stage.

Part II: Origins to 1914.

Part III: 1915–1928.

Part IV: Film and Culture: Summary Essays.

Index to Volume I.

Volume II: 1929 to 1945.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Contributors to Volume II.

Part I: Setting the Stage.

Part II: 1929–1938.

Part III: 1939–1945.

Part IV: Film and Culture: Summary Essays.

Index to Volume II.

Volume III: 1946 to 1975.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Contributors to Volume III.

Part I: Setting the Stage.

Part II: 1946–1955.

Part III: 1956–1965.

Part IV: 1966–1975.

Part V: Film and Culture: Summary Essays.

Index to Volume III.

Volume IV: 1976 to the Present.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Contributors to Volume IV.

Part I: Setting the Stage.

Part II: 1976–1988.

Part III: 1989–1998.

Part IV: 1999–Present.

Part V: Film and Culture: Summary Essays.

Index to Volume IV.