A Political Companion to American Film / Edition 1

by Gary Crowdus

Overview

The Political Companion to American Film is an encyclopedic collection of critical essays offering provocative social and political commentary on the work of filmmakers (from Woody Allen to Darryl Zanuck) and other film personalities (from Charles Chaplin to John Wayne), film genres (from crime Movies to World War II Animated Propaganda Cartoons), racial and ethnic portrayals (from African Americans to Native Americans), social issues (from Big Businessmen to the Small Town), theoretical and critical issues (from the Auteur Theory to Postwar American Film Criticism), economic and industrial issues (from Conglomerates to the Studio System), and much more.
The Political Companion to American Film features the writing of some of America's leading film critics and authors, many of whom are specialists who have literally written the book on their subjects, and has been edited by Gary Crowdus, Editor-in-Chief of Cineaste, America's leading magazine on the art and politics of the cinema.
The expertise and critical insights of these contributors are conveyed in a colorful, comprehensible and jargon-free prose style, and many of the essays include recommended bibliographies. The Political Companion to American Film will enrich the cinematic experience for the average moviegoer as well as the film scholar.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780941702423
Publisher:	University of Minnesota Press
Publication date:	01/01/1994
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	548
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

Editorial Reviews

The editor has compiled a wealth of information and insight in 101 essays, covering almost any political cinematic topic, from African American filmmakers (Sidney Poitier, Paul Robeson, and Spike Lee get their own chapters) to Darryl Zanuck. The editor-in-chief of Cineaste, Crowdus has achieved his goal of writing lucidly and with a point of view about films and filmmakers. Therefore, one should expect at times to disagree with a writer's judgment (e.g., David Bartholomew declares, "The horror film is dying if not, like the Western, dead already"), and there is an occasional factual error (replace "Russians" with "Red Chinese" in Forster Hirsch's synopsis of director Sam Fuller's Hell and High Water). Yet, overall, the essays are provocative and stimulating, as exemplified by R.T. West's analysis of postwar American film criticism. Each essay also has a bibliography for further reading. Only the relatively steep price might deter some libraries from purchasing. Recommended for informed readers.-Kim Holston, American Inst. for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, Malvern, Pa.

Library Journal