Camera and Action: American Film as Agent of Social Change, 1965-1975

by Elaine M. Bapis

Overview

This study examines the changes in the American film industry, audiences, and feature films between 1965 and 1975. With transformations in production codes, adjustments in national narratives, a rise in independent filmmaking, and a new generation of directors and producers addressing controversial issues on the mainstream screen, film was a major influence on the social changes that defined these years. After a contextual history of film during this era, several key films are discussed, including The Graduate, Alice's Restaurant, Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy, M*A*S*H, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Little Big Man, and The Godfather series. The author describes how these films represented a generation, constructed and deconstructed American culture, and made important contributions during ten years of great change in America.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786433414
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	06/03/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	263
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Elaine M. Bapis is an adjunct professor and has taught literature, history, and film at Westminster College and the University of Utah. Her current interests include the study of early twentieth century immigration and film. She lives in Salt Lake City.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Preface    
Introduction: For the Love of Film    

INDUSTRY AND AUDIENCES
1. As Hollywood Turned: Expansion, Exhibition, Codes, and Directors at Mid-Decade      
2. A New Audience for the Now Movie: Film Societies, the College Campus, the American Film Institute and Making Film Art     

GENERATION
3. The Graduate: Representing a Generation    
4. Alice’s Restaurant: Constructing Hippie Folk and Legitimizing Revolutionary Distinction     
5. Back in the Saddle Again: Men, Westerns, Hippies, and Easy Rider     

GENDER
6. Under the Influence: Representing Masculinity in Midnight Cowboy     
7. No Icon Left Unturned: M*A*S*H and the Project of Antiestablishment     
8. Out of the Saddle, into the Seventies: Gender in McCabe and Mrs. Miller     
9. What’s Sex Got to Do with It? Carnal Knowledge and the Delusion of Telling It Like It Is     

ETHNICITY
10. Forever Native: Penn’s New Authentics in Little Big Man     
11. The Godfather Films as America     

Conclusion: Cinematic Anarchists Go Generic     
Chapter Notes     
Selected Bibliography     
Index