Sex and Film: The Erotic in British, American and World Cinema

by B. Forshaw

Overview

Sex and Film is a frank, comprehensive analysis of the cinema's love affair with the erotic. Forshaw's lively study moves from the sexual abandon of the 1930s to filmmakers' circumvention of censorship, the demolition of taboos by arthouse directors and pornographic films, and an examination of how explicit imagery invaded modern mainstream cinema.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137390059
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	02/27/2015
Edition description:	2015
Pages:	243
Sales rank:	1,118,912
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Barry Forshaw's books include Death in a Cold Climate, British Crime Film, The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction, Italian Cinema, British Crime Writing: An Encyclopaedia , and a biography of Stieg Larsson. He has written for a variety of newspapers, Crime Time, and is a talking head for ITV author profiles and BBC documentaries.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The 1930s: Mae West, Garbo, Harlow, Dietrich and the Coming of the Legion of Decency 2. Getting it Past the Bluenoses: The 1940s 3. The Kinsey Era: The 1950s 4. Pushing the Boundaries: Preminger the Rebel 5. This Property is Condemned: Tennessee Williams 6. Arthouse cinema: the New Explicitness 7. Sex à la Français 8. World Cinema Strategies: Britain and America: The 1960s 9. World Cinema Strategies: Europe 10. No Fun Being a Pornographer: Ingmar Bergman and Nagisa Oshima 11. The 1970s: Exploitation Joins the Mainstream 12. Vixens and Valleys: Russ Meyer's Cinema 13. British Smut 14. The Porn Revolution 15. Sex in the Mainstream: The 80s and 90s 16. Anything Goes: the 21st Century 17. The End of Sex: The New Puritanism 18. Painful Odysseys Appendix 1 Appendix 2

Editorial Reviews

'Forshaw gets under the skin of a topic. His writing is accessible and informed, dripping with detail, drawing on often surprising, striking and illuminating comparisons.' Dr Steven Peacock, Reader in Film and Television Aesthetics

'Barry Forshaw brings his knowledge, intelligence and, above all else, passion to each of his books that expertly offer fresh insights.' Stephen Jones, award-winning editor

'Forshaw is bang on about the films you already know but (even more importantly) makes you eager to track down and watch the lesser-known gems you haven't seen.' Anne Billson, film critic

'Forshaw offers fresh perceptions and quirky insights drawn from his considerable cultural range.' Ramsey Campbell, writer, film critic and editor

'Barry Forshaw's studies marry erudition with a film fan's obvious relish.' Stephen Volk, screenwriter and novelist

'Forshaw discovers many neglected pictures. His books are for pleasure and instruction, and then to keep on the reference shelf.' Philip French, The Observer

'Formidably well-researched and erudite.' Daily Mail

'The real value of this concise and comprehensive history of sex and censorship is the author's astute psychological assessment of the personalities in front of and behind the camera, as well as those who have attempted to impose their sense of morality on the movies.' Good Book Guide

From the Publisher