American Film History 1: Selected Readings, Origins to 1960

This authoritative collection of introductory and specialized readings explores the rich and innovative history of this period in American cinema. Spanning an essential range of subjects from the early 1900s Nickelodeon to the decline of the studio system in the 1960s, it combines a broad historical context with careful readings of individual films. Charts the rise of film in early twentieth-century America from its origins to 1960, exploring mainstream trends and developments, along with topics often relegated to the margins of standard film histories Covers diverse issues ranging from silent film and its iconic figures such as Charlie Chaplin, to the coming of sound and the rise of film genres, studio moguls, and, later, the Production Code and Cold War Blacklist Designed with both students and scholars in mind: each section opens with an historical overview and includes chapters that provide close, careful readings of individual films clustered around specific topics Accessibly structured by historical period, offering valuable cultural, social, and political contexts Contains careful, close analysis of key filmmakers and films from the era including D.W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Erich von Stroheim, Cecil B. DeMille, Don Juan , The Jazz Singer , I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Scarface, Red Dust, Glorifying the American Girl, Meet Me in St. Louis, Citizen Kane, Bambi, Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Rebel Without a Cause, Force of Evil, and selected American avant-garde and underground films, among many others. Additional online resources such as sample syllabi, which include suggested readings and filmographies for both general specialized courses, will be available online. May be used alongside American Film History: Selected Readings, 1960 to the Present , to provide an authoritative study of American cinema through the new millennium American Film History......Page 3 The Editors......Page 4 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgments......Page 14 Preface......Page 15 Notes......Page 16 Part I Origins to 1928......Page 19 1 Setting the Stage......Page 21 The Nickelodeon Era......Page 22 Censorship Battles......Page 24 The Industry......Page 25 Genres and Stars......Page 26 Hollywood and World Cinema......Page 29 The Jazz Age On-Screen– Inside and Outside of Hollywood......Page 30 Newsreels......Page 31 Animation......Page 32 The Coming of Sound to the Cinema......Page 33 References......Page 34 2 D. W. Griffith and the Development of American Narrative Cinema......Page 36 Griffiths Move to Biograph: An Industry in Flux......Page 38 Storytelling Challenges and Stylistic Strategies......Page 39 1908–1909: Shaping a Story......Page 40 1910–1911: An Increasingly Confident Style......Page 43 1912–1913: Refinement and Reconfiguration......Page 47 References......Page 52 3 Women and the Silent Screen......Page 54 Exhibitors, Moviegoers, and Fans: “Remember the 83%!”......Page 55 Filmmakers, Stars, and Extras: Women at Work in Early Hollywood......Page 56 Critics, Writers, and Tastemakers: Film Culture as a Feminine Sphere......Page 63 Censors, Reformers, and Educators: “Ultimately a Womans Responsibility”......Page 65 Conclusion: “History Has Not Been Kind”......Page 68 References......Page 69 4 African-Americans and Silent Films......Page 72 Early Background: Vaudeville, Blackface Minstrelsy, and Film......Page 73 Story Films, Melodrama, and Uplift......Page 76 White-Owned Race Film Companies: Competition and Collaboration......Page 80 The Minors: Lesser-Known Race Film Companies......Page 82 The End: The Coming of Sound......Page 85 References......Page 86 5 Chaplin and Silent Film Comedy......Page 88 The Tramp and Chaplins Rise to Stardom......Page 90 From Willie Work to the Glasses Character: Harold Lloyd......Page 92 A Calm Demeanor Beneath a Porkpie Hat: Buster Keaton......Page 96 City Lights: A Farewell to Silent Film Comedy......Page 100 References......Page 102 Two Directors and the Rise of the Feature Film......Page 103 Cecil B. DeMille: The Genius of Jazz-Age Hokum......Page 104 Erich von Stroheim: The Genius Hollywood Loved to Hate......Page 110 References......Page 115 7 The Star System......Page 117 Larger-than-Life Figures......Page 120 Reinventing the Star System......Page 122 Making Stars Pay......Page 123 Coming to Know the Stars......Page 125 The Publics Loyalties......Page 127 The Compulsion to Repeat......Page 128 Notes......Page 130 References......Page 131 8 Synchronized Sound Comes to the Cinema......Page 133 Warner Bros. Gambit: The Vitaphone......Page 135 Early Sound Cinema: A Multimedia Distraction......Page 137 The Technical Demands of Sound......Page 140 Fine-Tuning: Sound-on-Film Processes and Theories of Sound Recording......Page 141 Conclusion: The Lost Futures of Sync Sound......Page 145 Notes......Page 146 References......Page 147 Part II 1929–1945......Page 149 9 Setting the Stage......Page 151 The Studio Industry......Page 152 The Production Code......Page 154 Studio House Styles, Genres, and Auteurs......Page 155 Innovations in Film Technology......Page 162 Documentary Filmmaking......Page 164 The Film Avant-Garde......Page 165 Animation......Page 166 Hollywood and World War II......Page 167 References......Page 169 10 Era of the Moguls......Page 171 The Historical Context......Page 173 The Industrial Context......Page 174 The Corporate Context......Page 176 Censorship and Self-Regulation......Page 177 Fox and Twentieth Century-Fox......Page 179 MGM......Page 180 Paramount Pictures......Page 181 RKO......Page 183 Warner Bros.......Page 185 Columbia Pictures Corporation......Page 186 Universal Pictures Corporation......Page 187 United Artists and Hollywoods Semi-Independent Producers......Page 188 Conclusion......Page 190 References......Page 191 11 “As Close to Real Life as Hollywood Ever Gets”......Page 193 Realism and Editorial Cinema......Page 196 Fugitive......Page 199 Burbanking......Page 202 Hollywoods Popular Front......Page 204 Black Legion......Page 206 Conclusion: “An Official Welcome to Ideas”?......Page 210 Notes......Page 212 References......Page 216 12 Early American Avant-Garde Cinema......Page 218 Early Avant-Garde Exhibition and Reception......Page 219 Troubled Modernism and the First American Avant-Garde......Page 220 Representations of Nature in the Early American Avant-Garde......Page 222 Light, Color, and Form as Subjects of the Early American Avant-Garde......Page 224 Music, Movement, and Dance in Early Avant-Garde Film......Page 225 Surrealist and Psychoanalytic Expressions in the Early Avant-Garde......Page 227 Other Artistic Influences within the Early Avant-Garde......Page 228 Parody and Metaphor in the Early Avant-Garde......Page 230 References......Page 232 13 “Let ’Em Have It”......Page 233 Enter the All-Talking Gangster......Page 234 Early 1930s Gangsters: The Public Enemy, Little Caesar, and Scarface......Page 237 The Post-Gangster Gangster Movie: “G” Men and Bullets or Ballots......Page 240 The Post-Gangster Gangster Comedy......Page 246 Conclusion......Page 247 References......Page 248 14 Landscapes of Fantasy, Gardens of Deceit......Page 249 Generic Configurations......Page 250 Action and Movement, Spectacle and Performance, the Musical and Opera......Page 252 Personality versus Genre Hybridity: The Adventurer as Character......Page 253 Colonialism and Its White Heroes......Page 256 Tarzan......Page 258 Landscape on Display......Page 260 The Encounter with the Mythical and the Magical......Page 261 Notes......Page 263 References......Page 264 15 Cinema and the Modern Woman......Page 266 Cinema, the New Woman, and Urban Modernity......Page 267 New Women and Visual Attractions......Page 269 The Age of Order and the Demise of the New Woman......Page 276 A Notable Exception: Free Women and Screwball Comedies......Page 278 References......Page 280 Queerness and National Crisis......Page 282 Reading the Code......Page 285 The Question of Subversion......Page 287 The Question of Difference......Page 289 Lesbian Representation During a Masculinity Crisis......Page 290 Establishing Masculinity......Page 292 Conclusion......Page 296 References......Page 298 17 Theres No Place Like Home......Page 300 Genre and Modernity......Page 302 The Hollywood Musical and Wartime America......Page 304 The Wizard of Oz (1939)......Page 305 Babes in Arms (1939)......Page 307 Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)......Page 310 Notes......Page 313 References......Page 314 18 The Magician......Page 315 Deep Focus and Realism......Page 316 Faust or Quixote?......Page 325 Notes......Page 327 References......Page 328 19 Classical Cel Animation, World War II, and Bambi......Page 329 Genre and Mode of Production......Page 330 Disneys Impact on the Art Form......Page 331 Changes in the 1940s Cartoon: Speed and Sex......Page 332 Animation and War......Page 333 Bambi......Page 337 Anthropomorphism and the Cycle of Life......Page 338 Dread and Death......Page 340 The Musical and Domesticated World of Nature......Page 341 Notes......Page 342 References......Page 343 20 Mapping Why We Fight......Page 344 Where We Fight......Page 348 Why We Fight and the Postwar World......Page 354 References......Page 357 Introduction: The Promise of a Bloodbath......Page 359 The “Democratic Tradition” Comes to Hollywood......Page 361 A Cinema of Presence......Page 363 Bringing the War into the Hollywood Film......Page 366 Race, the Hollywood Left, and the War Film......Page 368 Conclusion......Page 372 Notes......Page 374 References......Page 377 22 Hollywood as Historian, 1929–1945......Page 379 Film versus History?......Page 381 A Hollywood Cavalcade......Page 384 Hollywoods Historians in the SoundEra......Page 386 History, Prestige, and Women Audiences......Page 391 References......Page 395 Part III 1945–1960......Page 399 23 Setting the Stage......Page 401 Television and the Movies......Page 402 The Paramount Case and HUAC......Page 403 Postwar Hollywood Genres and Auteurs......Page 404 Hollywood Realism and a New Method of Acting......Page 412 The Studio Era in Transition......Page 413 The End of the Classical Era......Page 414 References......Page 415 24 Taking Stock at Wars End......Page 416 Constructing a Hollywood Prestige Film......Page 419 The Martha Ivers Marketing Campaign......Page 421 Film Noirs Male-Centered Narrative Arc......Page 424 Crime, Gendered Perspective, and the Womans Film......Page 426 Company Town......Page 430 Notes......Page 437 References......Page 439 25 Natalie Wood......Page 441 Coming of Age in Hollywood......Page 442 Sex and the Single Girl......Page 448 Identity Crisis and Transition: Star and Actor......Page 455 Identity Crisis and Transition: Hollywood Old and New......Page 457 Notes......Page 462 References......Page 464 Introduction......Page 466 Close Description......Page 469 Combining the Personal and the Political......Page 472 Considerations of Genre......Page 474 The Story of Cain and Abel......Page 479 Spectatorial Affect......Page 480 The Ending......Page 482 Minor Imperfections......Page 484 Notes......Page 485 References......Page 487 27 The Actors Studio in the Early Cold War......Page 489 Cold War Winners (the Actors Studio) and Losers (the Actors Lab)......Page 491 The Actors Studio and Method Acting: From Kazan to Strasberg......Page 493 Publicity versus Reality......Page 495 The Method Acting Style and Cold War Conceptions of Character......Page 497 Polemics and Cultural Context......Page 499 References......Page 503 28 Authorship and Billy Wilder......Page 504 La politique des auteurs......Page 505 Auteur Theory......Page 506 Vienna, Berlin, Hollywood......Page 508 Double Indemnity......Page 509 Ace in the Hole......Page 511 The Apartment......Page 514 Kiss Me, Stupid......Page 517 References......Page 519 A Diplomatic Victory?......Page 521 Neurotic and Paranoid Views of World Affairs......Page 522 Fortress America?......Page 524 Foreign Intrigues......Page 526 Domestic Discontents......Page 528 Establishing the Industrys Bona Fides......Page 529 We Will Not Be Driven by Fear into an Age of Unreason......Page 533 References......Page 537 30 American Underground Film......Page 538 Defining “Underground Cinema”......Page 539 Roots of the Underground Movement......Page 540 Maya Deren and Her Influence......Page 541 Kenneth Angers Fireworks and Joseph Cornells Rose Hobart......Page 542 Jack Smith: His Work and His Influence......Page 543 Gregory Markopoulos and Ken Jacobs......Page 545 Pull My Daisy and Beat Cinema......Page 546 The Cinema of Andy Warhol......Page 547 Underground Narrative Filmmaking......Page 549 Experimental Animation: Harry Smith......Page 550 Adventures in Perception: Marie Menken, Stan Brakhage, and BruceBaillie......Page 551 References......Page 553 Index......Page 555 EULA......Page 568 American Film History 3 The Editors 4 Contents 7 Acknowledgments 14 Preface 15 Notes 16 Part I Origins to 1928 19 1 Setting the Stage 21 The Nickelodeon Era 22 Censorship Battles 24 The Industry 25 Genres and Stars 26 Hollywood and World Cinema 29 The Jazz Age On-Screen– Inside and Outside of Hollywood 30 Newsreels 31 Animation 32 The First Avant-Garde 33 The Coming of Sound to the Cinema 33 References 34 2 D. W. Griffith and the Development of American Narrative Cinema 36 Griffiths Move to Biograph: An Industry in Flux 38 Storytelling Challenges and Stylistic Strategies 39 1908–1909: Shaping a Story 40 1910–1911: An Increasingly Confident Style 43 1912–1913: Refinement and Reconfiguration 47 Notes 52 References 52 3 Women and the Silent Screen 54 Exhibitors, Moviegoers, and Fans: “Remember the 83%!” 55 Filmmakers, Stars, and Extras: Women at Work in Early Hollywood 56 Critics, Writers, and Tastemakers: Film Culture as a Feminine Sphere 63 Censors, Reformers, and Educators: “Ultimately a Womans Responsibility” 65 Conclusion: “History Has Not Been Kind” 68 References 69 4 African-Americans and Silent Films 72 Early Background: Vaudeville, Blackface Minstrelsy, and Film 73 Story Films, Melodrama, and Uplift 76 White-Owned Race Film Companies: Competition and Collaboration 80 The Minors: Lesser-Known Race Film Companies 82 The End: The Coming of Sound 85 Notes 86 References 86 5 Chaplin and Silent Film Comedy 88 The Tramp and Chaplins Rise to Stardom 90 From Willie Work to the Glasses Character: Harold Lloyd 92 A Calm Demeanor Beneath a Porkpie Hat: Buster Keaton 96 City Lights: A Farewell to Silent Film Comedy 100 References 102 6 Erich von Stroheim and Cecil B. DeMille 103 Two Directors and the Rise of the Feature Film 103 Cecil B. DeMille: The Genius of Jazz-Age Hokum 104 Erich von Stroheim: The Genius Hollywood Loved to Hate 110 Notes 115 References 115 7 The Star System 117 Larger-than-Life Figures 120 Reinventing the Star System 122 Making Stars Pay 123 Coming to Know the Stars 125 The Publics Loyalties 127 The Compulsion to Repeat 128 Notes 130 References 131 8 Synchronized Sound Comes to the Cinema 133 Warner Bros. Gambit: The Vitaphone 135 Early Sound Cinema: A Multimedia Distraction 137 The Technical Demands of Sound 140 Fine-Tuning: Sound-on-Film Processes and Theories of Sound Recording 141 Conclusion: The Lost Futures of Sync Sound 145 Notes 146 References 147 Part II 1929–1945 149 9 Setting the Stage 151 The Studio Industry 152 The Production Code 154 B-Films 155 Studio House Styles, Genres, and Auteurs 155 Innovations in Film Technology 162 Documentary Filmmaking 164 The Film Avant-Garde 165 Animation 166 Hollywood and World War II 167 Hollywood and Postwar Challenges 169 Note 169 References 169 10 Era of the Moguls 171 The Historical Context 173 The Industrial Context 174 The Corporate Context 176 Censorship and Self-Regulation 177 Fox and Twentieth Century-Fox 179 MGM 180 Paramount Pictures 181 RKO 183 Warner Bros. 185 Columbia Pictures Corporation 186 Universal Pictures Corporation 187 United Artists and Hollywoods Semi-Independent Producers 188 Conclusion 190 References 191 11 “As Close to Real Life as Hollywood Ever Gets” 193 Realism and Editorial Cinema 196 Fugitive 199 Burbanking 202 Hollywoods Popular Front 204 Black Legion 206 Conclusion: “An Official Welcome to Ideas”? 210 Notes 212 References 216 12 Early American Avant-Garde Cinema 218 Early Avant-Garde Exhibition and Reception 219 Troubled Modernism and the First American Avant-Garde 220 Representations of Nature in the Early American Avant-Garde 222 Light, Color, and Form as Subjects of the Early American Avant-Garde 224 Music, Movement, and Dance in Early Avant-Garde Film 225 Surrealist and Psychoanalytic Expressions in the Early Avant-Garde 227 Other Artistic Influences within the Early Avant-Garde 228 Parody and Metaphor in the Early Avant-Garde 230 Notes 232 References 232 13 “Let ’Em Have It” 233 Enter the All-Talking Gangster 234 Early 1930s Gangsters: The Public Enemy, Little Caesar, and Scarface 237 The Post-Gangster Gangster Movie: “G” Men and Bullets or Ballots 240 The Post-Gangster Gangster Comedy 246 Conclusion 247 Notes 248 References 248 14 Landscapes of Fantasy, Gardens of Deceit 249 Generic Configurations 250 Action and Movement, Spectacle and Performance, the Musical and Opera 252 Personality versus Genre Hybridity: The Adventurer as Character 253 Colonialism and Its White Heroes 256 Tarzan 258 Landscape on Display 260 The Encounter with the Mythical and the Magical 261 Notes 263 References 264 15 Cinema and the Modern Woman 266 Cinema, the New Woman, and Urban Modernity 267 New Women and Visual Attractions 269 The Age of Order and the Demise of the New Woman 276 A Notable Exception: Free Women and Screwball Comedies 278 Notes 280 References 280 16 Queering the (New) Deal 282 Queerness and National Crisis 282 Reading the Code 285 The Question of Subversion 287 The Question of Difference 289 Lesbian Representation During a Masculinity Crisis 290 Establishing Masculinity 292 Conclusion 296 Notes 298 References 298 17 Theres No Place Like Home 300 Genre and Modernity 302 The Hollywood Musical and Wartime America 304 The Wizard of Oz (1939) 305 Babes in Arms (1939) 307 Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) 310 Conclusion 313 Notes 313 References 314 18 The Magician 315 Deep Focus and Realism 316 Faust or Quixote? 325 Notes 327 References 328 19 Classical Cel Animation, World War II, and Bambi 329 Genre and Mode of Production 330 Disneys Impact on the Art Form 331 Changes in the 1940s Cartoon: Speed and Sex 332 Animation and War 333 Bambi 337 Anthropomorphism and the Cycle of Life 338 Dread and Death 340 The Musical and Domesticated World of Nature 341 Notes 342 References 343 20 Mapping Why We Fight 344 Where We Fight 348 Why We Fight and the Postwar World 354 Notes 357 References 357 21 A Victory “Uneasy with Its Contrasts” 359 Introduction: The Promise of a Bloodbath 359 The “Democratic Tradition” Comes to Hollywood 361 A Cinema of Presence 363 Bringing the War into the Hollywood Film 366 Race, the Hollywood Left, and the War Film 368 Conclusion 372 Notes 374 References 377 22 Hollywood as Historian, 1929–1945 379 Film versus History? 381 A Hollywood Cavalcade 384 Hollywoods Historians in the SoundEra 386 History, Prestige, and Women Audiences 391 Notes 395 References 395 Part III 1945–1960 399 23 Setting the Stage 401 Television and the Movies 402 The Paramount Case and HUAC 403 Postwar Hollywood Genres and Auteurs 404 Hollywood Realism and a New Method of Acting 412 The Studio Era in Transition 413 The End of the Classical Era 414 References 415 24 Taking Stock at Wars End 416 Constructing a Hollywood Prestige Film 419 The Martha Ivers Marketing Campaign 421 Film Noirs Male-Centered Narrative Arc 424 Crime, Gendered Perspective, and the Womans Film 426 Company Town 430 Notes 437 References 439 25 Natalie Wood 441 Coming of Age in Hollywood 442 Sex and the Single Girl 448 Identity Crisis and Transition: Star and Actor 455 Identity Crisis and Transition: Hollywood Old and New 457 Notes 462 References 464 26 The Politics of Force of Evil 466 Introduction 466 Close Description 469 Combining the Personal and the Political 472 Considerations of Genre 474 The Story of Cain and Abel 479 Spectatorial Affect 480 The Ending 482 Minor Imperfections 484 Conclusion 485 Notes 485 References 487 27 The Actors Studio in the Early Cold War 489 Cold War Winners (the Actors Studio) and Losers (the Actors Lab) 491 The Actors Studio and Method Acting: From Kazan to Strasberg 493 Publicity versus Reality 495 The Method Acting Style and Cold War Conceptions of Character 497 Polemics and Cultural Context 499 Notes 503 References 503 28 Authorship and Billy Wilder 504 La politique des auteurs 505 Auteur Theory 506 Vienna, Berlin, Hollywood 508 Double Indemnity 509 Ace in the Hole 511 The Apartment 514 Kiss Me, Stupid 517 Notes 519 References 519 29 Cold War Thrillers 521 A Diplomatic Victory? 521 Neurotic and Paranoid Views of World Affairs 522 Fortress America? 524 Foreign Intrigues 526 Domestic Discontents 528 Establishing the Industrys Bona Fides 529 We Will Not Be Driven by Fear into an Age of Unreason 533 References 537 30 American Underground Film 538 Defining “Underground Cinema” 539 Roots of the Underground Movement 540 Maya Deren and Her Influence 541 Kenneth Angers Fireworks and Joseph Cornells Rose Hobart 542 Jack Smith: His Work and His Influence 543 Gregory Markopoulos and Ken Jacobs 545 Pull My Daisy and Beat Cinema 546 The Cinema of Andy Warhol 547 Underground Narrative Filmmaking 549 Experimental Animation: Harry Smith 550 Adventures in Perception: Marie Menken, Stan Brakhage, and BruceBaillie 551 Conclusion 553 Note 553 References 553 Index 555 EULA 568 From the American underground film to the blockbuster superhero, this authoritative collection of introductory and specialized readings explores the core issues and developments in American cinematic history during the second half of the twentieth-century through the present day. * Considers essential subjects that have shaped the American film industry-from the impact of television and CGI to the rise of independent and underground film; from the impact of the civil rights, feminist and LGBT movements to that of 9/11. * Features a student-friendly structure dividing coverage into the periods 1960-1975, 1976-1990, and 1991 to the present day, each of which opens with an historical overview * Brings together a rich and varied selection of contributions by established film scholars, combining broad historical, social, and political contexts with detailed analysis of individual films, including Midnight Cowboy, Nashville, Cat Ballou, Chicago, Back to the Future, Killer of Sheep, Daughters of the Dust, Nothing But a Man, Ali, Easy Rider, The Conversation, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Longtime Companion, The Matrix, The War Tapes, the Batman films, and selected avant-garde and documentary films, among many others. * Additional online resources, such as sample syllabi, which include suggested readings and filmographies, for both general and specialized courses, will be available online. * May be used alongside American Film History: Selected Readings, Origins to 1960 to provide an authoritative study of American cinema from its earliest days through the new millennium