Hollywood Exiles in Europe: The Blacklist and Cold War Film Culture (New Directions in International Studies)

Rebecca Prime documents the untold story of the American directors, screenwriters, and actors who exiled themselves to Europe as a result of the Hollywood blacklist. During the 1950s and 1960s, these Hollywood émigrés directed, wrote, or starred in almost one hundred European productions, their contributions ranging from crime film masterpieces like __Du rififi chez les hommes__ (1955, Jules Dassin, director) to international blockbusters like __The Bridge on the River__ __Kwai__ (1957, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, screenwriters) and acclaimed art films like __The Servant__ (1963, Joseph Losey, director). At once a lively portrait of a lesser-known American “lost generation” and an examination of an important transitional moment in European cinema, the book offers a compelling argument for the significance of the blacklisted émigrés to our understanding of postwar American and European cinema and Cold War relations. Prime provides detailed accounts of the production and reception of their European films that clarify the ambivalence with which Hollywood was regarded within postwar European culture. Drawing upon extensive archival research, including previously classified material, __Hollywood Exiles in Europe__ suggests the need to rethink our understanding of the Hollywood blacklist as a purely domestic phenomenon. By shedding new light on European cinema’s changing relationship with Hollywood, the book illuminates the postwar shift from national to transnational cinema. "Documents the untold story of the American directors, screenwriters, and actors who emigrated to Europe as a result of the Hollywood blacklist. During the 1950s and early 1960s, these Hollywood exiles directed, wrote, or starred in almost 100 European productions, their contributions ranging from crime film masterpieces like Du rififi chez les hommes (dir. Jules Dassin, 1955) to international blockbusters such as The Bridge on the River Kwai (scr. Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, 1957) to acclaimed art films like The Servant (dir. Joseph Losey, 1963). At once a lively portrait of a lesser-known American "lost generation" and an examination of an important transitional moment in European cinema, the book presents a compelling argument for the significance of the blacklisted exiles to our understanding of postwar American and European cinema and Cold War cultural relations. The experiences of the blacklisted in Europe not only suggest the need to rethink our understanding of the Hollywood blacklist as a purely domestic phenomenon, but, by shedding new light on European cinema's changing relationship with Hollywood, illuminates the postwar shift from national to "transnational" cinema"-- Provided by publisher Rebecca Prime documents the untold story of the American directors, screenwriters, and actors who exiled themselves to Europe as a result of the Hollywood blacklist. During the 1950s and 1960s, these Hollywood émigrés directed, wrote, or starred in almost one hundred European productions. The book offers a compelling argument for the significance of these blacklisted expats to our understanding of postwar American and European cinema and Cold War relations