An in-depth resource on the art of filmmaking looks at the history of film, along with information on actors, designers, directors, writers, cinematographers, sound effects, and editors.

This fully revised and updated edition of an award-winning classic traces the history of Hollywood from the silent era to the present day. The Hollywood Storycomprehensively covers every aspect of movie-making in America, taking in nickelodeans, drive-ins and multiplexes; the transition from silent to sound, black and white to color; the relationships of producers, directors, stars and technicians; and the function and output of the studios - their major hits and most expensive flops.

A comprehensive film guide featuring films and television shows of the great American western. The stories of the men and women who tamed the old West. Also featuring actors and directors who made these films possible.

Analyzes the films and filmmaking career of director Hal Ashby, placing his work in the cultural context of filmmaking in the 1970s. Hal Ashby directed eleven feature films over the course of his career and was an important figure in the Hollywood Renaissance of the late 1960s and 1970s. Though he was a member of the same generation of filmmakers as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Robert Altman, Ashby has received comparatively little critical or scholarly validation for his work. Author Christopher Beach argues that despite his lower profile, Ashby was an exceptionally versatile and unusually creative director. Beach focuses primarily on Ashby's first seven films—The Landlord, Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo, Bound for Glory, Coming Home, and Being There—to analyze Ashby's contributions to filmmaking culture in the 1970s. The first two chapters of this volume provide an overview of Ashby's filmmaking career, as Beach makes the case for Ashby's status as an auteur and provides a biographical survey of Ashby's most productive and successful decade, the 1970s. In the following chapters, Beach analyzes groups of films to uncover important thematic concerns in Ashby's work, including the treatment of a young male protagonist in The Landlord and Harold and Maude, the representation of the U.S. military in The Last Detail and Coming Home, and the role of television and mass media in Shampoo and Being There. Beach also examines the crucial role of the musical score in Ashby's films, as well as the rapid decline of the director's career after Being There. The Films of Hal Ashby is based on Beach's extensive use of unpublished archival materials, as well as a number of interviews with actors, directors, producers, cinematographers, and others involved in the making of Ashby's films. This volume will interest film and television scholars, as well as readers interested in filmmakers of the 1970s.

The musical, whether on stage or screen, is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable musical genres, yet one of the most perplexing. What are its defining features? How does it negotiate multiple socio-cultural-economic spaces? Is it a popular tradition? Is it a commercial enterprise? Is it a sophisticated cultural product and signifier? This research guide includes more than 1,400 annotated entries related to the genre as it appears on stage and screen. It includes reference works, monographs, articles, anthologies, and websites related to the musical. Separate sections are devoted to sub-genres (such as operetta and megamusical), non-English language musical genres in the U.S., traditions outside the U.S., individual shows, creators, performers, and performance. The second edition reflects the notable increase in musical theater scholarship since 2000. In addition to printed materials, it includes multimedia and electronic resources.

Defining more than 10,000 words and phrases from everyday slang to technical terms and concepts, this dictionary of the audiovisual language embraces more than 50 subject areas within film, television, and home entertainment. It includes terms from the complete lifecycle of an audiovisual work from initial concept through commercial presentation in all the major distribution channels including theatrical exhibition, television broadcast, home entertainment, and mobile media. The dictionary definitions are augmented by more than 700 illustrations, 1,600 etymologies, and nearly 2,000 encyclopedic entries that provide illuminating anecdotes, historical perspective, and clarifying details.

Probably no decade saw as many changes in the Hollywood film industry and its product as the 1930s did. At the beginning of the decade, the industry was still struggling with the transition to talking pictures. Gangster films and naughty comedies starring Mae West were popular in urban areas, but aroused threats of censorship in the heartland. Whether the film business could survive the economic effects of the Crash was up in the air. By 1939, popularly called "Hollywood's Greatest Year," films like Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz used both color and sound to spectacular effect, and remain American icons today. The "mature oligopoly" that was the studio system had not only weathered the Depression and become part of mainstream culture through the establishment and enforcement of the Production Code, it was a well-oiled, vertically integrated industrial powerhouse. The ten original essays in American Cinema of the 1930s focus on sixty diverse films of the decade, including Dracula, The Public Enemy, Trouble in Paradise, 42nd Street, King Kong, Imitation of Life, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Swing Time, Angels with Dirty Faces, Nothing Sacred, Jezebel, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Stagecoach .

A Complete Film Guide to motion pictures and television shows that pertain to WWII. Facts and stories about Hollywood personal that served in the Armed Forces, War Bond drives, USO shows, Hollywood Canteen and those who were ruled 4 F during the war. Complete history of world cinema during the years of the war. As well as other interesting facts are also included in the first volume. Featurine shorts, cartoons, documentaries, and feature films. Don't forget to get the second volume L-Z.

Popular movies can enhance the study of history. A dominant form of entertainment throughout the 20th century, they can serve as nontraditional primary sources and offer remarkable opportunities to observe attitudes about social concerns, gender or racial issues, politics, and historical events that were current when the movies were made. This book is a topical guide for educators, providing detailed analysis of 35 movies, followed by discussion questions that will help students interpret how each movie's content and themes reflect the times when it was made. The book covers four main topics: the Great Depression, World War II, the early years of the Cold War, and the changing expectations and images of women in movies from 1930 to 1970. An historical overview chronicles how each topic was treated in movies from that time period. The movies should have wide appeal in grades 7 through 12 and can help students learn to think more critically about the images and messages that appear in popular media today.

A group of films on a character-based series, which include Andy Hardy, Benji, Billy Jack, Blondie, Captain Nemo, Dr. Kildare, The Falcon, Francis the Talking Mule, Harry Potter, Henry Aldrich, Jason Voorhees, Jungle Jim. The Lone Ranger, Ma 8 Pa Kettle, Matt Dillon, Michael Myers, Robin Hood, Santa Claus, Superman, Tarzan and Zorro. These and other characters make this interesting book