Jack Hawkins was the living embodiment of British ruggedness, resilience, humour, uprightness, and compassion on and off the screen. 'The Cruel Sea', 'Bridge on the River Kwai', 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'Zulu', 'Mandy' and 'Ben-Hur' were just a few of the scores of films which made him a top star. He built his fame not only on his acting ability, but ......
Columbia Pictures will reach a major milestone in 2024 by celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Columbia's incorporation. In the same vein of recent Hollywood movie studio titles such as Warner Bros.: Hollywood's Ultimate Backlot, Paramount: City of Dreams, and MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot, this new book documents the studio history of ......
In this book, Marco Ianniello investigates the complex art of television drama screenwriting, arguing that the screenplay itself, rather than the final product, is at the heart of the current success of the genre. Bridging a crucial gap between theory and practice through textual analyses of various case studies, Ianniello expands on television ......
In The Queer Coming of Age Film Genre, Brad J. Windhauser argues for the existence of this genre and, using a genre and queer theory lens, investigates how the initial, classic cluster of this genre's films represent the unique issues experienced by queer people - including trans, non-binary, and intersex individuals - coming of age in society in ......
On Critical Postmedia and Korea: Philosophy, Technology, Literature was curated for the simple reason that a shift has taken place in orientation towards the future. Not long ago, the West looked to Japan as charting a path to a new form of society, with a unique dynamic of media, economics, technology, culture, and politics. Yet, across the Sea ......
Despite having been made into three TV movies, a radio drama, a stage play, a Broadway musical, a feature-film remake in color, and a book adaptation, the 1947 black-and-white film of Miracle on 34thStreet still remains the favorite version of this modern Christmas classic. The American public seems to echo what Macy's stated when declining to ......
This edited volume investigates the reconfiguration of gender in French banlieue cinema, interrogating whether the films produced over the last two decades provide new and viable models of resistance to dominant modes of power. Contributors take a critical approach which identifies gender as a marker of both body and identity politics to highlight ......
The thirteen chapters in this collection analyze David Fincher's development as a filmmaker, from television commercials and music videos to serving as front runner on the series Mindhunter. The contributors explore a variety of characteristics, including Fincher's attitudes toward his audiences, his attention to detail, his Gothic sense of evil, ......
International Relations and Politics in Genre Films and Television
Movies and television series are excellent tools for teaching political science and international relations. Understanding how stories in various film and television genres illustrate political ideas can better assist students and fans understand and appreciate the political subtext of these media products. This book examines politics through five ......
While there are many books that attempt to teach people how to act, there are few that show aspiring actors what it takes to succeed as a working professional.
The Professional Actor’s Handbook: From Casting Call to Curtain Call provides struggling artists—stage and screen actors, dancers, singers—with strategies that will help them ......
Mythic Shapes and Contemporary Influences in Hitchcock's Film
Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo has dazzled and challenged audiences with its unique aesthetic design and startling plot devices since its release in 1958. In Classical Vertigo: Mythic Shapes and Contemporary Influences in Hitchcock's Film, Mark William Padilla analyzes antecedents including: (1) the film's source novel, D'entre les morts (Among the ......
This book examines the role that the American Film Institute (AFI) had in supporting experimental and independent cinema at a key moment of change in the history of American film. Weaving a rich historical narrative, Ramirez argues that the Cold War struggle for cultural supremacy motivated the creation of the federally-funded AFI. Exploring the ......
Cinematic Landscape and Emerging Identities in Contemporary Latin American Film offers a series of perspectives, produced from a diverse array of aesthetic and theoretical approaches, that build on previous studies about cinematic landscape and space while addressing it from a regional perspective. This book explores how contemporary Latin ......
While there are many books that attempt to teach people how to act, there are few that show aspiring actors what it takes to succeed as a working professional. The Professional Actor's Handbook: From Casting Call to Curtain Call provides struggling artists--stage and screen actors, dancers, singers--with strategies that will help them successfully ......
The twelve essays in A Critical Companion to Mel Gibson offer various interpretations of Mel Gibson's work, treating this prolific but controversial figure not only as a filmmaker but as a historian, religious thinker, and social philosopher. From The Man Without a Face and Braveheart to The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto, and Hacksaw Ridge, ......
(Re)Imagining and Transplanting a Popular Culture Icon
Global James Bond: (Re) Imagining and Transplanting a Popular Culture Icon focuses on the ambivalent yet fascinating interplay between the global and the local in the longest running film franchise in history. It explores how James Bond established itself as a global standard for action-spy film making and even as a minor global cinema (i.e. ......
This book examines German feature films and television series centered around the figure of the computer hacker as a hero, introducing the German hacker genre to the ongoing scholarly discussion of genre in German cinema. William Mahan argues that the genre reflects a history of youth resistance, a complex political landscape, and an obsession ......
Illeana Douglas has long been known for shining new light on forgotten films. Now the celebrated actress and film historian turns her focus to a heretofore unrecognized brand: the Connecticut movie! Told from the passionate perspective of the author who grew up here, and filled with behind-the-scenes stories as well as her own personal snapshots ......
Film and Faith: Modern Cinema and the Struggle to Believe explores religious themes in contemporary film with a focus on recent depictions of religion's continuing manifestations in a secularizing age. The contributors are students of philosophy, political theory, and theology; examine religious and philosophical ideas in commercially and ......
This book unpacks and analyzes the central themes of sacrifice, melancholy, apocalypticism, and the nature of family and home in HBO's The Leftovers to demonstrate the key role it played in the development of early twenty-first-century television. Eliot Borenstein argues that the story of The Leftovers is the most sustained exploration of loss ......
"In the history of film music, Elmer Bernstein is among the most legendary. This biography-coauthored by his son and interweaving exclusive interview and archival material-provides the fascinating story of the man who created some of the most memorable scores of all time, including The Magnificent Seven, The Ten Commandments, and Ghostbusters"--
The Carry Ons and Films of Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas
Carrying On documents the complete history of the Carry On films, with comedy legends such as Sid James, Kenneth Williams, and Barbara Windsor, plus the Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas production team who made Britain carry on laughing.
Universal Studios produced some of the most famous movie monsters in history, including Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and The Wolf Man. This book provides a fascinating look at each of the key films produced by Universal from 1931 through 1956 and discusses the continued impact of the films today.
Natalie Wood and "lovely" Richard Beymer, to the mercurial Jerome Robbins and "passionate" Rita Moreno, with whom Chakiris remains friends. "I know exactly where my gratitude belongs," Chakiris writes, "and I still marvel at how, unbeknownst to me at the time, the joyful path of my life was paved one night in 1949 when Jerome Robbins sat Leonard ......
A fascinating examination of films set in Ancient Rome that assesses their historical accuracy in terms of plot, costumes, sets, and characterizations and leaves the reader with a deeper understanding of Roman history and modern cinema.
"Charlie Chaplin: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works captures his life, and legacy. It features a chronology, an introduction offers a brief account of his life, a dictionary section lists entries on Chaplin's childhood, career, family, and associates. The bibliography is one of the largest available bibliographies of works concerning ......
Bollywood Star Deities, Devotee-Fans, and Cultural Politics in India and
Devotional Fanscapes examines the practices and materiality of fans who worship film stars as divine figures. This book is an analysis of visual culture and star temples that bring cinema, fandom, religion, and politics into undocumented negotiations in national and transnational contexts.
This book examines recent innovations in Polish film. The authors analyzes the ways in which Polish directors challenge revered images of national and gender identity, the country's historical martyrdom, the benevolent family, and the status of the influential Catholic Church.
A Critical Companion to Christopher Nolan provides a wide-ranging exploration of Christopher Nolan's films, practices, and collaborations. From a range of critical perspectives, this volume examines Nolan's body of work, explores its industrial and economic contexts, and interrogates the director's auteur status.
This fully updated and complete guide takes you inside the world of creating music for film, television, and—unique to this third edition—video games. Industry expert Jeff Rona addresses a wide range of topics including musical aesthetics, cutting-edge technology and techniques, and current business aspects.
A 25th anniversary history and celebration of The Shawshank Redemption, one of the most cherished American films of the late twentieth century and one of the finest movies made from a Stephen King story. Featuring behind the scenes photography and new interviews with the cast and crew!
The Encyclopedia of LGBTQIA+ Portrayals in American Film explores both the best of LGBTQIA+ cinematic depictions and the most problematic. Mainstream and art house/indie films from the last fifty years are unpacked and carefully examined by a diverse collection of talented writers from across the globe.
Grief in Contemporary Horror Cinema: Screening Loss examines bereavement as it appears in horror films of the last two decades. This book addresses global hits such as Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth and Jennifer Kent's The Babadook as well as lauded arthouse films such as Lars von Trier's Melancholia and Ari Aster's Midsommar.
Combining history with discussion of cinema, this book examines how film has portrayed five hundred years of Latin America history. An introduction on the visual presentation of the past sets the stage for essays that explore sixteen of the best feature films on Latin America from the perspective of historians.
