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The Road to Oz is a complete retelling of how The Wizard of Oz was influenced and created, and attained its iconic status. The new volume by Jay Scarfone and William Stillman will reflect recent research and much more through newly discovered period interviews, media resources of the era, transcriptions and unique contemporary interviews with those who were there. Additionally, never-before-published imagery accompanies the text. In its truth and candor, this new historical contribution is ideal to tie-in with the 2018-19 80th anniversary of the 1939 movie. Tantalizing highlights of the text include: · A thorough synopsis of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and the script, inspired by the book, of the 1903 Broadway musical-comedy extravaganza. · An overview of the plots of prior silent film adaptations of Oz and how they influenced the M-G-M film. · An analysis of newly-discovered audio transcriptions of Wizard of Oz radio programs from 1931-32 and 1937-38—all of which were previously unknown. · A complete accounting of Sam Goldwyn’s proposed (and aborted) 1934 Technicolor musical version of Oz starring Eddie Cantor (including commentary from Cantor’s sole surviving child). · A thorough analysis of the October 10, 1938 M-G-M shooting script (provided by descendants of comedian and Cowardly Lion actor Bert Lahr) that predates the beginning of production by seventy-two hours. · Startling revelations about the operetta that seemingly inspired “Over the Rainbow.” · Judy Garland’s trials and tribulations with the studio, including the threat that M-G-M was grooming a sound-alike who tested for Oz. · The supporting player who was cast in two roles in Oz’s fantasy sequence—the second role revealed for the first time in Scarfone and Stillman’s text. · The Munchkin midgets’ pre-1939 Wizard of Oz connection. · Oz’s film editor with a direct connection to Walt Disney and Snow White. · Studio nepotism, favoritism and politics at the height of Hollywood’s golden age on the making of the world’s most famous film. “The Road to Oz not only delivers exciting, previously unpublished information and insight, but does so in an extremely well-cited format. This is absolutely a must-have for any Oz fan or film historian.” —Sean Barrett, theatrical/film producer and artistic director, Land of Oz, North Carolina “A new and wonderful book penned by the foremost Oz movie history authors. This is a must-read for all old and new Oz fans worldwide.” —Roger S. Baum, author of Dorothy of Oz (on which the film Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is based) and great-grandson of L. Frank Baum “Numerous books have celebrated the fan appeal of MGM’s Wizard of Oz, but there’s far more to this story than nostalgia. Scarfone and Stillman delve deep into the history of this landmark film, exploring its place in the pantheon of classic fantasy films, as well as fascinating details of production. The Road to Oz is an important addition to the film-history bookshelf.” —J.B. Kaufman, film historian and author of The Fairest One of All: The Making of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs “The Road to Oz is a gamechanger in the world of motion picture history books. Long considered the leading authorities on the making of The Wizard of Oz, Scarfone and Stillman have crafted decades of extensive research into a new and unparalleled historical recalling of the classic film.” —Randy L. Schmidt, editor of Judy Garland on Judy Garland: Interviews and Encounters and author of Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter
"American police departments have presided over the business of motion pictures since the end of the nineteenth century. Their influence is evident not only on the screen but also in the ways movies are made, promoted, and viewed in the United States. Screening the Police explores the history of film's entwinement with law enforcement, showing the role that state power has played in the creation and expansion of a popular medium. For the New Jersey State Police in the 1930s, film offered a method of visualizing criminality and of circulating urgent information about escaped convicts. For the New York Police Department, the medium was a means of making the agency world-famous as early as 1896. Beat cops became movie stars. Police chiefs made their own documentaries. And from Maine to California, state and local law enforcement agencies regularly fingerprinted filmgoers for decades, amassing enormous records as they infiltrated theatres both big and small. Understanding the scope of police power in the United States requires attention to an aspect of film history that has long been ignored. Screening the Police reveals the extent to which American cinema has overlapped with the politics and practices of law enforcement. Today, commercial filmmaking is heavily reliant on public policing-and vice versa. How such a working relationship was forged and sustained across the long twentieth century is the subject of this book"--
This collection of essays by leading American film scholars charts a whole new territory in genre film criticism. Rather than assuming that genres are self-evident categories, the contributors offer innovative ways to think about types of films, and patterns within films, in a historical context. Challenging familiar attitudes, the essays offer new conceptual frameworks and a fresh look at how popular culture functions in American society. The range of essays is exceptional, from David J. Russell's insights into the horror genre to Carol J. Clover's provocative take on "trial films" to Leo Braudy's argument for the subject of nature as a genre. Also included are essays on melodrama, race, film noir, and the industrial context of genre production. The contributors confront the poststructuralist critique of genre head-on; together they are certain to shape future debates concerning the viability and vitality of genre in studying American cinema.
The first transnational history of cinema’s role in decolonization. Using popular cinema from the United States, Britain, and France, Empire Films and the Crisis of Colonialism, 1946–1959, examines postwar Western attitudes toward colonialism and race relations. Historians have written much about the high politics of decolonization but little about what ordinary citizens thought about losing their empires. Popular cinema provided the main source of images of the colonies, and, according to Jon Cowans in this far-reaching book, films depicting the excesses of empire helped Westerners come to terms with decolonization and even promoted the dismantling of colonialism around the globe. Examining more than one hundred British, French, and American films from the post–World War II era, Cowans concentrates on movies that depict interactions between white colonizers and nonwhite colonial subjects, including sexual and romantic relations. Although certain conservative films eagerly supported colonialism, Cowans argues that the more numerous “liberal colonialist” productions undermined support for key aspects of colonial rule, while a few more provocative films openly favored anticolonial movements and urged “internal decolonization” for people of color in Britain, France, and the United States. Combining new archival research on the films’ production with sharp analysis of their imagery and political messages, the book also assesses their reception through box-office figures and newspaper reviews. It examines both high-profile and lesser-known films on overseas colonialism, including The King and I, Bhowani Junction, and Island in the Sun, and tackles treatments of miscegenation and “internal colonialism” that appeared in Westerns and American films like Pinky and Giant. The first truly transnational history of cinema’s role in decolonization, this powerful book weaves a unified historical narrative out of the experiences of three colonial powers in diverse geographic settings.
The subject of this book is a consideration of the usefulness of the concept of fidelity put forward by the philosopher Alain Badiou in the discussion of film adaptation. Fidelity or faithfulness is primarily a consideration that emerges in relation to so-called canonical texts in adaptation: Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby occupies a position of global recognisability and, within the United States, cultural mythology that has triggered strong reactions to the four Hollywood adaptations. The various adaptations allow for the differing approaches to the adaptation of this novel to be meaningfully explored. The film adaptations’ paratextual elements will be discussed in order to show how these acted as limiting lenses. The strategies of the films for handling elements of Fitzgerald’s prose and themes will be compared across the adaptations. This will culminate in an assertion of the worth of a larger application of a Badiouian fidelity within the field.
This book is about the emigration, film careers and socio-cultural influence of British filmmakers moving to Hollywood in the studio era. It deals with some of the unknown and neglected émigrés, as well as the leading lights who founded, initiated and ensured that American film became the leading national cinema of the twentieth century.
The western is one of the most popular genres in American film history, and some estimate more than 20,000 of them have been produced. Its popular portrayal of the American West, as a place where good and evil are clearly defined, created heroes that are still among the most respected and remembered in film history. Writers Lane Roth and Tom W. Hoffer, William E. Tydeman III, R. Philip Loy, Gary Kramer, Raymond E. White, Michael K. Schoenecke, Sandra Schackel, Jacqueline K. Greb, Jim Collins, Richard Robertson, and Gary Yoggy each contributed an essay, focusing on the performances of some of the most famous of Hollywood's leading cowboys and cowgirls. Analyses of the works of G.M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson, Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, Steve McQueen, and James Arness are included. James Drury of The Virginian relates his firsthand experiences of movie making by way of introducing this collection.
“This excellent, lively study examines the ‘raucous debate’ sparked by the Code over the morals and ideals of American movies.” —Publishers Weekly The new edition of this seminal work takes the story of the Production Code and motion picture censorship into the present, including the creation of the PG-13 and NC-17 ratings in the 1990s. Starting in the early 1930s, the Production Code Director, Joe Breen, and his successor, Geoff Shurlock, understood that American motion pictures needed enough rope—enough sex, and violence, and tang—to lasso an audience, and not enough to strangle the industry. To explore the history and implementation of the Motion Picture Production Code, this book uses 11 movies: Dead End, GoneWith the Wind, The Outlaw, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Bicycle Thief, Detective Story, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Moon Is Blue, The French Line, Lolita, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The authors combine a lively style with provocative insights and a wealth of anecdotes to show how the code helped shape American screen content for nearly 50 years. “A readable, intimate account of the rise to near-tyrannical power, and the fall to well-deserved ignominy, of the old Production Code Administration.” —Atlantic Monthly “A valuable insight into our own innocence and naiveté.” —The New York Times Book Review “The triumph of Leff and Simmons’s fine work is that they have reminded us of how fatuous and inimical a code of conduct can be: how tempting it is as a theoretical answer, and how intrinsically flawed it is as a working solution.” —The Times of London
Often referred to as the actor's actor, Spencer Tracy's subtle introspection and thoroughly naturalistic style continue to impress actors and audiences alike. He began his career on the stage, and then went on to attain considerable acclaim as a film star for Fox Studios and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He won back-to-back Academy Awards in 1937 and 1938, began a legendary personal and professional relationship with Katharine Hepburn, and worked as an independent film star in the 1950s and 1960s. This volume provides detailed information for Tracy's many performances in film, radio, television, and drama. The book begins with a short biography that summarizes Tracy's professional development. The chapters that follow chronicle his fascinating career. Each chapter is devoted to his work in a particular medium and provides entries for his individual performances. Entries present cast and credit information, plot synopses, reviews, and commentary. An annotated bibliography discusses sources of additional information about Tracy, and photos illustrate his life and work.