1st Edition

The Classical Hollywood Reader

Edited By Steve Neale Copyright 2012
    496 Pages
    by Routledge

    490 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Classical Hollywood Reader brings together essential readings to provide a history of Hollywood from the 1910s to the mid 1960s.

    Following on from a Prologue that discusses the aesthetic characteristics of Classical Hollywood films, Part 1 covers the period between the 1910s and the mid-to-late 1920s. It deals with the advent of feature-length films in the US and the growing national and international dominance of the companies responsible for their production, distribution and exhibition. In doing so, it also deals with film making practices, aspects of style, the changing roles played by women in an increasingly business-oriented environment, and the different audiences in the US for which Hollywood sought to cater.

    Part 2 covers the period between the coming of sound in the mid 1920s and the beginnings of the demise of the `studio system` in late 1940s. In doing so it deals with the impact of sound on films and film production in the US and Europe, the subsequent impact of the Depression and World War II on the industry and its audiences, the growth of unions, and the roles played by production managers and film stars at the height of the studio era.

    Part 3 deals with aspects of style, censorship, technology, and film production. It includes articles on the Production Code, music and sound, cinematography, and the often neglected topic of animation.

    Part 4 covers the period between 1946 and 1966. It deals with the demise of the studio system and the advent of independent production. In an era of demographic and social change, it looks at the growth of drive-in theatres, the impact of television, the advent of new technologies, the increasing importance of international markets, the Hollywood blacklist, the rise in art house imports and in overseas production, and the eventual demise of the Production Code.

    Designed especially for courses on Hollywood Cinema, the Reader includes a number of newly researched and written chapters and a series of introductions to each of its parts. It concludes with an epilogue, a list of resources for further research, and an extensive bibliography.

    Introduction.  Prologue  1. Emotional Curves and Linear Narratives Patrick Keating  Part 1: Feature Films, Hollywood and the Advent of the Studio System, 1912-1926  Introduction  2. The Quality Race: Feature Films and Market Dominance in the US and Europe in the 1910s Gerben Bakker  3. Making Movies, 1915-1928 Richard Koszarski  4. The Limits of Experimentation in Hollywood Kristin Thompson  5. "Doing a Man’s Work" The Rise of the Studio System and the Remasculinization of Filmmaking Karen Ward Mahar  6. Hollywood’s Conception of its Audiences in the 1920s Lea Jacobs and Andrea Cominsky  Part 2: Sound and the Studio System, 1926-1946  Introduction  7. The Coming of Sound: Technological Change in the American Film Industry Douglas Gomery  8. Hollywood Babel: Ginette Vincendeau Considers the Coming of Sound and the Multiple Language Version Ginette Vincendeau  9. Organization Howard T. Lewis  10. Hollywood: The Triumph of the Studio System Thomas Schatz  11. Cinemagoing in the United States in the Mid--1930s: A Study Based on the Variety Dataset Mark Glancy and John Sedgwick  12. Selling Stars Tino Balio  Part 3: Representation, Technology, Production and Style, 1926-1946  Introduction  13. The Production Code and the Mythologies of "Pre-Code" Hollywood Richard Maltby  14. Commanding the Sounds of the Universe: Classical Hollywood Sound Helen Hanson and Steve Neale  15. The Classical Hollywood Film Score Kathryn Kalinak  16. Shooting for Selznick: Craft and Collaboration in Hollywood Cinematography Patrick Keating  17. Order and Plenitude: Technicolor Aesthetics in the Classical Era Scott Higgins  18. The Disney-Fleischer Dilemma: Product Differentiation and Technological Innovation Mark Langer  Part 4: Postwar Hollywood and the End of the Studio System, 1946-1966  Introduction  19. Individualism versus Collectivism: Janet Staiger Reconsiders the Shift to Independent Production in the US Film Industry Janet Staiger  20. Ozoners, Roadshows and Blitz Exhibitionism: Postwar Developments in Distribution and Exhibition Sheldon Hall  21. Glorious Technicolor, Breathtaking CinemaScope, and Stereophonic Sound John Belton  22. Hollywood and Television in the 1950s: The Roots of Diversification Janet Wasko  23. Hollywood and Politics in the 1940s and 1950s Brian Neve  24. Arties and Imports, Exports and Runaways, Adult Films and Exploitation Steve Neale.  Epilogue.  Bibliography.  Index

    Biography

    Steve Neale is Professor and Chair in Film Studies, in the School of English at Exeter University, where he teaches Introduction to Film, Hollywood and Europe, Comedy, Comedians and Romance, and Film Noir. He is an internationally renowned film studies scholar. His research focuses principally on history and theory of Hollywood cinema and he has published several publications in these areas.

    Since 2004, Professor Neale has been the Academic Director for the Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture.

    'Classical Hollywood Reader is a collection of absorbing essays... the new collection adopts a chronological approach. The early chapters offer a fascinating analysis of the emergence of the studio system 1912-26 in Hollywoodland, explaining why a suburb of Los Angeles displaced the original focal point of US movie production in the New York area. Within this history there are a number of fresh perspectives. Gerben Nakker looks at how, having become the signifier for American cinema, Hollywood triumphed over what had been significant competition from European filmmakers... One of the strengths of The Classical Hollywood Reader is that it makes a point of addressing film as a commercial and creative enterprise, which means its interests extend beyond the mechanics of filmmaking.' - pictureville.net