Louis-Georges Schwartz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195315059
- eISBN:
- 9780199871995
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315059.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
This book examines the history of evidentiary film and video in United States Courts. Case-law and other documents trace the development of rules for the use and interpretation of moving images ...
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This book examines the history of evidentiary film and video in United States Courts. Case-law and other documents trace the development of rules for the use and interpretation of moving images at trail. The book analyzes the differences between the use of film and video in court and their use in the cinema.Less
This book examines the history of evidentiary film and video in United States Courts. Case-law and other documents trace the development of rules for the use and interpretation of moving images at trail. The book analyzes the differences between the use of film and video in court and their use in the cinema.
S. Mark Young, Wim A. Van der Stede, and James J. Gong
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199283361
- eISBN:
- 9780191712623
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283361.003.0018
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
This chapter seeks to expand the domain of management accounting and organizational control research into creative industries, and develop a framework for studying perhaps the best known of these ...
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This chapter seeks to expand the domain of management accounting and organizational control research into creative industries, and develop a framework for studying perhaps the best known of these industries — motion pictures. It discusses both traditional and emerging issues in-context that managerial accountants ordinarily address in most organizations across a diversity of industries. These include issues of performance evaluation, incentives, contracting, strategic assessment, value chain analysis, budgetary systems, cost control, cost behaviour, and profit analyses. The framework for achieving this focuses on the US motion picture industry, which has the longest history and is the most developed film industry globally.Less
This chapter seeks to expand the domain of management accounting and organizational control research into creative industries, and develop a framework for studying perhaps the best known of these industries — motion pictures. It discusses both traditional and emerging issues in-context that managerial accountants ordinarily address in most organizations across a diversity of industries. These include issues of performance evaluation, incentives, contracting, strategic assessment, value chain analysis, budgetary systems, cost control, cost behaviour, and profit analyses. The framework for achieving this focuses on the US motion picture industry, which has the longest history and is the most developed film industry globally.
Louis-Georges Schwartz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195315059
- eISBN:
- 9780199871995
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315059.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
The chapter traces the courts increasing reliance on video technology in the 1970 and 1980s.
The chapter traces the courts increasing reliance on video technology in the 1970 and 1980s.
Louis-Georges Schwartz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195315059
- eISBN:
- 9780199871995
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315059.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
Chapter 2 looks at the courts' initial resistance to evidentiary film and their gradual acceptance of the medium in the 1920s
Chapter 2 looks at the courts' initial resistance to evidentiary film and their gradual acceptance of the medium in the 1920s
Scott Curtis
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231134033
- eISBN:
- 9780231508636
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231134033.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Scott Curtis draws our eye to the role of scientific, medical, educational, and aesthetic observation in shaping modern spectatorship. Focusing on the nontheatrical use of motion picture technology ...
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Scott Curtis draws our eye to the role of scientific, medical, educational, and aesthetic observation in shaping modern spectatorship. Focusing on the nontheatrical use of motion picture technology in Germany between the 1890s and World War I, he follows researchers, teachers, and intellectuals as they negotiated the fascinating, at times fraught relationship between technology, discipline, and expert vision. As these specialists struggled to come to terms with motion pictures, they advanced new ideas of mass spectatorship that continue to affect the way we make and experience film. Staging a brilliant collision between the moving image and scientific or medical observation, visual instruction, and aesthetic contemplation, The Shape of Spectatorship showcases early cinema’s revolutionary impact on society and culture and the challenges the new medium placed on ways of seeing and learning.Less
Scott Curtis draws our eye to the role of scientific, medical, educational, and aesthetic observation in shaping modern spectatorship. Focusing on the nontheatrical use of motion picture technology in Germany between the 1890s and World War I, he follows researchers, teachers, and intellectuals as they negotiated the fascinating, at times fraught relationship between technology, discipline, and expert vision. As these specialists struggled to come to terms with motion pictures, they advanced new ideas of mass spectatorship that continue to affect the way we make and experience film. Staging a brilliant collision between the moving image and scientific or medical observation, visual instruction, and aesthetic contemplation, The Shape of Spectatorship showcases early cinema’s revolutionary impact on society and culture and the challenges the new medium placed on ways of seeing and learning.
Richard Allen
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198159216
- eISBN:
- 9780191673566
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198159216.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
This chapter discusses the central question, ‘What do you see when you look at a motion picture?’. The answer depends on the understanding of the activity itself. The philosophical understanding of ...
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This chapter discusses the central question, ‘What do you see when you look at a motion picture?’. The answer depends on the understanding of the activity itself. The philosophical understanding of what seeing is has been dominated by casual theories of perception. When seeing is conceived in a certain way, pictorial perception generates a paradox. There are four kinds of theories in perceiving motion pictures: illusion, transparency, imagination, and recognition. Illusion theories were highly influential in the film theories during the 1970s and early 1980s. It sought to explain the special power of movies to shape the imagination while transparency theories were associated with the realist tradition of film theory. Transparency theorists claim that the unique properties of the photographic image allow us to see the object when we look at a motion picture. Imagination and recognition theories use the cognitive approach to understanding the motion picture.Less
This chapter discusses the central question, ‘What do you see when you look at a motion picture?’. The answer depends on the understanding of the activity itself. The philosophical understanding of what seeing is has been dominated by casual theories of perception. When seeing is conceived in a certain way, pictorial perception generates a paradox. There are four kinds of theories in perceiving motion pictures: illusion, transparency, imagination, and recognition. Illusion theories were highly influential in the film theories during the 1970s and early 1980s. It sought to explain the special power of movies to shape the imagination while transparency theories were associated with the realist tradition of film theory. Transparency theorists claim that the unique properties of the photographic image allow us to see the object when we look at a motion picture. Imagination and recognition theories use the cognitive approach to understanding the motion picture.
Louis-Georges Schwartz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195315059
- eISBN:
- 9780199871995
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315059.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
Chapter 3 examines the development of rules for the presentation and interpretation of evidentiary films in the 1940s and 1950s. The chapter then considers the fragmentation of general rules, into ...
More
Chapter 3 examines the development of rules for the presentation and interpretation of evidentiary films in the 1940s and 1950s. The chapter then considers the fragmentation of general rules, into rules governing particular kinds for evidentiary films.Less
Chapter 3 examines the development of rules for the presentation and interpretation of evidentiary films in the 1940s and 1950s. The chapter then considers the fragmentation of general rules, into rules governing particular kinds for evidentiary films.
Tatiana Sitnikova, Phillip J. Holcomb, and Gina R. Kuperberg
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195188370
- eISBN:
- 9780199870462
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195188370.003.0026
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
This chapter begins with a discussion of evidence for distinctions between two semantic comprehension systems in the language domain: a system that maps the perceived information on graded semantic ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of evidence for distinctions between two semantic comprehension systems in the language domain: a system that maps the perceived information on graded semantic representations and a system that utilizes particular semantic requirements of verbs. It then reviews similar research using static and motion pictures. It argues that the two mechanisms of language comprehension might be analogous to the systems that use graded semantic representations and action-based requirements to make sense of the visual world. The experiments that are reviewed in this chapter examine questions of both how comprehenders understand relationships between the elements within individual events and how they understand the relationships between events. Experiments that have used event-related potentials (ERPs) are also highlighted.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of evidence for distinctions between two semantic comprehension systems in the language domain: a system that maps the perceived information on graded semantic representations and a system that utilizes particular semantic requirements of verbs. It then reviews similar research using static and motion pictures. It argues that the two mechanisms of language comprehension might be analogous to the systems that use graded semantic representations and action-based requirements to make sense of the visual world. The experiments that are reviewed in this chapter examine questions of both how comprehenders understand relationships between the elements within individual events and how they understand the relationships between events. Experiments that have used event-related potentials (ERPs) are also highlighted.
Peter Miskell
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199226009
- eISBN:
- 9780191710315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226009.003.0017
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
Does the history of the British film industry constitute a story of decline, or of renaissance? It is certainly possible to cast it as a tale of decline. By focussing on the operation of the domestic ...
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Does the history of the British film industry constitute a story of decline, or of renaissance? It is certainly possible to cast it as a tale of decline. By focussing on the operation of the domestic film industry within Britain from the 1930s onwards, we can chart the emergence of powerful vertically integrated firms under dynamic (and patriotic) British entrepreneurs which, as the post-war decades progressed, reduced their commitment to film production and gradually lost control over film distribution and exhibition as well. However, judging the contemporary film industry in comparison with the 1910s and 1920s, when broadly comparable free market conditions existed, rather than the protectionist 1930s and 1940s, a slightly different picture begins to emerge. In both periods the demand for filmed entertainment within Britain was strong, and most of this demand was satisfied by imported product (much of which was distributed by foreign firms). Rather than a process of steady decline, perhaps we have seen the industry return to something like its existing form before the introduction of Government protection that supported it in its so-called heyday. Except that British film producers are now more competitive than in the pre-1927 period. Had British films been able to command the level of audience share in the 1920s that they have of late, perhaps there would have been no need for protective legislation.Less
Does the history of the British film industry constitute a story of decline, or of renaissance? It is certainly possible to cast it as a tale of decline. By focussing on the operation of the domestic film industry within Britain from the 1930s onwards, we can chart the emergence of powerful vertically integrated firms under dynamic (and patriotic) British entrepreneurs which, as the post-war decades progressed, reduced their commitment to film production and gradually lost control over film distribution and exhibition as well. However, judging the contemporary film industry in comparison with the 1910s and 1920s, when broadly comparable free market conditions existed, rather than the protectionist 1930s and 1940s, a slightly different picture begins to emerge. In both periods the demand for filmed entertainment within Britain was strong, and most of this demand was satisfied by imported product (much of which was distributed by foreign firms). Rather than a process of steady decline, perhaps we have seen the industry return to something like its existing form before the introduction of Government protection that supported it in its so-called heyday. Except that British film producers are now more competitive than in the pre-1927 period. Had British films been able to command the level of audience share in the 1920s that they have of late, perhaps there would have been no need for protective legislation.
Anthony Harkins
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195189506
- eISBN:
- 9780199788835
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189506.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter focuses on hillbilly depictions in motion pictures, the dominant media of the mid-century. The continual resignification of the mountaineer/hillbilly dual image from the end of World War ...
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This chapter focuses on hillbilly depictions in motion pictures, the dominant media of the mid-century. The continual resignification of the mountaineer/hillbilly dual image from the end of World War One through the mid-1950s is traced through full-length features, animated shorts, government documentaries, and the long running Ma and Pa Kettle series. The initial focus on violence and social threat was steadily replaced by a growing emphasis on farcical comedy, particularly in the “B” level films produced by Republic Pictures. With the advent of an era of postwar prosperity, however, the vogue of mountain films faded and the hillbilly image primarily lived on only in the domesticated version the Kettles embodied. But as later films such as Deliverance (1972) would show, the early-20th-century characterization of mountain folk as depraved savages remained just under the surface of this supposedly light-hearted fare.Less
This chapter focuses on hillbilly depictions in motion pictures, the dominant media of the mid-century. The continual resignification of the mountaineer/hillbilly dual image from the end of World War One through the mid-1950s is traced through full-length features, animated shorts, government documentaries, and the long running Ma and Pa Kettle series. The initial focus on violence and social threat was steadily replaced by a growing emphasis on farcical comedy, particularly in the “B” level films produced by Republic Pictures. With the advent of an era of postwar prosperity, however, the vogue of mountain films faded and the hillbilly image primarily lived on only in the domesticated version the Kettles embodied. But as later films such as Deliverance (1972) would show, the early-20th-century characterization of mountain folk as depraved savages remained just under the surface of this supposedly light-hearted fare.
Ross Melnick
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231159050
- eISBN:
- 9780231504256
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231159050.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter discusses Roxy's career from 1913–1917. Roxy returned to New York in 1913 after his company secured a five-year lease of the Regent Theatre in Harlem. After signing the lease, Roxy ...
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This chapter discusses Roxy's career from 1913–1917. Roxy returned to New York in 1913 after his company secured a five-year lease of the Regent Theatre in Harlem. After signing the lease, Roxy quickly began revamping the theater's decor and services; he also lowered admission prices in order to attract a full house. Roxy believed that motion picture exhibition was a volume business, and he had always preferred to have more patrons paying less than fewer patrons paying more. By the end of the year, the Regent had become an industry phenomenon and the most popular motion picture-only theater in the city. Roxy's success with the Regent led to other projects including The Strand theater, Rialto Theatre, and Knickerboker Theater in New York City and the Circle Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana. By 1917, Roxy began planning the construction, design, and operation of his new and even more opulent movie house, the Rivoli.Less
This chapter discusses Roxy's career from 1913–1917. Roxy returned to New York in 1913 after his company secured a five-year lease of the Regent Theatre in Harlem. After signing the lease, Roxy quickly began revamping the theater's decor and services; he also lowered admission prices in order to attract a full house. Roxy believed that motion picture exhibition was a volume business, and he had always preferred to have more patrons paying less than fewer patrons paying more. By the end of the year, the Regent had become an industry phenomenon and the most popular motion picture-only theater in the city. Roxy's success with the Regent led to other projects including The Strand theater, Rialto Theatre, and Knickerboker Theater in New York City and the Circle Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana. By 1917, Roxy began planning the construction, design, and operation of his new and even more opulent movie house, the Rivoli.
Ray Zone
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813124612
- eISBN:
- 9780813134796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813124612.003.0008
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter looks at the other steps carried out to improve color photography for motion pictures. This led to the use of the anaglyph, followed by the shadowgraphs. It takes a look at the first ...
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This chapter looks at the other steps carried out to improve color photography for motion pictures. This led to the use of the anaglyph, followed by the shadowgraphs. It takes a look at the first traces of the motion picture system, through the twin-strip 3-D motion picture system that debuted at the Selwyn Theater. It also looks at the developments to stereoscopic film that was advertised at the time to feature images that seemed to “pop” out of the screen.Less
This chapter looks at the other steps carried out to improve color photography for motion pictures. This led to the use of the anaglyph, followed by the shadowgraphs. It takes a look at the first traces of the motion picture system, through the twin-strip 3-D motion picture system that debuted at the Selwyn Theater. It also looks at the developments to stereoscopic film that was advertised at the time to feature images that seemed to “pop” out of the screen.
Brian Taves
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813134222
- eISBN:
- 9780813135939
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813134222.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Thomas H. Ince (1880–1924) turned movie-making into a business enterprise. Progressing from actor to director and screenwriter, he revolutionized the motion picture industry through developing the ...
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Thomas H. Ince (1880–1924) turned movie-making into a business enterprise. Progressing from actor to director and screenwriter, he revolutionized the motion picture industry through developing the role of the producer. In addition to building the first major Hollywood studio facility, dubbed “Inceville,” he was responsible for more than 800 films. This book chronicles Ince's life from the stage to his sudden death as he was about to join forces with media tycoon William Randolph Hearst. It explores Ince's impact on Hollywood's production system, the Western, his creation of the first American movies starring Asian performers, and his cinematic exploration of the status of women in society. Until now, Ince has not been the subject of a biography. This book offers insight into the world of silent cinema through the story of one of its earliest and most influential moguls.Less
Thomas H. Ince (1880–1924) turned movie-making into a business enterprise. Progressing from actor to director and screenwriter, he revolutionized the motion picture industry through developing the role of the producer. In addition to building the first major Hollywood studio facility, dubbed “Inceville,” he was responsible for more than 800 films. This book chronicles Ince's life from the stage to his sudden death as he was about to join forces with media tycoon William Randolph Hearst. It explores Ince's impact on Hollywood's production system, the Western, his creation of the first American movies starring Asian performers, and his cinematic exploration of the status of women in society. Until now, Ince has not been the subject of a biography. This book offers insight into the world of silent cinema through the story of one of its earliest and most influential moguls.
Louis-Georges Schwartz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195315059
- eISBN:
- 9780199871995
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315059.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
Chapter 1 summarizes the book and examines the Society for Cinema Studies Resolution on the Rodney King case.
Chapter 1 summarizes the book and examines the Society for Cinema Studies Resolution on the Rodney King case.
Ray Zone
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813124612
- eISBN:
- 9780813134796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813124612.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter discusses how motion pictures began and looks at inventions and contributions by important individuals to the development of motion pictures. It starts with an account of Eadwear ...
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This chapter discusses how motion pictures began and looks at inventions and contributions by important individuals to the development of motion pictures. It starts with an account of Eadwear Muybrige's attempts to place still stereo photographs in the proper order to convey motion. Muybridge also produced a series of stereo panoramas of San Francisco and Guatemala, which are the forerunners to the cinematic experience. Etienne-Jules Marey invented a chronophotographic gun that could record rapid exposures on a rotating glass plate, while Thomas Edison perfected his phonograph in November 1877.Less
This chapter discusses how motion pictures began and looks at inventions and contributions by important individuals to the development of motion pictures. It starts with an account of Eadwear Muybrige's attempts to place still stereo photographs in the proper order to convey motion. Muybridge also produced a series of stereo panoramas of San Francisco and Guatemala, which are the forerunners to the cinematic experience. Etienne-Jules Marey invented a chronophotographic gun that could record rapid exposures on a rotating glass plate, while Thomas Edison perfected his phonograph in November 1877.
Ray Zone
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813124612
- eISBN:
- 9780813134796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813124612.003.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This introductory chapter discusses the four general periods through which the “grammar” of stereographic narrative has evolved. The four periods discussed are the Novelty Period, the Era of ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the four general periods through which the “grammar” of stereographic narrative has evolved. The four periods discussed are the Novelty Period, the Era of Convergence, the Immersive Era, and the era of Digital 3-D Cinema. It also states the main purposes of this book, one of which is to demonstrate the fundamental importance of stereography to the development of motion picture technology.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the four general periods through which the “grammar” of stereographic narrative has evolved. The four periods discussed are the Novelty Period, the Era of Convergence, the Immersive Era, and the era of Digital 3-D Cinema. It also states the main purposes of this book, one of which is to demonstrate the fundamental importance of stereography to the development of motion picture technology.
Ross Melnick
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231159050
- eISBN:
- 9780231504256
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231159050.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter discusses Roxy's early life and career. Roxy was born on July 9, 1882 in Germany. His family emigrated to the United States in 1886 where they initially settled in the logging town of ...
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This chapter discusses Roxy's early life and career. Roxy was born on July 9, 1882 in Germany. His family emigrated to the United States in 1886 where they initially settled in the logging town of Stillwater, Minnesota. In 1896 the family moved to the growing Jewish hub in Brooklyn. From May 1902 to October 1905 Roxy served in the United States Marine Corps where he learned the discipline and skills necessary for his theatrical career. On December 21, 1908 Roxy opened the Family Theatre in Forest City, Pennsylvania, a public entertainment venue that offered a mix of entertainments such as roller-skating, vaudeville, and motion pictures. On October 21, 1909 Roxy unveiled a new, more elaborate program than he had offered before, with The Passion Play (1904) as its centerpiece. The Passion Play gave patrons the chance to see and hear four soloists, “a well-drilled choir,” and an organist. This special exhibition offered a first glimpse of what Roxy would develop and market in the years to come: an elaborate presentation of film and live performance that catered to the classes and the masses.Less
This chapter discusses Roxy's early life and career. Roxy was born on July 9, 1882 in Germany. His family emigrated to the United States in 1886 where they initially settled in the logging town of Stillwater, Minnesota. In 1896 the family moved to the growing Jewish hub in Brooklyn. From May 1902 to October 1905 Roxy served in the United States Marine Corps where he learned the discipline and skills necessary for his theatrical career. On December 21, 1908 Roxy opened the Family Theatre in Forest City, Pennsylvania, a public entertainment venue that offered a mix of entertainments such as roller-skating, vaudeville, and motion pictures. On October 21, 1909 Roxy unveiled a new, more elaborate program than he had offered before, with The Passion Play (1904) as its centerpiece. The Passion Play gave patrons the chance to see and hear four soloists, “a well-drilled choir,” and an organist. This special exhibition offered a first glimpse of what Roxy would develop and market in the years to come: an elaborate presentation of film and live performance that catered to the classes and the masses.
John Sbardellati
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450082
- eISBN:
- 9780801464218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450082.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter details the relationship between the FBI and the Hollywood anti-Communist pressure group, the Motion Picture Alliance. Formed in early 1944, the MPA shared with the FBI the assumptions ...
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This chapter details the relationship between the FBI and the Hollywood anti-Communist pressure group, the Motion Picture Alliance. Formed in early 1944, the MPA shared with the FBI the assumptions that deceptive red propaganda had already pervaded the screen, and that the studio heads were responsible for this dangerous situation. Indeed, the FBI listed several of the most acclaimed Hollywood films of this era as Communist propaganda. These include William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Edward Dmytryk's Crossfire (1947), and Robert Rossen's Body and Soul (1947). These films, and many others, did put forward left-leaning political and ideological themes and messages, yet the explicit criticisms of these films existed largely in the secret files of the national security state. Ultimately, the bureau and its collaborators in the Motion Picture Alliance effectively turned this cultural battle into a question of domestic security.Less
This chapter details the relationship between the FBI and the Hollywood anti-Communist pressure group, the Motion Picture Alliance. Formed in early 1944, the MPA shared with the FBI the assumptions that deceptive red propaganda had already pervaded the screen, and that the studio heads were responsible for this dangerous situation. Indeed, the FBI listed several of the most acclaimed Hollywood films of this era as Communist propaganda. These include William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Edward Dmytryk's Crossfire (1947), and Robert Rossen's Body and Soul (1947). These films, and many others, did put forward left-leaning political and ideological themes and messages, yet the explicit criticisms of these films existed largely in the secret files of the national security state. Ultimately, the bureau and its collaborators in the Motion Picture Alliance effectively turned this cultural battle into a question of domestic security.
Lauren Rebecca Sklaroff
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807833124
- eISBN:
- 9781469604619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807899243_sklaroff.10
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter focuses on the issue of black characterizations in motion pictures, which became critical during the 1940s because government administrators understood that film was central to any ...
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This chapter focuses on the issue of black characterizations in motion pictures, which became critical during the 1940s because government administrators understood that film was central to any propagation of American democracy. In the summer 1942, the Office of War Information's (OWI) Bureau of Motion Pictures (BMP) warned Hollywood, “Unless the public adequately understands the war program, a few military reverses can shatter the high morale of the American people.” During the war years, the BMP read approximately 1,652 film scripts before Harry Truman abolished the OWI in 1945. Although officials within the BMP acted more like regulators than cultural producers, they nonetheless shaped the nature of Hollywood productions through the promotion of certain principles.Less
This chapter focuses on the issue of black characterizations in motion pictures, which became critical during the 1940s because government administrators understood that film was central to any propagation of American democracy. In the summer 1942, the Office of War Information's (OWI) Bureau of Motion Pictures (BMP) warned Hollywood, “Unless the public adequately understands the war program, a few military reverses can shatter the high morale of the American people.” During the war years, the BMP read approximately 1,652 film scripts before Harry Truman abolished the OWI in 1945. Although officials within the BMP acted more like regulators than cultural producers, they nonetheless shaped the nature of Hollywood productions through the promotion of certain principles.
Russ Castronovo
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226096285
- eISBN:
- 9780226096308
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226096308.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
Instead of reading motion pictures as aesthetic artifacts, this chapter describes the political-aesthetic discourse that surrounds film. With the exception of one of Charlie Chaplin's, it does not ...
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Instead of reading motion pictures as aesthetic artifacts, this chapter describes the political-aesthetic discourse that surrounds film. With the exception of one of Charlie Chaplin's, it does not undertake readings of individual films, if only because scholars such as Jonathan Auerbach, Jane Gaines, and Miriam Hansen bring much more expertise and insight to that endeavor. The chapter's use of Chaplin, moreover, does not present a reading of an early film, since it is concerned with treating Modern Times (1936), a film whose date of production makes it anything but an early film, as an artwork essay that provides a retrospective commentary on the vanishing prospect of motion pictures as a collective, even global, aesthetic medium. The chapter explores how social activists, psychologists, actors, and filmmakers invoked aesthetic principles to adduce political possibilities from what was heralded as a new, universal art form promising to inaugurate worldwide sensus communis.Less
Instead of reading motion pictures as aesthetic artifacts, this chapter describes the political-aesthetic discourse that surrounds film. With the exception of one of Charlie Chaplin's, it does not undertake readings of individual films, if only because scholars such as Jonathan Auerbach, Jane Gaines, and Miriam Hansen bring much more expertise and insight to that endeavor. The chapter's use of Chaplin, moreover, does not present a reading of an early film, since it is concerned with treating Modern Times (1936), a film whose date of production makes it anything but an early film, as an artwork essay that provides a retrospective commentary on the vanishing prospect of motion pictures as a collective, even global, aesthetic medium. The chapter explores how social activists, psychologists, actors, and filmmakers invoked aesthetic principles to adduce political possibilities from what was heralded as a new, universal art form promising to inaugurate worldwide sensus communis.
