Synopses & Reviews
The 1940s was a watershed decade for American cinema and the nation. Shaking off the grim legacy of the Depression, Hollywood launched an unprecedented wave of production, generating some of its most memorable classics, including Citizen Kane, Rebecca, The Lady Eve, Sergeant York, and How Green Was My Valley. In 1942, Hollywood joined the national war effort with a vengeance, creating a series of patriotic and escapist films, such as Casablanca, Mrs. Miniver, The Road to Morocco, and Yankee Doodle Dandy.
With the end of the war, returning GIs faced a new America, in which the country had been transformed overnight. Film noir reflected a new public mood of pessimism and paranoia, in such classic films of betrayal and conflict as Kiss of Death, Force of Evil, Caught, and Apology for Murder, depicting a poisonous universe of femme fatales, crooked lawyers, and corrupt politicians.
With the threat of the atom bomb lurking in the background and the beginnings of the Hollywood Blacklist, the 1940s was a decade of crisis and change. Featuring essays by a group of respected film scholars and historians, American Cinema of the 1940s brings this dynamic and turbulent decade to life. Illustrated with many rare stills and filled with provocative insights, the volume will appeal to students, teachers, and to all those interested in cultural history and American film of the twentieth century.
Review
andquot;Dixon is recognized as an eminent film scholar and the current title is an impressive addition to his oeuvre. This book certainly has solid scholarship, but it is also a book that once picked up is hard to put down. Essential.andquot;
Review
andquot;Dixon is a deft and knowledgable guide, leading us from silent ghouls to Universal's monsters. Interspersed throughout this catalogue are nuggets of surprising information.andquot;
Review
andquot;This is an excellent survey of horror movies. The author, a veteran film historian, takes the reader back to the beginning, when, in the first three decades of the twentieth century, such directors as Georges Melies, F. W. Murnau, and Paul Wegener were defining not only the look of a genre but also cinema itself. The period between 1930 and the late 1940s saw the rise of the classic Universal Studios charactersandmdash;Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Mummyandmdash;and the actors who played them: Karloff, Lugosi, Chaney Jr. By the end of the 1940s, horror was dying, 'killed by a plethora of poorly made sequels.' But never fear: the period between the late 1940s and 1970 saw a massive resurgence, due in part to gimmicks (such as 3-D); low-budget quickies from the likes of Roger Corman, the wizard of the B movie; and the stylish resurrection of the classic Universal monsters by Britain's Hammer Film Productions. This survey, which takes the reader right up to the present, is full of fascinating information and is delivered in an accessible manner. Required reading for horror fans.andquot;
Review
andquot;Dixon surveys the development of the horror genre from the earliest Frankenstein and Dracula films through the decades of classics by Hammer studios, William Castle, Roger Corman, and Val Lewton. Dixon covers movies seldom found in other histories and more modern, international titles such as Wolf Creek, Black Water, and Grudge. The endurance of horror, trends like remakes and sequels, and such popular franchises as Child's Play and Halloween are also discussed. In the final chapter, Dixon analyzes the decline of modern horror owing to desensitized audiences, graphic gore, violence, and lack of solid plot lines or character development. Lists of the best horror websites as well as the 50 movies covered round out this volume. This concise overview is an informative and entertaining read. Recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;In less than 250 pages, Wheeler Winston Dixon manages to cover the trends and sub-genres of film horror from 1896 to 2009. Bonuses include a list of top horror sites, a list of fifty classic films, and a pretty wonderful bibliography. Well written and well researched and offering an enjoyable overview of more than one hundred years of cinema, A History of Horror is a quick, delightful read.andquot;
Review
andquot;No mere catalog of titles, Dixon's account explores all aspects of the genre: literary underpinnings, themes, and transformations, including much on actors and directors. Dixon's mind-priming volume will enhance spine-tingling late-night viewings.andquot;
Review
andquot;A breathtaking panorama, written with wit and candor, showing how the horror film has shaped cinema from the origins of the genre until now.andquot;
Review
andquot;Rich with excellent illustrations and clever anecdotes, this book will appeal to fans of horror as well as film students and scholars interested in a readable overview of the history of the genre.andquot;
Review
andquot;One of the freshest, most vibrant books examining how feminineand#160;audiences and the demands of wartime shaped the horror and fantasyand#160;films of World War II. Absolutely compelling reading, this is a pageand#160;turner in every sense of the word!andquot;
Review
andldquo;In this lively, original work, Tim Snelson examines the female-monster movie cycle that emerged in Hollywood during World War II. This fresh and compelling look at popular culture during the war years is a win for the reader.andrdquo;
Review
"Snelson’s deft film analysis and evocative historical detail takes us beyond the clichés of male horror/female melodrama: a compelling account of wartime women, both on film and in theatres." Stephen Prince - author of Digital Visual Effects in Cinema: The Seduction of Reality
Review
andquot;Snelsonandrsquo;s deft film analysis and evocative historical detail takes us beyond the clichandeacute;s of male horror/female melodrama: a compelling account of wartime women, both on film and in theatres.andquot;
Review
andquot;Classic movie buffs and B-movie fans will find Phantom Ladies of considerable interest. Students of Womenand#39;s Studies can discover an intriguing example of the perenially recurring and#39;Woman Questionand#39; from the novel persepcetive of a cycle of WWII monster movie aimed at American women.andquot;
Synopsis
Ever since horror leapt from popular fiction to the silver screen in the late 1890s, viewers have experienced fear and pleasure in exquisite combination. A History of Horror, with rare stills from classic films, is the only book to offer a comprehensive survey of this ever-popular film genre. Chronologically examining over fifty horror films from key periods, this one-stop sourcebook unearths the historical origins of legendary characters and explores how the genre fits into the Hollywood studio system and how its enormous success in American and European culture expanded globally over time.
Synopsis
Overturning the assumption that horror movies have traditionally catered to men, Phantom Ladies takes us back to the early 1940s, when Hollywood first discovered an untapped market of female horror fans. Drawing from newly unearthed archival materials, Tim Snelson shows how woman-centered modes of horror film emerged during the war years, emphasizing both female heroines and female monsters. Phantom Ladies is a spine-tingling, eye-opening read.and#160;
Synopsis
Defying industry logic and gender expectations, women started flocking to see horror films in the early 1940s. The departure of the young male audience and the surprise success of the film
Cat People convinced studios that there was an untapped female audience for horror movies, and they adjusted their production and marketing strategies accordingly.
Phantom Ladies reveals the untold story of how the Hollywood horror film changed dramatically in the early 1940s, including both female heroines and female monsters while incorporating elements of andldquo;womenandrsquo;s genresandrdquo; like the gothic mystery. Drawing from a wealth of newly unearthed archival material, from production records to audience surveys, Tim Snelson challenges long-held assumptions about gender and horror film viewership.and#160;
Examining a wide range of classic horror movies, Snelson offers us a new appreciation of how dynamic this genre could be, as it underwent seismic shifts in a matter of months. Phantom Ladies, therefore, not only includes horror films made in the early 1940s, but also those produced immediately after the war ended, films in which the female monster was replaced by neurotic, psychotic, or hysterical women who could be cured and domesticated. Phantom Ladies is a spine-tingling, eye-opening read about gender and horror, and the complex relationship between industry and audiences in the classical Hollywood era.and#160;
About the Author
WHEELER WINSTON DIXON is the James Ryan Endowed Professor of Film Studies, professor of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He is the coeditor-in-chief of the Quarterly Review of Film and Video. His many books include the recent Film Noir and the Cinema of Paranoia (Rutgers University Press).
Table of Contents
Introduction: Horror on the Home Front
1and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Rebecca Meets The Wolfman at RKO: The Emergence of the Female Monster Cycle, 1942andndash;1943
2and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Series, Sequels, and Double Bills: The Evolution of the Female Monster Cycle, 1943andndash;1944
3 and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; andldquo;Aandrdquo; Class Monsters: The Escalation into Prestige Productions, 1944andndash;1945
4 and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; From Whatdunit to Whodunit: The Postwar Psychologization of Horror, 1945andndash;1946
Conclusion: Only for the Duration