Synopses & Reviews
Explosive! Amazing! Terrifying! You wonandrsquo;t believe your eyes!and#160;and#160;Such movie taglines were common in the 1950s, as Hollywood churned out a variety of low-budget pictures that were sold on the basis of their sensational content and topicality. While a few of these movies have since become canonized by film fans and critics, a number of the eraandrsquo;s biggest fads have now faded into obscurity.
The Cool and the Crazy examines seven of these film cycles, including short-lived trends like boxing movies, war pictures, and social problem films detailing the sordid and violent life of teenagers, as well as uniquely 1950s takes on established genres like the gangster picture. and#160;
and#160;Peter Stanfield reveals how Hollywood sought to capitalize upon current events, moral panics, and popular fads, making movies that were andldquo;ripped from the headlinesandrdquo; on everything from the Korean War to rock and roll. As he offers careful readings of several key films, he also considers the broader historical and commercial contexts in which these films were produced, marketed, and exhibited. In the process, Stanfield uncovers surprising synergies between Hollywood and other arenas of popular culture, like the ways that the fashion trend for blue jeans influenced the 1950s Western.and#160;
and#160;Delivering sharp critical insights in jazzy, accessible prose, The Cool and the Crazy offers an appreciation of cinema as a andldquo;popandrdquo; medium, unabashedly derivative, faddish, and ephemeral. By studying these long-burst bubbles of 1950s andldquo;pop,andrdquo; Stanfield reveals something new about what films do and the pleasures they provide.and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;
Review
This collection of essays represents the work of a new generation of historians who have made discoveries in the study of films from the Blacklist era which demand our attention.
Review
andquot;An enthralling read, beautifully written, immaculately detailed, and an absolute page turner, with each new chapter offering fresh insights on the lives and works of these talented artists forced to leave their homeland.andquot;
Review
andquot;A thoroughly gripping and exquisitely researched book. Drawing on a rich array of archival and published sources, including interviews, correspondence, and studio records, Prime pieces together the story of those who fled the U.S. for Europe after their livelihoods, and indeed their lives, were put in jeopardy by the blacklist.andquot;
Review
andquot;With its potent cocktail of Cold War political chicanery, farcical judicial horse-trading and all out betrayal, the Hollywood blacklist has long fascinated American film historians. Rebecca Primeandrsquo;s
Hollywood Exiles in Europe is a compelling addition because she has chosen to broaden the picture by addressing the lives and work of the blacklisted Hollywood filmmakers who sought exile in Europe. Primeandrsquo;s book is far more than just about the settling of scores rather it gives a nuanced portrait of a turbulent time that begs not be repeated.andquot;
Review
andquot;In Hollywood Exiles in Europe, Prime offers an analysis of the work of Hollywood exiles in Western Europe with extraordinary depth and clarity. It is a significant contribution to the field.andquot;
Review
andquot;Written with clarity, precision and verve, this fascinating new chapter in the history of the blacklist and in relationships between American and European film is jam-packed with admirably well-researched information.andquot;
Review
andquot;Prime has produced a meticulously researched work that both fills a gap in the extant scholarship of the period and usefully complicates the historical perception of the artists whose careers were affected by the blacklist. Recommended.andquot;
Review
"This is a great book, valuable for the light it sheds on a little known period in American literary history as well as for the way it rereads these texts. For students of narratives, official and otherwise, it is a compelling reminder of how stories function as the scaffolding on which we build our understandings."
Review
"Joseph Keith compellingly demonstrates how a select group of authors fashioned a radical cosmopolitan literary tradition at the subaltern limits of U.S. citizenship that subverted racial logics, reimagined the state, and addressed the question of 'how shall the human race be organized?'"
Review
"A highly original work that is grounded in compelling literary and historical analysis. Unbecoming Americans illuminates Cold War America and U.S. critical race theory with insights drawn from subaltern historiography and postcolonial theory."
Review
"A compelling book.
Unbecoming Americans is built on the hope that reading, language, and form have the subversivepotential to promote new ideas."
Review
"
Unbecoming Americans provides a sophisticated synthesis of disparate texts, highlights the significance of discursive critique during the early years of the Cold War, and encourages scholars to investigate other neglected works in search of both alternative perspectives of social discourse and alternative conceptions of the social itself."
Review
"Keith has engaged an interesting topic that literary and cultural studies scholars will savor."
Review
"Unbecoming Americans is a valuable addition to the study of mid-century and Cold War American culture, as it reveals to us in new ways how political history and literary form intersect at the dawn of the American century."
Review
andquot;Fresh ideas, fresh arguments, and a good feel for the 1950sandmdash;Stanfield has it all. This book is one of a kind.andquot;
Review
andquot;This dazzling archaeology of cycles and genres in postwar cinema goes deep into cultural history, then pulls back to reveal patterns and movements unseen until Stanfield saw them. Highly recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;Rebecca Primeand#39;s valuable Hollywood Exiles in Europe shines light on a surprisingly neglected corner of blacklist studies. There are wonderful photographs and the book is densely packed with information.andquot;
Review
andquot;Vivid and informative. Primeandrsquo;s book is perhaps most resourceful in showing how the films made abroad helped reshape the character of Hollywoodandrsquo;s own offerings.andquot;
Review
"Its overall value lies in its nuanced attention to how an outsider status can function as a corrective to US exceptionalism and engender a mode of resistance. [Unbecoming Americans] is not only timely—it is academically significant and politically germane."
Review
andquot;Hollywood Exiles merits a special place in the literature of the blacklist, spawned by the 1947 House Un-American Activities Committeeand#39;s investigation into the so-called communist subversion of the movie industry.andquot;
Synopsis
The concept of andldquo;un-Americanism,andrdquo; so vital to the HUAC crusade of the 1940s and 1950s, was resoundingly revived in the emotional rhetoric that followed the September 11th terrorist attacks. Todayandrsquo;s political and cultural climate makes it more crucial than ever to come to terms with the consequences of this earlier period of repression and with the contested claims of Americanism that it generated.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; andldquo;Un-Americanandrdquo; Hollywoodand#160; reopens the intense critical debate on the blacklist era and on the aesthetic and political work of the Hollywood Left. In a series of fresh case studies focusing on contexts of production and reception, the contributors offer exciting and original perspectives on the role of progressive politics within a capitalist media industry.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Original essays scrutinize the work of individual practitioners, such as Robert Rossen, Joseph Losey, Jules Dassin, and Edward Dmytryk, and examine key films, including The Robe, Christ in Concrete, The House I Live In, The Lawless, The Naked City, The Prowler, Body and Soul, and FTA.
Synopsis
The concept of "un-Americanism," so vital to the HUAC crusade of the 1940s and 1950s, was resoundingly revived in the emotional rhetoric that followed the September 11th terrorist attacks. Today's political and cultural climate makes it more crucial than ever to come to terms with the consequences of this earlier period of repression and with the contested claims of Americanism that it generated.
"Un-American" Hollywood reopens the intense critical debate on the blacklist era and on the aesthetic and political work of the Hollywood Left. In a series of fresh case studies focusing on contexts of production and reception, the contributors offer exciting and original perspectives on the role of progressive politics within a capitalist media industry.
Original essays scrutinize the work of individual practitioners, such as Robert Rossen, Joseph Losey, Jules Dassin, and Edward Dmytryk, and examine key films, including
The Robe, Christ in Concrete, The House I Live In, The Lawless, The Naked City, The Prowler, Body and Soul, and
FTA.
Synopsis
"This collection of essays represents the work of a new generation of historians who have made discoveries in the study of films from the blacklist era which demand our attention."-John Belton, author of American Cinema/American Culture The concept of "un-Americanism," so vital to the HUAC crusade of the 1940s and 1950s, was resoundingly revived in the emotional rhetoric that followed the September 11th terrorist attacks. Today's political and cultural climate makes it more crucial than ever to come to terms with the consequences of this earlier period of repression and with the contested claims of Americanism that it generated. "Un-American" Hollywood reopens the intense critical debate on the blacklist era and on the aesthetic and political work of the Hollywood Left. In a series of fresh case studies focusing on contexts of production and reception, the contributors offer exciting and original perspectives on the role of progressive politics within a capitalist media industry. Original essays scrutinize the work of individual practitioners, such as Robert Rossen, Joseph Losey, Jules Dassin, and Edward Dmytryk, and examine key films, including The Robe, Christ in Concrete, The House I Live In, The Lawless, The Naked City, The Prowler, Body and Soul, and FTA. Frank Krutnik teaches film at Sussex University. Steve Neale is a professor of film studies at Exeter University. Brian Neve is a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Bath. Peter Stanfield is a reader in film studies at the University of Kent.
Synopsis
Rebecca Prime documents the untold story of the American directors, screenwriters, and actors who exiled themselves to Europe as a result of the Hollywood blacklist. During the 1950s and 1960s, these Hollywood andeacute;migrandeacute;s directed, wrote, or starred in almost one hundred European productions. The book offers a compelling argument for the significance of these blacklisted expats to our understanding of postwar American and European cinema and Cold War relations.
Synopsis
Rebecca Prime documents the untold story of the American directors, screenwriters, and actors who exiled themselves to Europe as a result of the Hollywood blacklist. During the 1950s and 1960s, these Hollywood andeacute;migrandeacute;s directed, wrote, or starred in almost one hundred European productions, their contributions ranging from crime film masterpieces like Du rififi chez les hommes (1955, Jules Dassin, director) to international blockbusters like The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, screenwriters) and acclaimed art films like The Servant (1963, Joseph Losey, director).
At once a lively portrait of a lesser-known American andldquo;lost generationandrdquo; and an examination of an important transitional moment in European cinema, the book offers a compelling argument for the significance of the blacklisted andeacute;migrandeacute;s to our understanding of postwar American and European cinema and Cold War relations. Prime provides detailed accounts of the production and reception of their European films that clarify the ambivalence with which Hollywood was regarded within postwar European culture. Drawing upon extensive archival research, including previously classified material, Hollywood Exiles in Europe suggests the need to rethink our understanding of the Hollywood blacklist as a purely domestic phenomenon. By shedding new light on European cinemaandrsquo;s changing relationship with Hollywood, the book illuminates the postwar shift from national to transnational cinema.
Synopsis
In the 1950s, Hollywood made a variety of sensational movies meant to capitalize upon current events, moral panics, and popular fads. The Cool and the Crazy examines seven of the decadeandrsquo;s key film cycles, including short-lived trends like boxing and juvenile delinquency movies, as well as uniquely andlsquo;50s takes on established genres like the Western. and#160;Delivering sharp critical insights in jazzy, accessible prose, Peter Stanfield offers an appreciation of cinema as a andldquo;popandrdquo; medium, unabashedly derivative, faddish, and ephemeral.and#160;and#160;
About the Author
PETER STANFIELD is a professor in the film department at the University of Kent, UK. His previous books include Maximum Moviesandmdash;Pulp Fiction: Film Culture and the Worlds of Mickey Spillane, Samuel Fuller, and Jim Thompson, andquot;Un-Americanandquot; Hollywood: Politics and Film in the Blacklist Era (both Rutgers University Press), and Horse Opera: The Strange History of the Singing Cowboy.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Shadow Narratives of the Transnational
Part I. Novel Forms: Writing at the Limits of Citizenship
1. Neither Citizen nor Alien: Rewriting the Immigrant Bildungsroman across the Borders of Empire in Carlos Bulosan's America Is in the Heart
2. The Epistemology of Unbelonging: Richard Wright's The Outsider and the Politics of Secrecy
Part II. Peripheral Forms: Literatures of Alienage, Incarceration, and Deportation
3. Richard Wright's Cosmopolitan Exile: Race, Decolonization, and the Dialogics of Modernity
4. The Undesirable Alien and the Politics of Form: Telling Untold Tales in C. L. R. James's Mariners, Renegades, and Castaways
5. Talking Back to the State: Claudia Jones's Radical Forms of Alienage
Conclusion: An Empire of Alienage
Notes
Index