How do Hollywood filmmakers construct and interpret American history? Is film's visual historical language inherently different from the traditions of written history? This definitive collection of essays by leading scholars probes the theoretical and historical contexts of films made about the American past - from the silent era to the present.
Exploring issues deeply connected with historical filmmaking, from historiography to censorship, to race, gender, and sexuality, the book discusses a wide range of films and genres- including classics such as The Virginian, Gone with the Wind and Citizen Kane. This collection is essential reading for anyone interested in studying, or researching American history and film.
Includes essays by Susan Courtney, David Culbert, Nicholas J. Cull, Vera Dika, David Eldridge, Vittorio Hösle, Marcia Landy, Mark W. Roche, Robert Rosenstone, Ian Scott, Robert Sklar, J.E. Smyth, and Warren I. Susman.

- 267 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
Hollywood and the American Historical Film
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Information
10Â
FilmÂ
andÂ
History:Â
ArtifactÂ
andÂ
Experience
Notes
1.Â
ThisÂ
paperÂ
wasÂ
originallyÂ
presentedÂ
atÂ
theÂ
AstoriaÂ
FoundationÂ
inÂ
NewÂ
YorkÂ
inÂ
NovemberÂ
1983.Â
ItÂ
wasÂ
thenÂ
reprintedÂ
forÂ
FilmÂ
andÂ
History
(1985)Â
andÂ
isÂ
reprintedÂ
hereÂ
withÂ
permissionÂ
ofÂ
theÂ
editor.
2.Â
HenriÂ
LeFebvreÂ
(1901â91),Â
FrenchÂ
sociologist,Â
wroteÂ
TheÂ
CritiqueÂ
ofÂ
EverydayÂ
Life
(1947)Â
andÂ
TheÂ
ProductionÂ
ofÂ
Space
(1974),Â
amongÂ
otherÂ
works.
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Film and History: Artifact and Experience
- 2 Film History, Reconstruction, and Southern Legendary History in The Birth of a Nation
- 3 The Hollywood Western, the Movement-Image, and Making History
- 4 Ripping the Portieres at the Seams: Lessons from Streetcar on Gone with the Wind
- 5 Hollywood about Hollywood: Genre as Historiography
- 6 Some Like It Hot and the Virtues of Not Taking History Too Seriously
- 7 Vico's Age of Heroes and the Age of Men in John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
- 8 Anatomy of a Shipwreck: Warner Bros., the White House, and the Celluloid Sinking of PT 109
- 9 The Long Road of Women's Memory: Fred Zinnemann's Julia
- 10 Inventing Historical Truth on the Silver Screen
- 11 âThis Is Not America: This Is Los Angelesâ: Crime, Space, and History in the City of Angels
- 12 Between Nostalgia and Regret: Strategies of Historical Disruption from Douglas Sirk to Mad Men
- Further Reading
- Index
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Yes, you can access Hollywood and the American Historical Film by J.E. Smyth in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Historiography. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.