The Golden Age of Cinema: Hollywood, 1929-1945

This comprehensive book illuminates the most fertile and exciting period in American film, a time when the studio system was at its peak and movies played a critical role in elevating the spirits of the public. Richard B. Jewell offers a highly readable yet deeply informed account of the economics, technology, censorship, style, genres, stars and history of Hollywood during its "classical" era.

• A major introductory textbook covering what is arguably the most fertile and exciting period in film, 1929-1945
  
• Analyzes many of the seminal films from the period, from The Wizard of Oz to Grand Hotel to Gone with the Wind, considering the impact they had then and still have today
  
• Tackles the shaping forces of the period: the business practices of the industry, technological developments, censorship restraints, narrative strategies, evolution of genres, and the stars and the star system
  
• Explores the major social, political, economic, and cultural events that helped to shape contemporary commercial cinema, as well as other leisure activities that influenced Hollywood production, including radio, vaudeville, theatre and fiction
  
• Written in a jargon-free, lively style, and features a number of illustrations throughout the text

Author: Richard Jewell
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Published: 10/01/2007
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.18lbs
Size: 9.03h x 6.36w x 0.80d
ISBN13: 9781405163736
ISBN10: 1405163739
BISAC Categories:
- Performing Arts | Film | History & Criticism

About the Author

Richard B. Jewell is the Hugh M. Hefner Professor of American Film at the University of Southern California. He is the author of The RKO Story (1982).