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The 1950s television game show was a cultural touchstone, reflecting the zeitgeist of a flourishing modern nation. The author explores the iconography of the mid-20th century U.S. in the context of TV watching, game playing and prize winning. The scandals that marred the genre's reputation are revisited, highlighting American's propensity for both gullibility and winking cynicism.
This eclectic overview of horror cinema offers up a collection of horror films for practically any occasion and literally every day of the year. For example, the author recommends commemorating United Nations Day (October 24) with a screening of The Colossus of New York, whose startling climax takes place at the U.N. Building. Each day-by-day entry includes the movie title, production year, plot summary and critique, along with a brief explanation of how the film fits into the history of that particular day and interesting anecdotes on the film's production.
Between 1917 and 1941, Hollywood studios, gossip columnists and novelists featured an unprecedented number of homosexuals, cross-dressers, and adulterers in their depictions of the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle. Actress Greta Garbo defined herself as the ultimate serial bachelorette. Screenwriter Mercedes De Acosta engaged in numerous lesbian relationships with the Hollywood elite. And countless homosexual designers brazenly picked up men in the hottest Hollywood nightclubs. Hollywood's image grew as a place of sexual abandon. This book demonstrates how studios and the media used images of these sexually adventurous characters to promote the industry and appeal to the prurient interests of their audiences.
With the increased popularity of zombies in recent years, scholars have considered why the undead have so captured the public imagination. This book argues that the zombie can be viewed as an object of meditation on death, a memento mori that makes the fact of mortality more approachable from what has been described as America's "death-denying culture." The existential crisis in zombie apocalyptic fiction brings to the fore the problem of humanity's search for meaning in an increasingly global and secular world. Zombies are analyzed in the context of Buddhist thought, in contrast with social and religious critiques from other works.
In the mid-1950s, to combat declining theater attendance, film distributors began releasing pre-packaged genre double-bills--including many horror and science fiction double features. Though many of these films were low-budget and low-end, others, such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Horror of Dracula and The Fly, became bona fide classics. Beginning with Universal-International's 1955 pairing of Revenge of the Creature and Cult of the Cobra, 147 officially sanctioned horror and sci-fi double-bills were released over a 20-year period. This book presents these double features year-by-year, and includes production details, historical notes, and critical commentary for each film.
Errol Flynn set the standard for the modern action hero in films like The Adventures of Robin Hood, Dodge City, and The Sea Hawk. This biography follows Flynn from his birth in Tasmania, Australia, in 1909, to his death in Vancouver, Canada, in 1959. Included is analysis of his films, discussion of the 1943 rape trial that changed his life, a survey of the FBI's infamous surveillance, and the first detailed account of his television appearances in the 1950s. First-hand interviews with Flynn's friends and colleagues are complemented by research from FBI files, correspondence, Flynn's diary, and other sources. Illustrated with rare and previously unpublished photographs, the study also gives attention to the historical backgrounds and cultural influences that contributed to Flynn's fame; the work takes an objective and analytical look at the actor's adventurous life. The study includes two appendices: the first is a collection of quotations from various celebrities, from memories of his talent and style to anecdotes about his wild pool parties. The second appendix is a filmography including all Flynn's work for film, stage, and television, with cast and crew information.
From classics like King Kong, to beloved B-movies like The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, to blockbusters like Jurassic Park, it's easy to see that filmmakers and audiences alike love to see dinosaurs on the screen. This comprehensive filmography, arranged alphabetically by title, contains entries that include basic facts (year of release, country of origin, studio, and running time), followed by a concise plot summary, the author's critical commentary, information on the production and the people behind it, and secrets of the often-ingenious special effects. Three useful appendices feature films with minor dinosaur content, planned but unfinished dinosaur movies, and the quasi-dinosaurs of Toho Studios. To be included, a movie must depict one or more representations of a "prehistoric reptile." Inaccurate portrayals are included, as long as the intent is to represent a real or fictional dinosaur. Not eligible are films featuring prehistoric mammals, prehistoric humans or humanoids, and beasts of mythology--unless, of course, the movie also has a dinosaur.
Issue 76 of Midnight Marquee features Forum/Against Em - Psycho Halloween: Slicing and Dicing the Urban Legend; Jamie Lee Curtis and the Virginity Myth; Plan 9 From Outer Space: Why the Plan Worked
John Carradine, Jamie Lee Curtis, Yvonne De Carlo, Faith Domergue, Boris Karloff, Otto Kruger, Bela Lugosi, Jack Palance, Vincent Price, Santo, and George Zucco are just a few of the 80 horror film stars that are covered in this major standard reference work, now in its third edition. The author has revised much of the information from the two previous editions and has added several more performers to the lineup of horror film stars. The performers are given well rounded career bios and detailed horror film write-ups, with complete filmographies provided for those most associated with horror, science fiction, and fantasy movies, and genre-oriented filmographies for the lesser stars.
The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry is a completely revised and updated edition of Anthony Slide's The American Film Industry, originally published in 1986 and recipient of the American Library Association's Outstanding Reference Book award for that year. More than 200 new entries have been added, and all original entries have been updated; each entry is followed by a short bibliography. As its predecessor, the new dictionary is unique in that it is not a who's who of the industry, but rather a what's what: a dictionary of producing and releasing companies, technical innovations, industry terms, studios, genres, color systems, institutions and organizations, etc. More than 800 entries include everything from Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to Zoom Lens, from Astoria Studios to Zoetrope. Outstanding Reference Source - American Library Association