Originally published in 1994, this important book traces the rise of film propaganda in the 20th Century, discussing specifically how film can be used to manipulate public perception and opinions. Two distinct areas are covered: war propaganda, including feature and documentary films regarding warfare; and civilian propaganda, including films that address a variety of political subjects. Although the focus is American film and American politics, this book offers insights for all those interested in the affect of film on the minds of citizens of any country or state.

This collection of papers examines the evolving relationship between the motion picture industry and television from the 1940s onwards. The institutional and technological histories of the film and TV industries are looked at, concluding that Hollywood and television had a symbiotic relationship from the start. Aspects covered include the movement of audiences, the rise of the independent producer, the introduction of colour and the emergence of network structure, cable TV and video recorders. Originally published in 1990.

Bringing together the work of leading film historians, originally published in 1981, this book illustrates the breadth of methodological approaches adopted by the field and the variety of its interests. Dealing with a period from about 1924-1945, it considers feature films in particular, showing their potential as historical source material, and discussing how they provide a clearer understanding of the societies and intellectual trends they both reflected and affected. By using films as historical documents, the articles demonstrate how important new insights may be gained into the...

This feminist anthology from Italy offers an enriching perspective on cinema studies. Focusing on women s engagement with political theory and film-making, the book never loses sight of the female experience of cinema. It examines how women have chosen to represent themselves and how they have been represented, and how they deal with the cinematic apparatus, as subjects of production, objects of representation, and spectators. A variety of approaches are offered, ranging from psychoanalysis and semiology to history. With an exhaustive filmography, this anthology of chapters by eminent...

This fascinating study of the genre of swashbuckling films received wide critical acclaim when it was first published in 1977. Jeffrey Richards assesses the contributions to the genre of directors, designers and fencing masters, as well as of the stars themselves, and devotes several chapters to the principal subjects if the swashbucklers pirates, highwaymen, cavaliers and knights. The result is to recall, however fleetingly, the golden days of the silver screen.

Reviews of the original edition:

An intelligent, scholarly, well-written account of adventure films, this work...

The secrecy in which the British Board of Film Censors enveloped itself until 1948 resulted in a glaring vacuum in British cinematic history. Originally published in 1985, this book filled this important gap, drawing on the detailed registers of films passed, cut and banned since 1913.

The book opens by tracing the events which led up to the creation of the BBFC and goes on to cover the Board s theoretical censorship principles concerning such matters as crime, religion and sex and to discuss how these principles were applied in practice to silent films. The advent of the talkies...