Defining Cinema is the first book to bring together leading theorists and scholars to discuss the importance of film theory to cinema studies. Peter Lehman introduces the volume by explaining what constitutes film theory and outlining the major positions within the field by placing these five theorists and their work within a historical perspective. Andre Bazin and Siegfried Kracauer represent realist film theories, and Sergei Eisenstein represents a formalist position. Noel Burch and Christian Metz are contemporary theorists who have moved beyond the classical realist-formalist opposition....

War has had a powerful impact on the film industry. But it is not only wars that affect films; films influence war-time behavior and incisively shape the way we think about the battles that have been waged.
In "The War Film," Robert Eberwein brings together essays by scholars using a variety of critical approaches to explore this enduringly popular film genre. Contributors examine the narrative and aesthetic elements of war films from four perspectives: consideration of generic conventions in works such as "All Quiet on the Western Front," "Bataan," and "The Thin Red Line"; treatment of...

Americans flocked to the movies in 1945 and 1946uthe center point of the three-decade heyday of the studio system's sound era. Why?

Best Years is a panoramic study, shining light on this critical juncture in American historyand the history of American cinemauthe end of World War II (1945) and a year of unprecedented success in Hollywood's "Golden Age" (1946). This unique time, the last year of war and the first full year of peace, provides a rich blend of cinema genres and typesufrom the battlefront to the home front, the peace film to the woman's film, psychological drama,...