This study examines the relationship between cinema and physical culture including activities such as dieting and muscle-building. Hollywood's long-standing prominence on the world state makes it an ideal place to begin such an examination. The evidence that emerges from a case study of Hollywood's impact on the American reducing craze of the 1920s, a physical culture fad whose chief focus was on shedding fat, forms the basis for speculation regarding the interrelationship of Hollywood and physical culture.

First published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.