Download or read book Encyclopedia of American Film Serials written by Geoff Mayer and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From their heyday in the 1910s to their lingering demise in the 1950s, American film serials delivered excitement in weekly installments for millions of moviegoers, despite minuscule budgets, nearly impossible shooting schedules and the disdain of critics. Early heroines like Pearl White, Helen Holmes and Ruth Roland broke gender barriers and ruled the screen. Through both world wars, such serials as Spy Smasher and Batman were vehicles for propaganda. Smash hits like Flash Gordon and The Lone Ranger demonstrated the enduring mass appeal of the genre. Providing insight into early 20th century American culture, this book analyzes four decades of productions from Pathe, Universal, Mascot and Columbia, and all 66 Republic serials.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of American Film Serials written by Geoff Mayer and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-02-23 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From their heyday in the 1910s to their lingering demise in the 1950s, American film serials delivered excitement in weekly installments for millions of moviegoers, despite minuscule budgets, nearly impossible shooting schedules and the disdain of critics. Early heroines like Pearl White, Helen Holmes and Ruth Roland broke gender barriers and ruled the screen. Through both world wars, such serials as Spy Smasher and Batman were vehicles for propaganda. Smash hits like Flash Gordon and The Lone Ranger demonstrated the enduring mass appeal of the genre. Providing insight into early 20th century American culture, this book analyzes four decades of productions from Pathe, Universal, Mascot and Columbia, and all 66 Republic serials.
Download or read book Cowboys Creatures and Classics written by Chris Enss and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-09-01 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Take one well-oiled effective killing machine, add a familiar hero on the ground, in the air, and on horseback; stir in a ghastly end that’s surely impossible to escape, add action, add passion, made on a shoestring budget at breakneck speed, and you’ve got the recipe for Republic Pictures. Who, after all, cannot forget The Atomic Kid, starring Mickey Rooney, or The Untamed Heiress, with an un-Oscar-worthy performance by ingénue Judy Canova? Exploding onto the movie scene in 1935, Republic Pictures brought the pop culture of the 30s and 40s to neighborhood movie houses. Week after week kids sank into their matinee seats to soak up the Golden Age of the Republic series, to ride off into the classic American West. And they gave us visions of the future. Visions that inspire film makers today. Republic was a studio that dollar for dollar packed more movie onto the screen than the majors could believe. From sunrise on into the night over grueling six day weeks, no matter how much mayhem movie makers were called upon to produce, at Republic Pictures it was all in a day’s work. Republic Pictures was the little studio in the San Fernando Valley where movies were made family style. A core of technicians, directors, and actors worked hard at their craft as Republic released a staggering total of more than a thousand films through the late 1950s. Republic Pictures was home to John Wayne for thirty-three films. Always inventing, Republic brought a song to the West. It featured the West’s first singing cowboy. Republic brought action, adventure, and escape to neighborhood movies houses across America. And they brought it with style. Scene from westerns such as The Three Mesquiteers and the Lawless Range gave screaming kids at the bijou a white-knuckle display of expert film making. Republic Pictures became a studio where major directors could bring their personal vision to the screen. Sometimes these were projects no other studio would touch such as The Quiet Man (which brought director John Ford an Oscar) and Macbeth. Killer Bs, Cowboys, Creatures and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures is for anyone who likes B movies magic. It is the honest account of an extraordinary production house, one whose ability to turn out films quickly boded well for its transition into television production. Not only were its sets used for such shows as Leave it to Beaver and Gilligan’s Island, stock footage from Republic’s movies was used on such shows as Gunsmoke and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.
Download or read book Hollywood s Melodramatic Imagination written by Geoff Mayer and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2021-12-22 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Melodrama is the foundation of American cinema. It is, however, a poorly understood term. While it is a pervasive and persuasive dramatic mode, it is not tied to any specific moral or ideological system. It is not a singular genre; rather, it operates as a "genre generating machine" capable of determining the aesthetics and structure of the drama within many genres. Melodrama centers the conflict around the clash between good and evil and provides a sense of poetic justice--but the specific values embedded in notions of good and evil are determined by the culture, and they shift from nation to nation, region to region, and period to period. This book explores the "populist" westerns of the 1930s, the propaganda films that followed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the popularity of Sax Rohmer's master villain Fu Manchu. "Melodramas of passion" and film noir also offer a challenge to melodrama with its seemingly alienated protagonists and downbeat endings. Yet, with few exceptions, Hollywood was able to assimilate these genres within its melodramatic imagination.
Download or read book Fantastic Serial Sites of California written by Gail Orwig and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2022-09-09 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first of its kind, this guide to California filming sites covers five decades of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in chapter plays. Covering more than 60 serials, many familiar locations are documented, including the rugged terrain of Red Rock Canyon, which served as a stand-in for Saturn in Buck Rogers; the Bronson Caves and Griffith Observatory, which appeared in Flash Gordon; and the famous Iverson Ranch, which appeared in Batman, Superman and many other serials. The reader will also find serials starring Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney, Jr. Also covered are the skyscrapers that appeared alongside Captain Marvel in The Adventures of Captain Marvel, the location of the Green Hornet's apartment and filming locations for five silent serials. The in-depth storytelling is enhanced by photos of serial memorabilia, postcards, serial descriptions, accurate instructions to locations, notes and more.
Download or read book Serials and Series written by Buck Rainey and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While many fans remember The Lone Ranger, Ace Drummond and others, fewer focus on the facts that serials had their roots in silent film and that many foreign studios also produced serials, though few made it to the United States. The 471 serials and 100 series (continuing productions without the cliffhanger endings) from the United States and 136 serials and 37 series from other countries are included in this comprehensive reference work. Each entry includes title, country of origin, year, studio, number of episodes, running time or number of reels, episode titles, cast, production credits, and a plot synopsis.
Download or read book Film Serials and the American Cinema 1910 1940 written by Ilka Brasch and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before the advent of television, cinema offered serialised films as a source of weekly entertainment. This book traces the history from the days of silent screen heroines to the sound era's daring adventure serials, unearthing a thriving film culture beyond the self-contained feature. Through extensive archival research, Ilka Brasch details the aesthetic appeals of film serials within their context of marketing and exhibition and that they adapt the pleasures of a flourishing crime fiction culture to both serialised visual culture and the affordances of the media-modernity of the early 20th century. The study furthermore traces how film serials brought the broadcast model of radio and television to the big screen and thereby introduced models of serial storytelling that informed popular culture even beyond the serial's demise.
Download or read book Silent Mystery and Detective Movies written by Ken Wlaschin and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2009-10-21 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The silent film era was known in part for its cliffhanger serials and air of suspense that kept audiences returning to theaters week after week. Icons such as Douglas Fairbanks, Laurel and Hardy, Lon Chaney and Harry Houdini were among those who graced the dark and shadowy screen. This reference guide to silent films with mystery and detective content lists more than 1,500 titles in one of entertainment's most popular and enduring genres. While most of the films examined are from North America, mystery films from around the world are included.
Download or read book Arts in America Photography film theater dance music serials and periodicals dissertations and theses visual resources written by Bernard Karpel and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Academic American Encyclopedia F written by and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A twenty-one volume encyclopedia with 32,000 entries and more than 16,000 illustrations.
Download or read book The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television 2d ed written by John Kenneth Muir and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2008-08-21 with total page 705 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a complete guide to over 50 years of superheroes on screen! This expanded and updated edition of the 2004 award-winning encyclopedia covers important developments in the popular genre; adds new shows such as Heroes and Zoom; includes the latest films featuring icons like Superman, Spiderman and Batman; and covers even more types of superheroes. Each entry includes a detailed history, cast and credits, episode and film descriptions, critical commentaries, and data on arch-villains, gadgets, comic-book origins and super powers, while placing each production into its historical context. Appendices list common superhero conventions and cliches; incarnations; memorable ad lines; and the best, worst, and most influential productions from 1951 to 2008.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Early Cinema written by Richard Abel and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2005 with total page 824 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One-volume reference work on the first twenty-five years of the cinema's international emergence from the early 1890s to the mid-1910s.
Download or read book The Republic Chapterplays written by R. M. Hayes and published by McFarland. This book was released on 1992 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Known as Hollywood's "Thrill Factory," Republic Pictures produced some of the most exciting serials to hit the big screen. The studio's chapterplays were one of the most popular Saturday matinee genres. Covering nearly 70 serials, the filmographies include full production credits; release dates; chapter titles; running times; sound systems (when applicable); a note on reissues, condensations and sequels; and an extensive cast list showing roles played. Included are an essay on the general development of the American serial and a history of Republic studio to the present.
Download or read book Screen Culture written by Richard Butsch and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-05-10 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this expansive historical synthesis, Richard Butsch integrates social, economic, and political history to offer a comprehensive and cohesive examination of screen media and screen culture globally – from film and television to computers and smart phones – as they have evolved through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Drawing on an enormous trove of research on the USA, Britain, France, Egypt, West Africa, India, China, and other nations, Butsch tells the stories of how media have developed in these nations and what global forces linked them. He assesses the global ebb and flow of media hegemony and the cultural differences in audiences' use of media. Comparisons across time and space reveal two linked developments: the rise and fall of American cultural hegemony, and the consistency among audiences from different countries in the way they incorporate screen entertainments into their own cultures. Screen Culture offers a masterful, integrated global history that invites media scholars to see this landscape in a new light. Deeply engaging, the book is also suitable for students and interested general readers.
Download or read book Academic American Encyclopedia written by and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Buster Crabbe written by Jerry Vermilye and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buster Crabbe's chief claim to fame, aside from his Olympic gold medal (for the 400-meter freestyle event in 1932), rests in the trio of movie serials in which he played the popular science-fiction hero Flash Gordon. Crabbe was the only actor to play the roles of Tarzan (in one movie), Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers, the top three pulp action heroes of the 1930s. Crabbe carved out a career that would also include more than 100 B-movies and program Westerns, a television adventure series, and a successful physical fitness enterprise. All of this and more is detailed in this book, which includes a complete filmography providing cast and crew information for each of his 103 feature films and serials.
Download or read book Film History Through Trade Journal Art 1916 1920 written by Jeff Codori and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2020-03-20 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The period in film history between the regimentation of the Edison Trust and the vertical integration of the Studio System--roughly 1916 through 1920--was a time of structural and artistic experimentation for the American film industry. As the nature of the industry was evolving, society around it was changing as well; arts, politics and society were in a state of flux between old and new. Before the major studios dominated the industry, droves of smaller companies competed for the attention of the independent exhibitor, their gateway to the movie-goer. Their arena was in the pages of the trade press, and their weapons were their advertisements, often bold and eye-catching. The reporting of the trade journals, as they witnessed the evolution of the industry from its infancy towards the future, is the basis of this history. Pulled from the pages of the journals themselves as archived by the Media History Digital Library, the observations of the trade press writers are accompanied by cleaned and restored advertisements used in the battle among the young film companies. They offer a unique and vital look at this formative period of film history.
