A History of American Movies: A Film-by-Film Look at the Art, Craft, and Business of Cinema (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780810874336)

In A History of American Movies: A Film-by-Film Look at the Art, Craft and Business of Cinema, Paul Monaco provides a survey of the narrative feature film from the 1920s to the present. The book focuses on 170 of the most highly regarded and recognized feature films selected by the Hollywood establishment: each Oscar winner for Best Picture, as well as those voted the greatest by members of the American Film Institute.

By focusing on a select group of films that represent the epitome of these collaborations, Monaco provides an essential history of one of the modern world's most complex and successful cultural institutions: Hollywood. Divided into three sections, "Classic Hollywood, 1927-1948," "Hollywood In Transition, 1949-1974," and "The New Hollywood, 1975 To The Present," Monaco examines some of the most memorable works in cinematic history, including The General, Wings, Bringing Up Baby, Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, On the Waterfront, The Searchers, Psycho, West Side Story, The Godfather, Cabaret, Raging Bull, Rain Man, Toy Story, and Saving Private Ryan.

This is the only book that thoroughly treats Hollywood--and the most significant movies that it has made--simultaneously as the coming together of an art, a craft, and a business. This approach provides unique insight into the workings of one of the most accomplished and successful art forms in human history: the Hollywood feature film.

Author: Paul Monaco
ISBN-10: 0810874334
ISBN-13: 9780810874336
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Language: English
Published: 05/05/2010
Pages: 368
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.55lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 12/01/2010