About the Book

One of the few authoritative books about American film and society, Praeger’s American Film and Society since 1945 combines accessible, fun-to-read text with a detailed, insightful, and scholarly political and social analysis that thoroughly explores the relationship of American film to society and provides essential historical context. The historical overview provides a “capsule analysis” of both American and Hollywood history for the most recent decade as well as past eras, in which topics like American realism; Vietnam, counterculture revolutions, and 1960s films; and Hollywood depictions of big business like Wall Street are covered.

Readers will better understand the explicit and hidden meanings of films and appreciate the effects of the passion and personal engagement that viewers experience with films. This new edition prominently features a new chapter on American and Hollywood history from 2010 to 2017, giving readers an expanded examination of a breadth of culturally and socially important modern films that serves student research or pleasure reading. The coauthors have also included additional analysis of classic films such as To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and A Face in the Crowd (1957).

Features

  • Analyzes major political and social currents during the decade and examines how Hollywood film dealt with these events and developments
  • Provides a political overview of the decade in film since the last edition of Praeger’s American Film and Society Since 1945
  • Presents entries organized chronologically, by decades from 1945 to the present, making it easy for readers to quickly find information on films that interest them

The Authors

Leonard Quart
Leonard Quart is professor emeritus of cinema at City University of New York (CUNY) and COSI; contributing editor of Cineaste, and columnist for the Berkshire Eagle. His published work includes Praeger’s American Film and Society since 1945 —4th Edition as well as The Films of Mike Leigh and two other books. Quart is also a writer of innumerable essays and reviews of film and other subjects for magazines such as Dissent, Film Quarterly, London Magazine, and Logos.

Al Auster

Al Auster is professor in the Communication and Media Studies Department at Fordham University. He is the author or coauthor of five previous books. He has written for Television Quarterly, Journal of Popular Film and Television, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Cineaste.

About the Book

One of the few authoritative books about American film and society, Praeger’s American Film and Society since 1945 combines accessible, fun-to-read text with a detailed, insightful, and scholarly political and social analysis that thoroughly explores the relationship of American film to society and provides essential historical context. The historical overview provides a “capsule analysis” of both American and Hollywood history for the most recent decade as well as past eras, in which topics like American realism; Vietnam, counterculture revolutions, and 1960s films; and Hollywood depictions of big business like Wall Street are covered.

Readers will better understand the explicit and hidden meanings of films and appreciate the effects of the passion and personal engagement that viewers experience with films. This new edition prominently features a new chapter on American and Hollywood history from 2010 to 2017, giving readers an expanded examination of a breadth of culturally and socially important modern films that serves student research or pleasure reading. The coauthors have also included additional analysis of classic films such as To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and A Face in the Crowd (1957).

Features

  • Analyzes major political and social currents during the decade and examines how Hollywood film dealt with these events and developments
  • Provides a political overview of the decade in film since the last edition of Praeger’s American Film and Society Since 1945
  • Presents entries organized chronologically, by decades from 1945 to the present, making it easy for readers to quickly find information on films that interest them