Film Criticism, the Cold War, and the Blacklist

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20th century american culture
20th century american history
A01=Jeff Smith
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
allegory
american entertainment culture
american films
anti communist propaganda
Author_Jeff Smith
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=APFA
Category=ATFA
Category=HBTW
Category=NHTW
cold war
communism
COP=United States
critical lens
Delivery_Pre-order
entertainment blacklist
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_non-fiction
film and television
film criticism
film history
historical films
hollywood
hollywood blacklist
house committee on un american activities
huac
Language_English
literary allegory
movie studies
PA=Temporarily unavailable
police procedures
political
politics
postwar period
Price_€50 to €100
propaganda
propaganda films
PS=Active
science fiction films
softlaunch
villains
westerns

Product details

  • ISBN 9780520280670
  • Weight: 590g
  • Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
  • Publication Date: 26 Mar 2014
  • Publisher: University of California Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
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Film Criticism, the Cold War, and the Blacklist examines the long-term reception of several key American films released during the postwar period, focusing on the two main critical lenses used in the interpretation of these films: propaganda and allegory. Produced in response to the hearings held by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) that resulted in the Hollywood blacklist, these films' ideological message and rhetorical effectiveness was often muddled by the inherent difficulties in dramatizing villains defined by their thoughts and belief systems rather than their actions. Whereas anti-Communist propaganda films offered explicit political exhortation, allegory was the preferred vehicle for veiled or hidden political comment in many police procedurals, historical films, Westerns, and science fiction films. Jeff Smith examines the way that particular heuristics, such as the mental availability of exemplars and the effects of framing, have encouraged critics to match filmic elements to contemporaneous historical events, persons, and policies. In charting the development of these particular readings, Film Criticism, the Cold War, and the Blacklist features case studies of many canonical Cold War titles, including The Red Menace, On the Waterfront, The Robe, High Noon, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Jeff Smith is Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and the author of The Sounds of Commerce: Marketing Popular Film Music.