Covers a broad range of topics ranging from the early 1900s Nickelodeon, silent film and its iconic figures such as Charlie Chaplin, to the coming of sound, genres, studio moguls, and the Cold War blacklist- This authoritative collection of introductory and specialized readings explores the rich and innovative history of this period in American cinema. Volume I: Origins to 1960 Acknowledgments xii Preface xiii Part I Origins to 1928 1 Setting the Stage: American Film History, Origins to 1928 3 References 16 2 D. W. Griffith and the Development of American Narrative Cinema 18Charlie Keil Notes 34 References 34 3 Women and the Silent Screen 36Shelley Stamp References 51 4 African-Americans and Silent Films 54Paula J. Massood Notes 68 References 68 5 Chaplin and Silent Film Comedy 70Charles J. Maland References 84 6 Erich von Stroheim and Cecil B. DeMille: Early Hollywood and the Discourse of Directorial Genius 85Gaylyn Studlar Notes 97 References 97 7 The Star System 99Mark Lynn Anderson Notes 112 References 113 8 Synchronized Sound Comes to the Cinema 115Paul Young Notes 128 References 129 Part II 1929 1945 9 Setting the Stage: American Film History, 1929 1945 133 Note 151 References 151 10 Era of the Moguls: The Studio System 153Matthew H. Bernstein References 173 11 As Close to Real Life as Hollywood Ever Gets : Headline Pictures, Topical Movies, Editorial Cinema, and Studio Realism in the 1930s 175Richard Maltby Notes 194 References 198 12 Early American Avant-Garde Cinema 200Jan-Christopher Horak Notes 214 References 214 13 Let Em Have It : The Ironic Fate of the 1930s Hollywood Gangster 215Ruth Vasey Notes 230 References 230 14 Landscapes of Fantasy, Gardens of Deceit: The Adventure Film between Colonialism and Tourism 231Hans Jürgen Wulff Notes 245 References 246 15 Cinema and the Modern Woman 248Veronica Pravadelli Notes 262 References 262 16 Queering the (New) Deal 264David M. Lugowski Notes 280 References 280 17 There s No Place Like Home: The Hollywood Folk Musical 282Desirée J. Garcia Notes 295 References 296 18 The Magician: Orson Welles and Film Style 297James Naremore Notes 309 References 310 19 Classical Cel Animation, World War II, and Bambi 311Kirsten Moana Thompson Notes 324 References 325 20 MappingWhy We Fight: Frank Capra and the US Army Orientation Film in World War II 326Charles Wolfe Notes 339 References 339 21 A Victory Uneasy with Its Contrasts : The Hollywood Left Fights World War II 341Saverio Giovacchini Notes 356 References 359 22 Hollywood as Historian, 1929 1945 361J. E. Smyth Notes 377 References 377 Part III 1945 1960 23 Setting the Stage: American Film History, 1945 1960 383 References 397 24 Taking Stock at War s End: Gender, Genre, and Hollywood Labor in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers 398Roy Grundmann Notes 419 References 421 25 Natalie Wood: Studio Stardom and Hollywood in Transition 423Cynthia Lucia Notes 444 References 446 26 The Politics of Force of Evil: An Analysis of Abraham Polonsky s Preblacklist Film 448Christine Noll Brinckmann Notes 467 References 469 27 The Actors Studio in the Early Cold War 471Cynthia Baron & Beckett Warren Notes 485 References 485 28 Authorship and Billy Wilder 486Robert Sklar Notes 501 References 501 29 Cold War Thrillers 503R. Barton Palmer References 519 30 American Underground Film 520Jared Rapfogel Note 535 References 535 Index 537