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    American Cinema of the 1960s
    Themes and Variations

    Barry Keith Grant (Edited by), Murray Pomerance (Contributions by), James Morrison (Contributions by), Anna Everett (Contributions by), Joe McElhaney (Contributions by), Leslie Abramson (Contributions by), David Desser (Contributions by), Harry Benshoff (Contributions by), Christopher Sharrett (Contributions by), Eric Schaefer (Contributions by), Christie Milliken (Contributions by)

    9780813542195

    Paperback / softback, published 11 February 2008

    296 pages, 33
    23.5 x 15.9 x 2.3 cm, 0.454 kg

    “There is nothing like this series. Screen Decades firmly situates American cinema in the realms of material culture, popular culture, cultural narrative, reception analysis, and industrial history.”

    (American Quarterly)

    “There is nothing like this series. Screen Decades firmly situates American cinema in the realms of material culture, popular culture, cultural narrative, reception analysis, and industrial history.”

    (American Quarterly)

    The profound cultural and political changes of the 1960s brought the United States closer to social revolution than at any other time in the twentieth century. The country fragmented as various challenges to state power were met with increasing and violent resistance. The Cold War heated up and the Vietnam War divided Americans. Civil rights, women's liberation, and gay rights further emerged as significant social issues. Free love was celebrated even as the decade was marked by assassinations, mass murders, and social unrest.

    At the same time, American cinema underwent radical change as well. The studio system crumbled, and the Production Code was replaced by a new ratings system. Among the challenges faced by the film industry was the dawning shift in theatrical exhibition from urban centers to surburban multiplexes, an increase in runaway productions, the rise of independent producers, and competition from both television and foreign art films. Hollywood movies became more cynical, violent, and sexually explicit, reflecting the changing values of the time.

    In ten original essays, American Cinema of the 1960s examines a range of films that characterized the decade, including Hollywood movies, documentaries, and independent and experimental films. Among the films discussed are Elmer Gantry, The Apartment, West Side Story, The Manchurian Candidate, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cape Fear, Bonnie and Clyde, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Midnight Cowboy, and Easy Rider.

    Introduction: movies and the 1960s / Barry Keith Grant
    1960: movies and intimations of disaster and hope / Christopher Sharrett
    1961: movies and civil rights / Anna Everett
    1962: movies and deterioration / Eric Schaefer
    1963: movies and the little soldiers of the new frontier / Joe McElhaney
    1964: movies, the Great Society, and the new sensibility / James Morrison
    1965: movies and the color line / David Desser
    1966: movies and camp / Harry M. Benshoff
    1967: movies and the specter of rebellion / Murray Pomerance
    1968: movies and the failure of nostalgia / Leslie H. Abramson
    1969: movies and the counterculture / Christie Milliken
    Select Academy Awards, 1960-1969
    Works Cited and Consulted
    Contributors
    Index
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