American Film and Society Since 1945 - 5th Edition by Leonard Quart & Albert Auster (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The most significant change was the updating of the book to include a lengthy chapter on film in the second decade of the 21st century. The book will encompass among other subjects: an analysis of Obama, the man and his policies; Hillary Clinton's stunning defeat by Donald J Trump; the state of the economy slowly recovering from the 2008's devastating recession; and the rise and fall of the Arab Spring and the growth of Islamist terrorism. In addition, we explore the state of the film industry, including its facing competition from cable television's high quality series, and the continuing development of technologies like Netflix and Hulu that stream films making it harder to attract film audiences. Most importantly, we place a great deal of emphasis on one problem that has haunted Hollywood for decades, the issue of diversity"--

Book Synopsis

From Steven Spielberg's Lincoln to Clint Eastwood's American Sniper, this fifth edition of this classic film study text adds even more recent films and examines how these movies depict and represent the feelings and values of American society.

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).

Review Quotes

"Film studies programs will find this to be an indispensable tome, and public libraries will value the book's significant analyses and perceptions about both American society and its film industry." --ARBA

About the Author

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, Fourth Edition.

Al Auster is professor in the Communication and Media Studies Department at Fordham University. He is the author or coauthor of five previous books.