Although Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are culturally distinct, they share a common theatre history characterized by resistance, first as a response to Nazi occupation, then as an ideological weapon countering their annexation under strict Soviet ideology. This comprehensive overview of contemporary theatre in the Baltic states includes interviews with major directors, writers, academics and critics, critiques of significant performances, and historical information to familiarize readers with the region. It not only discusses the political ramifications of the three countries' transition from occupied Soviet states to independent members of the European Union, but also addresses the aesthetic, cultural and national issues associated with the move to independence and the adaptation of a Western economic model. More than an introduction, this book is a forum for ideas as well as a detailed, first-hand account of the current scene in Baltic theatre. While useful for anyone interested in contemporary theatre, it is also essential reading for those interested in Baltic studies, post - Soviet cultural history, and recent trends in East European literature.

The march of the monster movie makers continues in Tom Weaver's ninth book of in-depth interviews with the men and women who made the horror and sci-fi favorites of the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Actors (including Mike Connors, Brett Halsey, Natalie Trundy and Richard Kiel), writers, producers and directors recall legendary genre figures Lugosi, Chaney, Jr., Tod Browning and James Whale; films ranging in quality from ""The Thing"" to ""Macumba Love"" and ""Eegah""; behind-the-scenes tales of cult TV series (""Twilight Zone"", ""Batman"", ""Lost in Space"", more) and serials; and, of course, the usual barrage of outlandish movie menaces, this time including the ""Fly"", ""Flesh Eaters"", ""Monolith Monsters"", ape men, voodoo women and spider babies! - and all in the candid, no-holds-barred style that has made Weaver ""king of the interviewers"" (""Classic Images"")!

Operating outside the commercial boundaries of Hollywood cinema, alternative and independent filmmakers have much to offer the discriminating viewer. Yet they struggle for a place in the popular culture, and even more for recognition by the scholarly community. The specific aim of this book is to provide much-needed critical examination of titles, particularly those by British filmmakers. In-depth commentary from such acclaimed writers as Maitland McDonagh, Jasper Sharp, Johannes Schonherr and Marcus Stiglegger considers filmmakers who work at the very heart of the independent medium, giving the reader specific insight into alternate cinema and the struggles its filmmakers endure. Featured are interviews with both rising and established filmmakers, including the infamous Guy Maddin and Herschell Gordon Lewis. Finally, this collection of interviews and essays boasts a 20th anniversary retrospective on the British cult classic The Company of the Wolves, complete with an exclusive interview with director Neil Jordan.

In today’s world of instant snapshots, 24-hour news, and round-the-clock connectivity, an illustrated press where the images are as important as the text has become an increasingly rare art form. This far-reaching compendium celebrates the golden age of graphic journalism as a distinct and unique genre and a laboratory for developing avant-garde aesthetics. Spanning from 1819 to 1921, the collection covers a broad range of news graphics and political and satirical cartoons. Alongside the works of renowned artists such as Jean Cocteau, Juan Gris, and Käthe Kollwitz, the most famous illustrators of the time are also well represented. Thomas Nast, Honoré Daumier, Gustave Doré, and the numerous relatively unknown press graphic artists, the so-called “special artists,� whose work is rediscovered here. Their rich and varied press work is considered not only in connection to the genre and the historical painting of the 19th century but also in its capacity as a pioneering influence on modern art. With striking examples of proto-cinematic narrative thinking, disruptions of the single image space, and daring forays into abstraction, this material is shown to have laid the groundwork for much of the avant-garde artistic expression that followed. The book also explores Vincent Van Gogh's careful attention to the illustrated press of his time. He was inspired not only by the artistic aspect of it but also by the spirit of social reform that it represented. An avid collector, he owned a large number of press graphics and went so far as to consider it a "Bible for Artists".

As the media have increasingly become the lens through which we see the world, media styles have shaped even the fine arts, and contemporary theatre is particularly indebted to mass media's dramatic influence. In order to stay culturally and financially viable, theatre producers have associated theatrical productions and their promotion with film, television, and the Internet by adopting new theatrical practices that mirror the form and content of mass communication. This work demonstrates how mediatization, or the adoption of the semantics and the contexts of mass media, has changed the way American theatre is produced, performed, and perceived. Early chapters use works like Robert Wilson's 3D digital opera ""Monsters of Grace"" and Thecla Schophorst's digitally animated ""Bodymaps"" to demonstrate the shifting nature of live performance. Critical analysis of the interaction between the live performer and digital technology demonstrates that the use of media technology has challenged and changed traditional notions of dramatic performance. Subsequent discussion sustains the argument that theatre has reconfigured itself to access the economic and cultural power of the media. Final chapters consider the extent to which mediatization undermines theatrical authorship and creativity.

H.R. Pufnstuf, ""Lidsville"", ""Sigmund and The Sea Monsters"", ""Land of the Lost"": For a generation of children growing up in the late sixties and early seventies, these were some of the most memorable shows on Saturday morning television. At a time when television cartoons had lost some of their luster, two puppeteers named Sid and Marty Krofft put together a series of shows that captivated children. Using colorful sets and mysterious lands full of characters that had boundless energy, the Kroffts created a new form of children's television, rooted in the medium's earliest shows but nevertheless original in its concept. This work first provides a history of the Kroffts' pretelevision career, then offers discussions of their 11 Saturday morning shows. Complete cast and credit information is enhanced by interviews with many of the actors and actresses, behind-the-scenes information, print reviews of the series, and plot listings of the individual episodes. ""The H.R. Pufnstuf"" feature film, the brothers' other television work, and their short-lived indoor theme park are also detailed.

This work features twenty-eight terrific interviews with some of the sharpest and most talkative stars and movie makers of the classic (and c-r-a-z-y!) SF and horror films of the past: Richard Matheson, Janet Leigh, Acquanetta, Hazel Court, Kim Hunter and others. They reminisce at length and with great good humor about their days on the sets of ""Psycho"", ""Planet of the Apes"", ""Superman""; the Poe, Hammer and Lewton films, and exploitation greats like ""Attack of the 50 Foot Woman"".

Mention famous film directors and the name of Alfred Hitchcock is bound to come up. Not only were Hitchcock's films innovative and unique, they were also entertaining, captivating critics and audiences alike. He had a gift for turning the familiar into the unfamiliar, the mundane into the unexpected. With a penchant for planning the entire movie before the first day of filming began - a story board approach he shared with only one other director, Walt Disney - he was renowned for his relaxed directing style which resulted in an excellent report with his actors. Even today, decades later, Hitchcock's films stand as sterling examples of innovative technique, literally overflowing with meaning which only repeated viewing can reveal. Encompassing the scope of Alfred Hitchcock's fifty-three film career, this volume contains a comprehensive analysis of the director's greatest films, including behind-the-scene insights into the film and television industry. It examines Hitchcock's effective use of lighting and expert manipulation of the camera as a vehicle of cinematic expression. Movies such as ""The Birds"", ""Shadow of a Doubt"", ""Psycho"", and ""Rear Window"" are evaluated from a psychiatric point of view, emphasizing the ways in which Hitchcock pulled his audience into his films, often inviting them to fill in the blanks. Interviews with those who knew Hitchcock personally and quotes from the master filmmaker himself demonstrate the ways in which the director was often just as intriguing as his films.

?He always is very, very close to the camera, and he is terribly inspiring. I don?t know what his magic is, but it is something that makes you want to give everything you have. He has respect for actors and for everybody. A bad director very often doesn?t have that respect.? Liv Ullman's words about Ingmar Bergman hint at the consummate director he was, one who knew the business, the strengths and weaknesses of actors and crews, the arrangement of the set, the framing of the camera, and all other particulars of the fine art of directing. This work presents Bergman's life and work, beginning with his youth in Uppsala, Sweden, and covering his formative years, his development as an artist, and his career as a world-renowned director. A brief synopsis for each of Bergman's films is provided, with such information as producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, art director, music sound credits, running time, casts, Bergman's own comments, and the reactions of critics.

This interdisciplinary volume is dedicated to exploring the idea of the cinematic sublime by bringing together the disciplines of film studies and aesthetics to examine cinema and cinematic experience. Explores the idea of ‘the sublime’ in cinema from a variety of perspectives; the essays range in focus from early cinema, through classical Hollywood, documentary, avant-garde and art cinema traditions, and on to contemporary digital cinema. The book aims to apply the discussion of the sublime in philosophy to cinema and to interrogate the ways in which cinema engages with this tradition. Offers new and exciting insights into how cinema engages with traditional historical and aesthetic discourse. Original and wide-ranging, this clear and coherent volume is a useful resource for both post-graduate students and established scholars interested in the interrelations between film and philosophy. The range of material covered in the individual essays makes this a wide-ranging and very useful introduction to the topic. A significant new contribution to the literature on Film-Philosophy. What sets this reader apart from the existing books on the subject is the wider scope. It embraces both philosophers and film scholars to consider films from throughout film history in light of theories of the sublime from throughout the history of Philosophy. In doing so it aims to demonstrate the diverse value of sublime approaches (versus a singular definition and philosophical perspective) to a wider range of films than has previously been considered.  An original and stimulating collection of essays contributing new insights into the crossover between historical and aesthetic approaches to contemporary cinema and cinematic experience. The main readership will be academic markets including film studies and philosophy, and academics with an interest in the legacies of Burke and Kant on aesthetics. Useful for teaching aesthetics through cinematic illustration and application. Appropriate to final year undergraduate and postgraduate students with an interest in ideas at the boundaries of contemporary film studies.

In a career of more than fifty years?spanning the Golden Era from 1926 to 1976?Hollywood icon John Wayne created a treasure trove of movies. Today, scarcely an hour goes by without one of them appearing on television somewhere in the world. With most of the Wayne films available to his fans today, just a few of them remain unavailable in this era of remastered miracles. Of all the movies he made beyond the 1939 'Stagecoach' age, only two have been kept from the public: 'Island in the Sky' and 'The High and the Mighty.' Many reasons have been suggested for why the two films have been unavailable until the summer of 2005, from the thought that the original films were damaged and the copies were not good enough for additional distribution to the theory that they have been withheld for a future grand release. Whatever the reasons may be, 'The Lost Films of John Wayne' honors his work in both films and servesa as a loving portrayal of some fo the lesser-known images he left behind.

A 1906 film called ""The Dream of a Rarebit Fiend"" shows a man drinking and eating voraciously at a restaurant, then going home to bed. In the surreal scenes that follow, furniture disappears, tiny devils poke the man's head with pitchforks, and his bed hurls itself out the window and across the city. But it wasn't commentary on drinking; rather, it was a showcase of early special effects - double exposure photography, panning shots, and montage. Turn-of-the-century films typically treated drinking as a subject for comedy and ridicule, and the comic possibilities translated well into silent movies. As talkies developed and the film industry matured, alcohol's portrayal was reflected in the times: prohibition, the Great Depression, the war years, and as social commentary. Here is a study of 64 years of alcohol as portrayed in film. The author begins with the appearance in 1898 of what is probably the first commercial: a 30-second film of men in kilts dancing and the words ""Scotch Whiskey"" appearing in the background. The final film is 1962's ""Days of Wine and Roses"", which addresses alcoholism. The author includes a film from each decade, those with artistic or historical value, those that represent the comedy, drama and musical genres, and wellknown pictures such as ""The Lost Weekend"" and ""A Star is Born"". The first three chapters cover 1903 to 1939. The remaining chapters follow not a timeline but the growing complexity of the movies. A recurring motif is the use of the term ""white logic,"" a phase used by writer Jack London in his 1913 memoir John Barleycorn. It refers to disillusionment with everyday life brought on by and exacerbated by alcohol. An annotated filmography lists the date, source and other relevant information about movies in this study.

When Saigon fell in 1975, it signaled the end of America's longest war. Yet in many ways the conflict was far from over. Although the actual fighting ended, the struggle to find political justification and historical vindication for the Vietnam War still lingers in American consciousness after more than three decades. A plethora of images from America's first ""televised war"" has kept the conflict all too fresh in the memories of those who lived through it - and all too familiar for those whose generational gap should allow them to regard the conflict as history. The political process of attaching meaning to historical events has ultimately failed due to the lack of consensus - then and now - regarding events surrounding the Vietnam War. Reviewing a combination of political, social and artistic media, this volume provides a brief overview of the war's appearance in America's political and media culture since 1975. It examines the ways in which this conflict has consistently resurfaced in social and political life, especially in the arena of contemporary world events such as the Soviet misadventure in Afghanistan, the gulf war and the 2004 presidential campaign. To this end, the work explores the contexts and uses of the Vietnam War as a recurring subject. The circumstances and symbolism used through the rhetoric of the political elite and the news media including the ""New York Times"", the ""Washington Post"", ""Time"", and ""Newsweek"" are discussed. Emphasis is also placed on the role of the entertainment-oriented mass media, primarily film and television, which accounts for the most substantial penetration into American culture. Works reviewed are chosen based on social influence rather than critical acclaim.

On June 29, 1908, U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte ordered the creation of a special force within the Department of Justice. Consisting of 28 agents and eight former Treasury Department investigators, it was designed to stop interstate crimes yet had no power to arrest perpetrators or carry firearms. Named the Bureau of Investigation, the agency was soon bogged down with its own inherent ineffectiveness, becoming an object of corruption and contempt - until May 19, 1924. On that date, President Calvin Coolidge appointed John Edgar Hoover to replace the corrupt director. Hard-working with a no-nonsense attitude, Hoover immediately set about reorganizing the bureau, setting a standard that he expected his agents to follow. Hoover, impressed by Hollywood's manner of maintaining an image and manipulating the media, began to use some of these tricks to clean up his agency's image. Thanks in part to his efforts, movies of the 1930s shifted from glorifying outlaws and gangsters to glorifying lawmakers - and who better to play that role than Hoover's new, improved FBI? From crime-busting heroes to enemies of free speech, this volume examines the evolution of Hollywood's portrait of the FBI over the last 75 years. The book looks in-depth at how Hollywood's creative rewriting of history enhanced the FBI's reputation and discusses the historical events that shaped the bureau off-screen, including the various figures who tell the real FBI story - the gangsters, the politicians, the journalists, the communists. The main body of the work examines the filmmakers, actors, technicians, writers and producers who were responsible for FBI films, following the FBI from the birth of a cultural icon in the 1930s, through the spy-busting war years and the threat of the Red Menace, and, finally, to death of Hoover and the scandals of the 1960s. Studio correspondence and once confidential FBI memos are also included.

Alfred Hitchcock made many great films, but he also made many that critics and audiences largely dismissed. These least celebrated films, despite their admitted flaws and relative obscurity, offer much to reward the open-minded viewer. This critical study examines and reappraises fifteen such films generally overlooked by scholars and Hitchcock aficionados: Juno and the Paycock, The Skin Game, Waltzes from Vienna, Jamaica Inn, The Paradine Case, Under Capricorn, I Confess, Torn Curtain, Number Seventeen, Rich and Strange, Secret Agent, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Stage Fright, The Wrong Man, and Topaz. Each film is discussed and analyzed in detail, revealing the master's touch in many previously unheralded ways. Brief assessments of the films from popular review compendia introduce each one, and excerpted highlights of numerous works of scholarship are liberally sprinkled throughout the text. In addition, wonderful rare still photographs from each film are included. Readers will come away with a richer sense of the director's talents in these films, adding to their appreciation of his work in unexpected ways.

From the time Westinghouse started commercial broadcasting in 1920 through the end of the radio soap operas in the early 1960s, hundreds of men and women performed on radio. Day after day, week after week, these performers (e.g., Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Kate Smith, Lowell Thomas, Kay Kyser, and Bob Hope) became familiar voices and welcomed guests in the homes of millions of Americans. Actors, comedians, singers, commentators, announcers, emcees, newscasters, preachers and various other artists all gave voice to radio and 953 of them are covered in this unique reference work. Performers Fran Allison, Les Paul, Johnny Desmond, Alec Templeton, Don Wilson, Jerry Colonna and soap opera favorites Virginia Payne, Betty Garde, Macdonald Carey, David Gothard, Page Gilman, and Jan Miner are included herein, as well as Ezra Stone, Groucho Marx, Will Rogers, and Frank Sinatra and hundreds more. For each, there is a listing of their radio programs, birth and death dates (where appropriate) and a biography that focuses on their work in radio. It is heavily illustrated.

From inauspicious beginnings in the kinetoscope parlors and nickelodeons to the movie palaces of the golden era, and finally to the pared down multiplexes of today, this is the history of motion picture viewing in the nation's capital and vicinity. The research is supported by numerous interviews. The book includes a 200-page listing of all the movie theaters in the area past and present, with data such as location, dates of operation, architect, and seating capacity, as well as a summary of each theater's history and current status. Maps, drawings and photographs (most of which have never before been published) round out this comprehensive study.

Museums of Cinema and their Audience examines how cinema has been transformed and strengthened through museological and archival activities since its origins, and asks what paradoxes may be involved in putting cinema in a museum.

Cere examines the ideas which developed around the need to establish national museums of cinema, how these have negotiated and defined the boundary between the national and the international in their exhibitionary and screening practices. She looks at the tensions between the history of film as an aesthetic product and cinema as a a leisurea (TM) activity, and at how, museums of cinemaa (TM)s exhibitions, collections and festivals organised under their aegis, resolve them. The book also explores the way the ideal of public access to a cultural heritage is contradicted by the recent emphasis on museums as 'tourist spaces for individualised consumption'.

All these themes combined will be concretised through the empirical study of five different museums of cinema, including a visitor and audience study and interviews with leading staff, adopting a comparative focus because the resolution of many of the theoretical questions posed above may be shaped by the prevailing sense of national cultural and filmic traditions, as well as the motivations of founders and funding agencies, which may be inflected differently in varying national contexts.

The winter of 1917-18 found the United States in a general upheaval. A large percentage of the world's population was at war and the United States itself was fully occupied with an unprecedented mass mobilization of its military forces, which were rushing headlong into an era of modern warfare. It was in this setting that the Liberty Theatres were opened. Created by the War Department's Commission on Training Camp Activities, these theatres aimed to produce ""morally uplifting"" plays and movies as a form of entertainment for thousands of troops - ideally proving more effective than policing the camps. In actuality, however, Liberty Theatres became little more than public relations ploys. Ultimately, although the theatres endeavored to provide a constructive form of recreation and diversion, they - and CTCA - fell far short of what had been promised. Compiled from a variety of government documents, camp newspapers and entertainment trade journals, this volume provides an in-depth look at the 42 Liberty Theatres created by the War Department during 1918 and 1919. It discusses the way in which these theatres were designed and run, as well as the relationship between CTCA's somewhat idealistic leaders and the theatrical professionals who handled this day-to-day operation. Setting the military and the American theatre within their respective historical contexts, the book also explores the role of Liberty Theatres with regard to both entities. Appendices contain a listing of Liberty Theatre opening and closing dates; Liberty Theatre expenses; gross receipts and estimates of attendance; and the average weekly receipts of Liberty Theatres.

On January 24, 1897, an event took place that would change Cuban culture forever: the first moving pictures were shown in Havana. A couple of weeks later, on February 7, the first movie was filmed on the island. Since then, cinematography and Cuba have shared peculiar and innate connections, as their beginnings roughly coincide and Cubans are living in both the age of independence and revolution and the age of film. This work is a filmography of every Cuban film (including documentaries, shorts and cartoons) released from 1897, the first year films were shown and made in Cuba, through 2001. Each entry gives the original title of the film, the English translation of it, director, production company or companies, year of release, black and white or color, total running time, writing credits if the film is based on a story or novel, animation credits if the film is a cartoon, music credits if music has been written specifically for the film, cast credits, and a synopsis and short critical evaluation. The work also provides comments on the relationship between Cuban film and history, and the changes that have taken place over the years in themes, topics, methods, and other aspects of filmmaking in Cuba.

Archie Bunker, George Jefferson, Maude - the television sitcom world of the 1970s was peopled by the creations of Norman Lear. Beginning in 1971, with the premier of ""All in the Family"", Lear's work gave sitcoms a new face and a new style. No longer were families perfect and lives in order. Mostly blue-collar workers and their families, Lear's characters argued, struggled, uttered sometimes shocking opinions and had no problem contributing to - or at least, acknowledging - the turmoil so shunned by 1960s television. Significantly, not only did Lear address difficult issues, but he did so through successful programming. Week after week, Americans tuned in to see the family adventures of the Bunkers, the Jeffersons, and Sanford and son. With a thorough analysis of his sitcoms, this volume explores Norman Lear's memorable production career during the 1970s. It emphasizes how Lear's shows reflected the political and cultural milieu, and how they addressed societal issues including racism, child abuse and gun control. The casting, production and behind-the-screen difficulties of ""All in the Family"", ""Sanford & Son"", ""Maude"", ""Good Times"", ""The Jeffersons"" and ""One Day at a Time"" are discussed. Each show is examined from inception through series finale. Interviews with some of the actors and actresses such as Rue McClanahan of Maude and Marla Gibbs from ""The Jeffersons"" are included.

Born Caroline Louise Dudley, Mrs. Leslie Carter was destined to become one of America's principal turn-of-the century actresses. In 1889, a high profile divorce case labeled her an adulteress and sent her to the brink of poverty. With characteristic resilience, however, Mrs. Carter used infamy to her advantage. Retaining her married name as an act of revenge against her ex-husband, she approached David Belasco, one of the foremost playwrights of the day, and persuaded him to teach her the art of acting. So began one of theatre's most prolific partnerships. Not only did Belasco become Mrs. Carter's acting coach, he composed plays specifically as vehicles to showcase her particular talents. Although their relationship ruptured in 1906, Mrs. Carter continued to enjoy international renown. Weathering the changing times and methods of the early twentieth century, she persevered through stage, silent movies and vaudeville shows. This biography focuses particularly on Mrs. Carter's successful career and on her professional partnership with David Belasco. Spanning a period of radical transformation in American theatre, her career reflected - and endured - the artistic changes, which occurred during the decades on either side of the century mark. Period photographs and theatrical art are included.

Director Fred Zinnemann was one of the most honored and revered directors of Hollywood's golden age. Peter Ustinov said, "Working with him was a permanent lesson in integrity." Zinnemann will always be remembered for such award-winning classics as High Noon, From Here to Eternity and A Man for All Seasons, and for his direction of such stars as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Rod Steiger, Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Mitchum, Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep and Sean Connery. Above all, he deserves to be appreciated for raising the intelligence of popular cinema, making individualist dramas of conscience that could appeal to mass audiences without condescending to them and without compromising the director's vision. This book, the first single-author survey of Zinnemann's career, draws on the author's personal interviews with Zinnemann and reveals the coherence and subtlety of the director's work. The first part of the book deals with Zinnemann's struggle to make films of his own choosing in his own way, up to his breakthrough with The Search. The remainder of the text discusses Zinnemann's post-Search films according to major themes, including the ravages of war, the "sovereignty of selfhood," character as destiny, the outsider in society, and politics and the liberal conscience. A list of Zinnemann's awards is provided.

This book explores the idea of nihilism, as introduced by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, through its appearance in modern popular culture. The author defines and reflects upon nihilism, then explores its manifestation in film and television characters, stories, and settings. He surveys these fictional portrayals and makes a distinction between two forms of nihilism: passive life-denial and active self-realization. Among the subjects examined are the award-winning television series ""The Sopranos"" and the film noir genre that preceded and influenced it. Films probed include Orson Welles's masterpiece ""Citizen Kane"", the films of Stanley Kubrick, Neil Jordan's controversial ""The Crying Game"" and Richard Linklater's unconventional ""Waking Life"". Finally, the author considers nihilism in terms of the decay of traditional values in the genre of westerns, mostly through works of filmmaker John Ford. In the concluding chapter, the author broadens the lessons gleaned from these studies, maintaining that the question of the possible meaninglessness of life must be recognized and appreciated before people can overcome its life-negating effects.