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.

Early in the century, Marie Dressler was hailed as one of America's finest comics, with a 20-year string of Broadway and vaudeville successes including ""The Lady Slavey"", ""Miss Prinnt"", ""Higgledy Piggledy"", ""The Man in the Moon"", and ""Tillie's Nightmare"". She starred with Charlie Chaplin in the first ever feature-length comedy ""Tillie's Punctured Romance"" and later in ""Min and Bill"" for which she won an Academy Award. A brilliant comedienne in body, timing, inflection and reactions, her talents far exceeded the expectations of slapstick, and her movies earned sums far greater than those of Garbo, or Harlow, or even Gable. This work examines Dressler's life from vaudeville to talkies. Based on extensive research and interviews with Dressler's surviving friends, co-stars and colleagues, including Maureen O'Sullivan, Jackie Cooper and Anita Page, it details her public and personal successes and failures. A listing of her stage appearances, vocal recordings and films is included.

Who were the 35 actors that performed with stars Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in radio's ""The Abbott and Costello Show""? Do scripts survive for the old Burns and Allen shows or the children's crime fighter series ""The Green Hornet""? Serious researchers and curious browsers interested in Golden Age radio will find a wealth of information in this reference guide to surviving scripts. Most are from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, though subsequent decades are included for long-running shows. Crime series, whodunits, romances, situation comedies, variety shows, soap operas, quiz show series and others are included. Casual browsers will find tidbits on the radio careers of notables from other media (Humphrey Bogart, Ginger Rogers), mention of adaptations by famous authors (Jack London, Ray Bradbury), curious episode titles (""The Gorilla That Always Said Yeh-ah"") and series titles (""Whispering Streets""), and interesting sponsors (Insect-O-Blitz). The first section is an alphabetical list of significant radio script collections, with notes on their content and format and information on the collector. The second section is the guide to series scripts. Entries include title and basic information, including collection(s) in which they are found; producers, directors, writers, musicians and regular cast; sponsors; and holdings by date, episode number and title. Increasing the book's usefulness for researchers are indexes by name, program and sponsor.

2004 writeup: This is an anthology of the best papers presented at the 28th Comparative Drama Conference at the Ohio State University April 29-May 1, 2004. This international three-day event had 59 sessions and 200 program participants who presented and discussed 168 research papers. The panelists were affiliated with 100 universities and 16 colleges. For 24 years, Text and Presentation published the finest papers presented at the annual conferences as periodicals. This 25th edition is the first to be offered in book form, comprised of 16 research papers, one review essay and five book reviews. Topics include Euripides, German and Russian theatre, dramatic antecedents of the striptease, surrogate love in The Glass Menagerie, surrealist drama, Greek comedy and the American concept musical, and theatre and politics.

There are six of them: heroines, heroes, wise elders, mad scientists, servants and monsters. One of the most fascinating and also endearing aspects of horror films is how they use these six clearly defined character types to portray good and evil. This was particularly true of the classics of the genre, where actors often appeared in the same type of role in many different films. The development of the archetypal characters reflected the way the genre reacted to social changes of the time. As the Great Depression yielded to the uncertainty of World War II, flawed but noble mad scientists such as Henry Frankenstein gave way to Dr. Nieman (The Ghost of Frankenstein) with his dreams of revenge and world conquest. This work details the development of the six archetypes in horror films and how they were portrayed in the many classics of the 1930s and 1940s.

Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond made its television debut in 1959, nine months before Rod Serling's classic ""The Twilight Zone"", and paved the way for a generation of television programs devoted to paranormal topics such as the occult, ESP, and ghost stories. ""One Step Beyond"" was also where some of Hollywood's most famous leading men, including Warren Beatty, William Shatner, and Charles Bronson, got their starts in television. This complete reference work to the 96 half-hour episodes that ran for three seasons on ABC also offers a detailed history, extensive commentary and summaries of the critical reception of ""One Step Beyond"" as well as coverage of the sequel series produced in 1978 entitled ""The Next Step Beyond"". Complete credits for both series are provided.

Though Elvis Presley's music is widely credited as starting a sea change in American popular culture, his films are often dismissed as base marketing vehicles, commercially successful but insignificant. Beyond the formulaic plotlines and increasing reliance on weak songs, however, the films - and Elvis - serve as profound cultural touchstones, revealing changing American aesthetics more than a changing Elvis. Elvis's rebel image in 1956, as a guitar-swinging incarnation of Brando or Dean, had by 1969's Change of Habit become safe and sterile. This work demonstrates how Elvis, through his films, reflected a shifting social, cultural and political landscape in America. Encompassing all 31 movies and two 1970s documentaries, it provides a film-by-film study of Elvis Presley and America, and argues that each film reflects the society for which it was made. Throughout his career, most of Elvis's characters combined rebellion with wholesome, traditional ideals, but the public's perspective changed, and what was considered radical in 1954 was called reactionary by 1970. Studied sequentially, his films reflect those cyclical ideals, and unconsciously portray America's process of renewal and redefinition of self.

Beloved British humorist P.G. Wodehouse produced a wealth of literature in his lengthy career, contributing novels, short stories, plays, lyrics and essays to the canon of comic writing. His work in film and television included two stints as a screenwriter, and his stories have been the basis for more than 150 film and television productions. He also wrote several novels and essays about Hollywood, often satirizing the city and its entertainment magnates. This book studies P.G. Wodehouse's extensive, but often overlooked, relationship with Tinsel Town. The book is arranged chronologically, covering Wodehouse's Hollywood career from his early efforts in silent film, to his later contributions in television, to his work adapted posthumously for the screen. It includes a discussion of his internment in occupied France and how his brief appearances on German radio, which he intended as a way of communicating with concerned fans in America, led to his forced separation from his homeland and his assumption of American citizenship in 1955. Reflecting Wodehouse's international appeal, the book cites both British and American sources and explains differences between international anthologies, performances and broadcasts of his work. Also included are a comprehensive, detailed list of Wodehouse's stories and articles about Hollywood, and a complete filmography of motion picture and television works to which he contributed or which were based on his stories.

Actor William Powell is perhaps best known for his roles as charming Nick in ""The Thin Man"" films and blustery Clarence Day in ""Life with Father"". As diverse as those characters are, they don't begin to reveal the full scope of talent demonstrated by one of Hollywood's most intelligent leading men. Elegant, witty and dignified, Powell created accessible and human characters in a great variety of roles. His talent was such that Powell has a large and growing fan base 50 years after his last film was released, evidenced by the popularity of DVD rereleases and the frequent appearance of his films on cable television. The focus of this book is Powell's work in more than 90 films, from the silent era to the age of CinemaScope, woven into the dramatic and touching story of the actor's life. It begins by leaping into the story of how Powell and actress Myrna Loy were launched into stardom as husband and wife Nick and Nora Charles in ""The Thin Man"". The next chapter sets the stage for the baby Powell's entry into the world in 1892 and details his childhood and upbringing. Following chapters trace Powell's journey into the film industry, his early career as a popular villain, and his transition to talkies in the late 1920s aided by his training in stage. The book then details his early years in talkies, his work at Warner Bros., which turned him into a leading man, and years of stardom at MGM. Farther along the book describes turning points in Powell's life, the death of lover Jean Harlow, a 21-month hiatus from films while the actor battled cancer, and a new leap to the top in ""Life with Father"". Concluding chapters detail another flurry of films and the actor's retirement. A filmography lists Powell's films from 1922 to 1955, including those believed to be lost.

Is violence in American cinema a reflection of life? Or does life imitate the violence people see in cinema? One of the pressing questions in today's society is whether fictional portrayals of violence have social or psychological consequences. Studies have concluded with both ?yes? and ?no? verdicts. Is America a culture of violence? Why does violence, horror and melodrama appeal to people? This book explores these issues with primary focus on entertainment, especially film, through lenses of the media, the consumer, and the cultural backdrop. The film A Clockwork Orange allegedly spawned so much violence in the United Kingdom that director Stanley Kubrick was rumored to have fled with his family to avoid a death threat. From that classic case, the author takes readers through a study of media and violence that examines the structure of horror, the origin and nature of evil, the Greek mythic tradition, melodrama and catharsis, fairy tales, comic books, video games and real horror. In part two the author offers case studies in several genres: westerns, multi-melodrama (The Silence of the Lambs), slasher films, psycho drama, serials such as Star Wars and Harry Potter, apocalyptic melodrama, modern and postmodern noir, creature features and religious melodrama. In-text citations are included, and two notes expand on a couple of issues in the text?the perspectives of Plato and Aristotle on the effects of tragic drama, and discussion of differences of opinion relating to methodological approach.

You're going out a youngster, but you've got to come back a star, Warner Baxter told Ruby Keeler, in the 1933 film ""42nd Street"". The actor's scripted words would prove prophetic. The film propelled her to stardom. Ruby Keeler's rags-to-riches story is told in this pictorial biography (with text as well). Born on August 25, 1910 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, her father an iceman, her family moved to New York City in 1912. Soon enrolled in the Professional Children's School, she got her first taste of life on the stage, eventually finding her way to Broadway. Her dancing brought her the pivotal role in ""42nd Street"", and she was soon one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood. Her performance in ""No, No, Nanette"" in 1971, her first Broadway show in 41 years, met with rave reviews. Keeler's life, including her ill-fated marriage to performer Al Jolson, is recounted here, with many never-before-seen photographs.

Jane Fonda's visit to Hanoi in July, 1972, and her pro-North Vietnamese, anti-American conduct, especially her pose with an anti-aircraft gun used to shoot down American planes and her propaganda broadcasts directed toward American troops, angered many Americans. In their eyes, she was guilty of treason, but she was never charged by the American legal system. Instead, she has made millions, been the recipient of countless awards, and remained an honored American icon. This work investigates Fonda's activities in North Vietnam and argues that she could have been indicted for treason, that there would have been enough evidence to take the case to a jury, that she could have been convicted, and that a conviction probably would have been upheld on appeal. It also considers Fonda's early life and the effect it had on her behavior and beliefs in her later years, her audience of American POWs who were forced by the Vietnamese to listen to her broadcasts condemning them as war criminals, her arrival in Vietnam and how it was viewed by American servicemen and civilians, the crime of treason throughout history, and the only Congressional inquiry into her actions, which resulted in the government's decision to take no legal action against her. Texts of Fonda's radio broadcasts to American servicemen comprise the appendix.

This work features interviews with 51 leading ladies who starred in B-westerns, A-westerns, and television westerns. Some were well-known and others were not, but they all have fascinating stories to tell and they talk candidly about their careers and the many difficulties that went along with their jobs. Back then, conditions were often severe, locations were often harsh, and pay was often minimal. The actresses were sometimes the only females on location and they had to provide their own wardrobe and do their own make-up, as well as discourage the advances of over-affectionate co-stars. Despite these difficulties, most of the women interviewed for this agree that they had fun. Claudia Barrett, Virginia Carroll, Francis Dee, Lisa Gaye, Marie Harmon, Kathleen Hughes, Linda Johnson, Ruta Lee, Colleen Miller, Gigi Perreau, Ann Rutherford, Ruth Terry, and June Vincent are among the 51 actresses interviewed.

British filmmaker Peter Greenaway says life offers only two subjects: ""One is sex and the other is death."" Greenaway uses both and romanticizes neither; indeed, his goal is the antithesis of the sanitary and sentimental portrayal of humanity. Although his films have met with outrage from some viewers, cult audiences praise them for insightful messages: that people are detached from violence because they fail to see others' bodies as identical to their own; that predatory capitalism has caused humans to lose sight of our shared physicality and mortality; and that taboos are simply a system allowing people to exercise power over others. This book examines nine of Greenaway's feature films, dedicating a chapter to each: ""The Draughtsman's Contract""; ""A Zed and Two Noughts""; ""The Belly of an Architect""; ""Drowning by Numbers""; ""The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover""; ""Prospero's Books""; ""The Baby of Macon""; ""The Pillow Book""; and ""8-1/2 Women"". The author examines the characters and plot, studies the structure and elements of the story, explores Greenaway's motives and reactions, and reveals audience reactions, including comments from viewers. A filmography lists films written and directed by Peter Greenaway from 1962 to 2004.

Kenneth Strickfaden, innovative genius of illusionary special effects from silent films to the age of television, set the standard for Hollywood's mad scientists. Strickfaden created the science fiction apparatus in more than 100 motion picture films and television programs, from 1931's Frankenstein to the Wizard of Oz and The Mask of Fu Manchu to television's The Munsters. The skilled technician, known around Hollywood's back lots as ?Mr. Electric, ? once doubled for Boris Karloff in a dangerous scene and was nearly electrocuted. From his birth in 1896 to his death in 1984, Strickfaden's life was filled with adventure. He spent his early years working the amusement parks on both coasts, served overseas as a Marine during World War I, took a 1919 cross-country trip in a dilapidated Model T, and favored risky pursuits like automobile and speedboat racing. He worked as an aeronautical mechanic, constructing airplanes for an historic around-the-world flight. A science teacher at heart, he gave 1,500 traveling science demonstration lectures across the U.S. and Canada. Besides covering Strickfaden's entire personal and professional life, this book discusses how later films show his influence. It reveals the fate of his collection of equipment, and is richly illustrated with numerous rare and previously unpublished photographs. Appendices provide a selection of notes, doodles, and scribbles from Strickfaden's notebooks, informal sketches, correspondence, documents, a chronology of his film and television contributions, a bibliography, a film index, and a complete subject index.

Mind control, madness and altered states of reality can make for exciting nights at the movies--which explains the enduring popularity of a film genre that might be called the psycho thriller. Psychiatry and film came of age simultaneously, and characters such as the evil psychiatrist and the pathological killer were often developed in direct reference to the psychological themes that inspired them. For example, the penchants of Hitchcock's famously creepy Norman Bates represented real psychological disorders, and his actions were explained through psychoanalysis. The psycho thriller presents a world where psychology represents a dimension of supernatural and metaphysical wonders. The introduction analyzes what makes a psycho thriller, and subsequent chapters are devoted to each of the archetypal psycho thriller characters (the mad scientist, the psycho killer, the individual with psychic powers, and the psychiatrist) and themes (mind control, dreams, memory, and existential issues). The concluding chapter lists the top twenty psycho thrillers. Stills from classic films in the genre illustrate the text, which also includes filmography, bibliography, and index.

From the Roman Praetorian Guard to the English shire-reeve to the U.S. marshals, lawmen have a long and varied history. At first, such groups were often corrupt, guilty of advancing a political agenda rather than protecting citizens. It was about the turn of the twentieth century that police officers as we know them came into being. At this time, a number of police reforms such as civil service and police unions were developed. Citizen committees were formed to oversee police function. About this same time, the technology of motion pictures was being advanced. Movies evolved from silent films with a limited budget and short running time to films with sound whose budget was ever rising and whose audience demanded longer, more complex story lines. From the infancy of moviemaking, lawmen of various types were popular subjects. Bounty hunters, sheriffs, private eyes, detectives and street officers - often portrayed by some of Hollywood's biggest names - have been depicted in every conceivable way. Compiled from a comprehensive examination of the material in question, this volume provides a critical-historical analysis of law enforcement in American cinema. From ""High Noon"" to ""The Empire Strikes Back"", it examines the police in their many incantations with emphasis on the ways in which lawmen are portrayed and how this portrayal changes over time. Each film discussed reveals something about society, subtly commenting on social conditions, racial issues and government interventions. Major historical events such as the Great Depression, World War II and the McCarthy trials find their way into many of these films. Significant film genres from science fiction to spaghetti western are represented. Films examined include ""Easy Street"" (1917), a nominal comedy starring Charlie Chaplin; ""Star Packer"", a 1934 John Wayne film; ""The Maltese Falcon"" (1941) with Humphrey Bogart; ""Dirty Harry"", a 1971 Clint Eastwood classic; Leslie Nielsen's spoof ""Naked Gun"" (1988); and 1993's ""Tombstone"" featuring Kurt Russell. The filmography contains a synopsis along with information on director, screenplay, starring actors and year of production. Photographs and an index are also included.

Blake's 7, Terry Nation's science fiction tale of cosmic freedom fighters, became a hit series in Great Britain when it premiered in 1978. Eight years later, the show quickly became a cult program in America. A dramatization of futuristic outlaw heroes who defend the innocent from both alien and human conquering forces, the series might better be said to be equal parts Robin Hood and The Magnificent Seven. The series defied traditional genre elements of science fiction television, and developed the concept of the continual ""story arc"" years before such shows as ""Babylon 5"" and ""Deep Space Nine"". This book provides a critical history and episode guide for ""Blake's 7"", including commentaries for all 52 episodes. Also included are analytical essays on the show, dealing with such topics as themes, imagery and story arc; a consideration of the series as a futuristic Robin Hood myth; cinematography and visual effects; and an overview of ""Blake's 7"" in books, comics and videos. A detailed appendix lists the genre conventions found in the series. The author also includes information about ""Blake's 7"" fan clubs and Internet sites.

Prominent dance critic Arlene Croce wrote for The New Yorker during the 1970s, ?80s and ?90s. Through more than 200 critiques in that magazine, she confirmed a classical aesthetic framework for dance, influencing the work of numerous contemporary critics as well as the tastes of audiences. This book explores that framework and provides an interpretive analysis of the biographical, professional and historical elements that contributed to the context of Croce's work. Topics include Croce's predecessors in dance criticism, relevant twentieth-century contemporaries and the journalistic philosophy of The New Yorker. Providing 10 of Croce's essays in their entirety, the author discusses the three specific elements of artistic excellence that Croce consistently used in her evaluations: sympathetic musicality, Apollonian craftsmanship and the enlivening force of tradition. Special attention is given to the literary and rhetorical qualities of Croce's work. Finally, appendices offer a detailed subject breakdown of topics in Croce's essays, listing (by frequency of appearance) dance companies, dancers, choreographers, dance styles, ballets, and themes.

While ghosts often inhabit films and literature devoted to the horror genre, a group of literature-based films from the 1930s and 1940s present more human and romantic apparitions. These films provide the underpinnings for many of the gentle supernatural films of the 1990s. Tracing the links between spectres as diverse as Rex Harrison's ""Captain Gregg"" and Patrick Swazye's ""Sam Wheat"", the text presents the evolution of the cinematic-literary ghost from classic Gothic to the psychological, sociological, and political ideologies of today. Included are analyses of the literary and film versions of classic ghost stories - ""Wuthering Heights"", ""The Ghost and Mrs. Muir"", ""Portrait of Jennie"", ""Letter from an Unknown Woman"", ""The Uninvited"", ""Liliom, and Our Town"" - as well as interpretations of modern films not based on literary works that show the influence of these predecessors - ""Ghost"" and ""Truly, Madly, Deeply"". The text includes stills, a bibliography, and an index.

Television is awash with newly embraced gay and lesbian themes that have crossed over into the collective pop culture of America. Dramas like ""Queer As Folk"" and ""The L Word"", comedies like ""Will & Grace"", and even reality shows including the popular ""Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"" signify a new commercial acceptance of homosexuality that has never been seen before in the United States. However, the increasing exposure has prompted critics to argue that the gay and lesbian representation on television is oversimplified and is rife with one-dimensional characters. Ultimately, the viewers will decide the future of homosexuality and homosexual and lesbian characters on television. The text offers essays that explore such topics as the politics of representation and the clash of progressive and regressive social agendas in television and the workplace's emphasis on the search for a space for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and the transgendered within the mainstream media. The book contains criticisms of characters in such shows as ""Six Feet Under"", ""Queer As Folk"", ""Friends"" and ""Ellen"".

This work covers ninety years of animation from James Stuart Blackton's 1906 ""Short Humorous Phases of Funny Faces"", in which astonished viewers saw a hand draw faces that moved and changed, to ""Anastasia"", Don Bluth's 1997 feature-length challenge to the Walt Disney animation empire. Readers will come across such characters as the Animaniacs, Woody Woodpecker, Will Vinton's inventive Claymation figures (including Mark Twain as well as the California Raisins), and the Beatles trying to save the happy kingdom of Pepperland from the Blue Meanies in ""Yellow Submarine"" (1968). Part One covers 180 animated feature films. Part Two identifies feature films that have animation sequences and provides details thereof. Part Three covers over 1,500 animated shorts. All entries offer basic data, credits, brief synopsis, production information, and notes where available. An appendix covers the major animation studios.