Robert Young began his prolific filmmaking career while a student at Harvard University, where he majored in English literature, founded the Harvard Film Society, and, with the help of several colleagues, put together his first film (about a Boston factory worker). His reputation as a documentary filmmaker earned him a prestigious position with NBC, and he has since worked within and without the Hollywood production system for five decades. At age 80, Robert M. Young continues to be actively involved in a variety of projects as a commercially successful filmmaker and an independent artist. In this compilation of 15 essays, scholars of both English literature and film analyze the aesthetic and thematic elements of Young's many works. Among the films examined are Nothing But a Man, Triumph of the Spirit, Cortile Cascino, ALAMBRISTA!, Short Eyes, Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, Extremities, Dominick and Eugene, Talent for the Game, Roosters, Caught, and Human Error. The book includes an extensive interview with Young that provides a retrospect of Young's life as a director, cinematographer, writer and producer. A filmography of Young's work and a chronology of his life are also provided.

The sitcom made its first appearance in January of 1949 with the introduction of television's first family, The Goldbergs. Since the advent of the sitcom, televised fictional families have reflected the changing structure of American society. The sitcom emphasized first the lives of suburban, working class European immigrants and gradually expanded to encompass the multicultural urban phenomena of the 1960s. The roles of men and women in the fictional family have similarly been adjusted to depict women's movement into the workforce and the changing identity of the father. As censorship laws became less stringent, sitcom viewers also began to be exposed to the realities of changing family dynamics in America, watching as the traditional nuclear family diverged to include single-parent, two-father, and two-mother households. From the cultural upheaval of the mid-century to the ?reality? craze of the new millennium, television's families have mimicked and even influenced the changing values of American society. This broadcast history covers more than 100 television families, from the Goldbergs to the Osbournes, who have provided entertainment and inspiration for the American public since 1949. An introduction to the cultural trends and social developments of each decade is provided prior to a summary of the significant series of that decade. Each series entry includes a description of the family, the date of the show's first and last broadcast, the broadcasting network, the day and time aired, and the cast of characters.

In 1931 Antonio Moreno completed Santa, Mexico's first true sound film. In it he established one of the foremost genres of Latin American cinema?the popular melodrama?which continues to this day. Latin American filmmakers came to the fore in the fifties and sixties and, as 1992's Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) showed, Latin American films continue to be a major part of the international film scene. In this work over 300 of the most significant films from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and other Latin American countries are covered. Each entry includes the English title, director, year of release, running time, language, country and a detailed plot synopsis. Notes about the production and the filmmakers are also provided for many entries.

In their heyday, pulp westerns were one of America's most popular forms of entertainment. Often selling for less than 50 cents, the paperback books introduced generations to the ?exploits? of Billy the Kid and Jesse James, brought to life numerous villains (usually named ?Black? something, e.g., Black Bart and Black Pete), and created a West that existed only in the minds of several talented writers. It was only natural that filmmakers would look to the pulps for stories, adapting many of the works for the big screen and shaping the Western film genre. The adaptations of seven of the pulps? best writers?Ernest Haycox, Luke Short, Frank Gruber, Norman A. Fox, Louis L?Amour, Marvin H. Albert, and Clair Huffaker?are analyzed here. Insightful and humorous, the work looks at how the pulp novels and the movie adaptations reflected the times in which they were produced. It examines the clich's that became a part of the story: the rescue of the heroine, the gunfights, the evil banker or rancher ready to steal the land of the good, law-abiding citizens, and the harlot with a heart of gold. A critical examination of how the books were interpreted?or frequently misinterpreted?by filmmakers is included, along with commentary on the actors and directors who put the pulps on screen.

To today's radio listener, it is difficult to imagine the influence radio once held over the American people. Unlike movies or newspapers, radio both informed and entertained its audience without requiring them to participate. Part of its success depended upon the people who created the sound effects - a squeaking door, the approach of a horse, or a typewriter. The author did live sound effects during the ""Golden Age"" of radio. He provides many insights into the early days of the medium as it grappled with entertaining an audience based on a single sense (hearing). How the sounds were produced is fully covered as are the artists responsible for their production. Stories of successful effects production are balanced by embarrassing or funny failures. A list of artists and their shows is included.

With a career in films spanning nearly fifty years, Burt Lancaster brought his unique charisma and energy to roles in films ranging from the adventurous to the bittersweet. This comprehensive filmography of Lancaster's career is accompanied by a biography that provides the background for his immense range of work on the screen. Production information, a synopsis, and commentary is provided for each of Lancaster's 85 films, from the first - The Killers - to the last - Separate But Equal. Photographs from nearly all of Lancaster's films accompany the text, and an index and bibliography are also included.

Diminutive Mickey Rooney has been in show business for more than 80 years as actor, producer, writer, composer, and director. His still-active career spans vaudeville, radio, television, the stage, and movies such as ""It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World"", ""The Black Stallion"", and ""The Bridges at Toko-Ri"". He won two Golden Globes and an Emmy and has received or been nominated for many other awards. From leading a 17-piece band to writing a novel, Rooney has been dispensing earthy wisdom and good humor in the public eye for many decades. Part biography and part reference tool, this richly illustrated work covers Rooney's life from his birth in 1920 and first stage appearance 16 months later to his television and film appearances in 2004. It discusses both his professional and personal life and includes information drawn from interviews with his peers, including Spring Byington, Jackie Cooper, and Ann Rutherford. Five appendices conclude the work: a detailed filmography of his more than 170 features and 65 shorts, each listing credits and a brief commentary, plus assorted reviews; listings of all his radio, television, and stage work; and a discography of his recorded work.

Noted for its ?B? westerns, RKO also produced several movie classics; two were Citizen Kane and Gunga Din. Comprehensive filmographic data are included here for all of the studio's features: title, year of release, production credits, cast, genre, running time, alternate titles, availability on videocassette, and plot synopsis. Many entries give background information on the film's production and stars.

All films with a predominantly or entirely African American cast or that were about African Americans are detailed here. Each entry includes cast and credits, year of release, studio, distributor, type of film (feature, short or documentary) and other production details. In most cases, a brief synopsis of the film or contemporary reviews of it follow. In the appendices, film credits for over 1,850 actors and actresses are provided, along with a listing of film companies.

Puppetry has become a significant force in contemporary theatre and thousands of puppets from various cultures and time periods have been collected by scholars, enthusiasts, and curators, who wisely realized that these material images can teach us much about the societies for which they were created. This book consists of essays by the curators of the most significant puppet collections in the United States and by leading scholars in the field. In addition to the descriptive and analytical essays on the collections, the book includes an overview of American puppetry today, a history of puppetry in the United States, and essays on the theater of Julie Taymor, the Jim Henson Company, Howdy Doody's custody case, puppet conservation, and the development of virtual performance space. Institute, the Harvard University Theatre Collection, the Brander Matthews Collection at Columbia University, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. Appendices provide a listing of additional puppetry collections and a filmography of puppetry at the New York Public Library Donnell Media Center. The work concludes with a bibliography and index and is illustrated with many beautiful photographs of puppeteers and puppets on display and in performance.

The merengue is internationally recognized as the Dominican Republic's national dance. It is an integral and unifying element of Dominican identity both within that nation and among emigrants abroad. Although Dominicans often make the claim that merengue has always been in their blood, the dance is relatively young, and its popularity among Dominicans of all social classes and ages is an even more recent occurrence. This book presents three convincing arguments about the merengue's longevity as a unifying symbol of Dominican identity: Dominican identity and the merengue have necessarily been extremely fluid in order to encompass the different cultural and ethnic groups present; historically, the merengue has become a stronger identity symbol when the nation is or is perceived to be threatened from outside; and the white, Catholic, Hispanic Dominican has long been held as the ""true"" Dominican identity, causing the dance to become progressively ""whitened"" in terms of performers and style to reflect this notion and gain wider appeal at home and abroad. A map of the Dominican Republic, related photographs of key figures of Dominican history and merengue artists across the decades, and a complete bibliography are included.

During the horror and conflict of World War II, a fictional radio character named Captain Midnight stormed his way into the consciousness of American radio listeners. Captain Midnight (a.k.a. Charles J. Albright) was a vigorous, mature figure whom listeners could easily perceive defending their United States. The scripts, well written and expertly plotted, had a wide appeal-- from excited children and their Secret Squadron Code-O-Graphs to U.S. Army Air Corps flight crews. But to fans (then and now) of the original 15-minute serial adventures, the ""real"" Captain Midnight retired when the show went to 30 minutes, replaced actor Ed Prentiss, and simplified the writing and plotting. Using facts, details and events from those original early radio scripts of Captain Midnight, the author has constructed a ""biography"" of the great wartime aviation hero, covering his origins and adventures. Concluding the work are thorough appendices that discuss Secret Squadron equipment, aircraft and rocketry; cryptology and code-cracking in the series; and Captain Midnight's portrayal in various media (books, radio, television, serials, comics and newspaper strips).

Alfred Hitchcock called the silent ""the purest form of cinema,"" and the ten silent films he directed between 1925 and 1929 reveal the young director's mature artistry. Hitchcock's silents have often been characterized as the work of a talented amateur, a young director practicing his craft during a pre-sound era of antiquated instruments and poor film techniques - the director experimented with myriad points of view, unique camera angles and movements, and special affects such as dissolves, blurriness, and violent cuts. These silents, however, contain the first appearances of some of his greatest and most familiar techniques: the vertigo-inducing crowd scene, the symbolic use of inanimate objects, the manipulation of the audience's emotions, and the self-conscious, macabre wit. This work discovers Hitchcock's talent and skill through close readings of the films from The Pleasure Garden to the silent version of Blackmail, using shot-by-shot descriptions and interpretations. Each film's chapter includes technical information, a summary of the critical response from the film's release to the present, and detailed analysis of the camera techniques and themes Hitchcock uses.

Long before television and radio commercials beckoned to potential buyers, the medicine show provided free entertainment and promised cures for everything from corns to cancer. Combining elements of the circus, theater, vaudeville, and good old-fashioned entrepreneurship, the showmen of the American medicine show sold tonics, ointments, pills, extracts and a host of other ""wonder-cures,"" guaranteed to ""cure what ails you."" While the cures were seldom miraculous, the medicine show was an important part of American culture and of performance history. Harry Houdini, Buster Keaton, and P.T. Barnum all took a turn upon the medicine show stage. This study of the medicine show phenomenon surveys nineteenth century popular entertainment and provides insight into the ways in which show business, advertising, and medicine manufacture developed in concert. The colorful world of the medicine show, with its Wild West shows, pie-eating contests, clowns, and menageries, is fully explored. Photographs of performers and of the fascinating handbills and posters used to promote the medicine show are included.

This is the biography of Thomas Abthorpe Cooper, the first star of the American stage. Cooper was the chief transitional figure between the British and American stage and contributed greatly to the development of American theatre. For the 30 years after 1797, Cooper performed in the major cities and toured to every state in the Union. This work covers his entire life and career from his birth outside London in 1775, to his famed performance to celebrate the opening of the City of Washington in 1800, to his death in New York in 1849. Much research is drawn from Mr. Cooper's letters to his mentor, English radical philosopher William Godwin. Throughout, there are descriptions of his principal portrayals at different stages drawn from contemporary accounts and theatrical reviews. There are also 22 illustrations, from paintings and engravings to playbills and photographs of the sites associated with the actor.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first politician to recognize the power of radio. He appealed directly to the American people for support of his New Deal and for his foreign policy. Roosevelt's speeches and fireside chats were broadcast over networks only recently equipped with newsrooms. Listeners immediately learned of events they earlier would not have heard about for days. In those newsrooms, commentators began to interpret the news for average listeners, sometimes slanting it to reflect their own view. But it fell to a young star to demonstrate the full power of the medium. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast brought widespread panic with its fictional newscast of an alien invasion. How Roosevelt used radio, how the news was reported, and the changes Welles caused are all detailed.

In February 1903, a 30-second film titled Sherlock Holmes Baffled was released by American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, the first known adaptation of the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Over the years hundreds of adaptation and parodies of Conan Doyle's works have been released. Though he is most closely associated with Sherlock Holmes, other Conan Doyle works have found their way to the silver screen, including the science fiction classic The Lost World (1925). The major adaptations of all of Conan Doyle's literary works are fully covered here, plus a 1927 one-reel documentary in which the author talks about his work and his psychic beliefs. The focus is on how faithful the adaptations are to the author's own work and the overall effectiveness of the film.

Transcending Boundaries is an autobiography tracing the multifaceted and wide-ranging career of choreographer, director, performer and professor of dance, Donald McKayle. His chance meeting with the legendary Bill Robinson, who obligingly responded to the entreaties of a nine-year-old and executed an impromptu version of his infectious stair tap-dance, and an electric encounter as a teenager sitting in a darkened theatre witnessing a performance by concert artist Pearl Primus, are key early experiences which bring about McKayle's life in dance, theatre, film, television, entertainment, and education. He learned at the feet of the masters, trained and developed some of the profession's top practitioners, and worked in theatres and studios around the world, on - Broadway, in Hollywood - creating a repertoire of acclaimed masterworks. He experienced failure, success, love, marriage and family. Readers will find his autobiography a revelation in an ongoing and still evolving story.

The plots of many films pivot on the moment when a dowdy girl with bad hair, ill-fitting outdated clothing, and thick glasses is changed into an almost unrecognizable glamour girl. Makeover scenes such as these are examined beginning with 1942's Now, Voyager. The study examines whether the film makeover is voluntary or involuntary, whether it is always successful, how much screen time it takes up, where in the narrative structure it falls, and how the scene is actually filmed. Films with a Pygmalion theme, such as My Fair Lady, Vertigo, and Shampoo, are examined in terms of gender relations: whether the man is content with his creation and what sort of woman is the ideal. Some films' publicity capitalizes on a glamorous star's choice to play an unattractive character, as discussed in a chapter examining stars like Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, and Cameron Diaz. Topics also include folk literature's Cinderella tale, men as the inspiration for makeovers in teen flicks films like Clueless, She's All That, and Me, Natalie, and class repositioning in such movies as Working Girl, Pretty Woman, and Grease. Photographs are presented in a before/after format, showing the change in the madeover character.

This study examines the life and work of acclaimed film director Martin Scorsese, showing that his films reflect his experiences growing up in a Sicilian-American-Catholic family in the tough neighborhood of New York's Little Italy. The study links the personal Scorsese, his roots, and his ethical and religious attitudes. The work examines many films from Boxcar Bertha (1972) to Bringing out the Dead (1999), with special attention given to Gangs of New York (2002) as a vehicle for Scorsese's return to his roots. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) is analyzed as a template for the Scorsese opus. The study begins with a biography of Scorsese, and then describes his films from 1963 to 2002, providing plot summaries, themes, and characters. The body of the work analyzes films in terms of male sexuality, narcissism, violence, and the place of women in the director's personal and cinematic world. In addition to showing how the themes of Scorsese's films derive from his roots, the study offers psychological analyses of his focal characters. It provides a psychological basis for understanding the dialogue and actions of the characters in the context of their respective film stories. The study shows that Scorsese's films express the values that define his worldview, which include his attitudes about masculinity, aggression, and violence.

Foreign films once enjoyed a position of prominence on American theater screens. By the start of World War I, however, the United States' film industry was strong enough to challenge that foreign presence and foreign films in American have been insignificant ever since. For about a century, the Hollywood cartel has dominated the production, distribution, and exhibition of movies domestically and around the world. This work traces the history of the foreign film in America from its domination in the early days to its low standing in the present, looking at the attempts made by foreign producers to increase their presence on American cinema screens, the responses by Hollywood to those attempts, and the oligopoly of Hollywood's few producers. The work discusses the cultural differences between foreign artistic expression and the commercialism of the American film and analyzes Hollywood's explanations for the lack of a foreign presence: Americans have ""unique"" tastes, they don't like subtitles, foreign films are immoral or badly made, trade union pressure, and so on. An appendix detailing the all-time gross earnings of foreign-language films and a full bibliography conclude the work, which is illustrated with stills and posters.

Jules Verne - Voila! - is a name that resonates with visions of fantastic adventures and images of exotic exploits. In his voyages extraordinaires, the noted French author integrates his encyclopedic knowledge of science and geography with his ability to tell fascinating and entertaining tales, taking his readers on unprecedented journeys across the globe, into the earth, and out into space. This revered writer, who with his boundless imagination had hoped to contribute substantially to the world of letters, has surpassed that expectation to become coincidentally a significant influence on film. This comprehensive filmography not only offers an incisive analysis of Verne's epic creations, but also presents an examination of the films inspired by his stories and characters. If one tries to think of all the films adapted from the works of Jules Verne, a fair sampling might be easy to come up with. If one looks more closely at the plots and motifs of many other films, science fiction and otherwise, their origins are revealed to have been derived from Verne. For example, most film enthusiasts are familiar with Disney's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and a few may even be aware of the 1916 silent version. But Verne's classic undersea novel also provided the underpinnings for such other movies as Fantastic Voyage (1966) and Innerspace (1987). The central arrangement is by Verne's title with a brief thematic analysis of the novel. The entry then presents in chronological order all cinematic adaptations of that work, allowing the user to make comparative analyses of not only the movies but also their relationships to Verne's original story. Filmographic data are provided for each adaptation, along with a plot synopsis that blends critical commentary with an examination of the connection between the movie and Verne's work.

The late 1950s and early 1960s were the golden years of horror television. Anthology series such as Way Out and Great Ghost Tales, along with certain episodes of Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, were among the shows that consistently frightened a generation of television viewers. And perhaps the best of them all was Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff. In Thriller the horror was gothic, with a darker, bleaker vision of life than its contemporaries. The show's origins and troubled history is first discussed here, followed by biographies of such key figures as producer William Frye, executive producer Hubbell Robinson, writers Robert Block and Donald S. Sanford, and Karloff. The episode guide covers all 67 installments, providing airdate, production credits, cast, plot synopses and critical evaluations.