American Cinema of the 1960s: Themes and Variations

Published by Rutgers University Press 2008

American Cinema of the 1960s

Themes and Variations

Edited by: Barry Keith Grant
With contributions by: Murray Pomerance , James Morrison , Anna Everett , Joe McElhaney , Leslie Abramson , David Desser , Harry Benshoff , Christopher Sharrett , Eric Schaefer and Christie Milliken

In the series Screen Decades: American Culture/America

https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813544717

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

BARRY KEITH GRANT is a professor in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture, and Film at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, and the author of numerous books.

Reviews

“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

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Timeline: The 1960s Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction: Movies and the 1960s Barry Keith Grant Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1960 Movies and Intimations of Disaster and Hope Christopher Sharrett Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	22
1961 Movies and Civil Rights Anna Everett Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
1962 Movies and Deterioration Eric Schaefer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
1963 Movies and the Little Soldiers of the New Frontier Joe McElhaney Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
1964 Movies, the Great Society, and the New Sensibility James Morrison Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	110
1965 Movies and the Color Line David Desser Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	130
1966 Movies and Camp Harry M. Benshoff Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	150
1967 Movies and the Specter of Rebellion Murray Pomerance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	172
1968 Movies and the Failure of Nostalgia Leslie H. Abramson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
1969 Movies and the Counterculture Christie Milliken Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
Select Academy Awards, 1960–1969 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Works Cited and Consulted Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	247
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257