A Little Solitaire: John Frankenheimer and American Film

Published by Rutgers University Press 2011

A Little Solitaire

John Frankenheimer and American Film

Edited by: Murray Pomerance and R. Barton Palmer
With contributions by: R. Barton Palmer , Rebecca Bell-Metereau , Matthew Bernstein , Dennis Bingham , Tom Conley , Christine Cornea , Corey Creekmur , Victoria Duckett , Bill Krohn , Doug McFarland , James Morrison , Jerry Mosher , Robin L. Murray , Stephen Prince , Charles Ramirez Berg , David Sterritt and Linda Ruth Williams

https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813550985

Overview
Contents

About this book

Think about some commercially successful film masterpieces--The Manchurian Candidate. Seven Days in May. Seconds. Then consider some lesser known, yet equally compelling cinematic achievements--The Fixer. The Gypsy Moths. Path to War. These triumphs are the work of the best known and most highly regarded Hollywood director to emerge from live TV drama in the 1950s--five-time Emmy-award-winner John Frankenheimer.

Although Frankenheimer was a pioneer in the genre of political thrillers who embraced the antimodernist critique of contemporary society, some of his later films did not receive the attention they deserved. Many claimed that at a midpoint in his career he had lost his touch. World-renowned film scholars put this myth to rest in A Little Solitaire, which offers the only multidisciplinary critical account of Frankenheimer's oeuvre. Especially emphasized is his deep and passionate engagement with national politics and the irrepressible need of human beings to assert their rights and individuality in the face of organizations that would reduce them to silence and anonymity.

Author / Editor information

Murray Pomerance is an independent film scholar in Toronto and the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including Johnny Depp Lives Here (Rutgers University Press). He is the coeditor of the Star Decades and Screen Decades series (Rutgers University Press). R. Barton Palmer is the Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature at Clemson University, where he directs the film studies program. He is the author, editor, or general editor of numerous books including Larger than Life: Movie Stars of the 1950s (Rutgers University Press).

Reviews

"With an all-star lineup of contributors, A Little Solitaire casts important new light on filmmaker John Frankenheimer, his generation, and his era in American film history."

— Robert Sklar, author of Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies

"Pomerance and Palmer's collection could serve as a model for scholarly books on directors. Highly recommended."

— Choice

"With an all-star lineup of contributors, A Little Solitaire casts important new light on filmmaker John Frankenheimer, his generation, and his era in American film history."

— Robert Sklar, author of Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies

"Pomerance and Palmer's collection could serve as a model for scholarly books on directors. Highly recommended."

— Choice

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Why Don’t You Pass the Time by Playing a Little Solitaire? R. Barton Palmer and Murray Pomerance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Thrills
Murdered Souls, Conspiratorial Cabals: Frankenheimer’s Paranoia Films David Sterritt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
The Manchurian Candidate: Compromised Agency and Uncertain Causality Charles Ramírez Berg Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
Stealth, Sexuality, and Cult Status in The Manchurian Candidate and Seconds Rebecca Bell-Metereau Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	48
The Train: John Frankenheimer’s “Rape of Europa” Matthew H. Bernstein Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	62
Action and Abstraction in Ronin Stephen Prince Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
Politics
Late Frankenheimer/ Political Frankenheimer Douglas McFarland Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
John Frankenheimer’s “War on Terror” Corey K. Creekmur Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
The Burning Season: Environmentalism versus Progress? Robin L. Murray Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
Pictures and Prizes: Le Grand Prix de Rome and Grand Prix Victoria Duckett Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
Families
Crashing In: Birdman of Alcatraz Tom Conley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
Walking the Line with the Fille Fatale Linda Ruth Williams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157
Live TV, Filmed Theater, and the New Hollywood: John Frankenheimer’s The Iceman Cometh James Morrison Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	170
Ashes, Ashes: Structuring Emptiness in All Fall Down Murray Pomerance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	184
Secrets
An American in Paris: John Frankenheimer’s Impossible Object Jerry Mosher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Shot from the Sky: The Gypsy Moths and the End of Something Dennis Bingham Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	214
Frankenheimer and the Science Fiction/Horror Film Christine Cornea Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
The Fixer: A Jew Who Could Be Any Man, Any Time, Anywhere R. Barton Palmer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	244
Jonah Bill Krohn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	262
John Frankenheimer’s Directorial Career: A Chronology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
Works Cited and Consulted Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	287
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303

Language: English
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 324
Illustrations
- Other: 53

eBook

Published: August 11, 2011
ISBN: 9780813550985