Product Description

Hailed as the definitive work upon its original publication in 1975 and now extensively revised and updated by the author, this vastly absorbing and richly illustrated book examines film as an art form, technological innovation, big business, and shaper of American values. 80 black-and-white photos.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13259 in Books
• Published on: 1994-12-05
• Released on: 1994-12-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780679755494
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Sklar has revised and updated this imposing, wide-ranging analysis of American cinema, first published in 1975; 80 b&w photos.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Sklar shows that movies not only reflect our society but influence it as well. This update advances the study to 1993 films. "Well worth consideration" (LJ
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"THE history of the American movie, combining social history, economics, and a precise and effective sense of film criticism."--Frank Friedel, Harvard University

"One of the best popular works we have in the field of media ecology....There is hardly a single question regarding the transforming power of movies that [Sklar] leaves untouched."--Neil Postman -- Review

Customer Reviews

Perfect
Sklar's Movie Made America was assigned as my textbook for a film class I just finished here at UCLA. At first I thought it to be a bit boring, especially because I thought it was just repeating what the professor had discussed in class. However, when I truly began to appreciate this book and take the time to read every word, I realized that Sklar not only presents the facts, but synthesizes the history of American cinema in innovative and interesting contexts. He discusses the way that film, from its start, has changed America as a social body, as a political body, as an economic body, and as a body in of itself.

Certain chapters were intriguing because they took standpoints different than any other author. And while the words are a bit dated, last revised over 10 years ago, it still has a spooky sense of relevance.

Overall, a wonderful book. If you're interested in the history of American film, here you go. I'm not selling this one back to the bookstore during Buy-Back time. That's for sure.

Thorough and Meticulous Guide
For those who wish to extend beyond the wisdom of the typical movie buff -- knowing how much a particular film grossed; memorizing the dialogue of a film word for word; spotting discrepancies in plots -- this book is for you. Do you know how films came to be? Who and what were the catalysts that aided the popularity of the motion picture industry? What's the story on the current Hollywood studios? Although sometimes tedious, this book is the complete guide for those who are curious about both motion pictures and the interesting history that entails.

Highly over-rated
While I realize that Robert Sklar's Movie Made America is a regularly used text in many university film courses, I can only surmise that this may be why so many film classes are boring. While Skylar's book is somewhat comprehensive as far as it goes, it is not only overly pedantic but it is written with no determinable sense of chronology. While it is subtitled "A Cultural History of American Movies," it is more a social history of early Hollywood with an emphasis on the old studio system and those early personages which comprised that system. Furthermore, easily one-third of the book is dedicated to the first twenty years of American film making.

I purchased this book for adoption in a university film course that I teach which has as its emphasis the cultural underpinnings of American Film. While my students appreciated that the book was inexpensive, both the students and I agreed that the book was uninspired, unexciting, unimaginative, unattractive, unintelligible, and nearly unreadable. Additionally, it is cheap looking; it is printed on cheap paper which allowed bleed-through of the ink; and the photographs are reproduced with less quality than you would find in a newspaper. I am going back to John Belton's book, American Cinema, American Culture, next semester.