Biopixs: How Hollywood [Hardcover]

George Custen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1992

Enhanced by charts, appendixes, notes, and references to approximately 300 movies from 1927 to 1960 (with additional material on the biopics' absorption by contemporary television), this volume analyzes biographical film production, distribution, and exhibition under the constraints of censorship, libel law, producer proclivities, and casting. Custen (communications, CUNY) explains why biographies of entertainers proliferated after World War II, how studio moguls fostered biographical narratives similar to their own rags-to-riches stories, and to what extent research departments affected veracity. A good addition to a scant literature that includes Michael Pitts's Hollywood and American History (McFarland & Co., 1984) and George MacDonald Fraser's The Hollywood History of the World ( LJ 9/15/88). Essential for comprehensive film collections. Movie Entertainment Book Club selection.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Enhanced by charts, appendixes, notes, and references to approximately 300 movies from 1927 to 1960 (with additional material on the biopics' absorption by contemporary television), this volume analyzes biographical film production, distribution, and exhibition under the constraints of censorship, libel law, producer proclivities, and casting. Custen (communications, CUNY) explains why biographies of entertainers proliferated after World War II, how studio moguls fostered biographical narratives similar to their own rags-to-riches stories, and to what extent research departments affected veracity. A good addition to a scant literature that includes Michael Pitts's Hollywood and American History (McFarland & Co., 1984) and George MacDonald Fraser's The Hollywood History of the World ( LJ 9/15/88). Essential for comprehensive film collections. Movie Entertainment Book Club selection.
- Kim Holston, American Inst. for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, Malvern, Pa.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A fresh and important contribution to film history and cultural studies." -- Daniel Czitrom, Mount Holyoke College

"Ambitious and groundbreaking... a book no historian, student of media, or movie enthusiast should miss." -- George Gerbner, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

"An illuminating account of an enduring but little analyzed staple of popular film, the story of a life..." -- Richard Dyer, University of Warwick --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 326 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (May 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813517540
• ISBN-13: 978-0813517544
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,878,246 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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