Black and White and Blue: Adult Cinema From the Victorian Age to the VCR [Paperback]

Dave Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2007

In the 1920s they were called stags, smokes, or blue movies; today it's adult films. But until now, apart from brief summaries in film histories and scholarly articles, there has been no complete history of the pornographic film industry. That gap is filled by this lively and insightful book that provides commentary on individual movies and traces the evolution of film styles and storylines through nearly a century of  X-rated material. All the research for the book is based on viewings of the movies—many of the oldest are now archived on DVDs—and on interviews with living actors and producers. Tracing an arc from the masks and dim lighting of the earliest days to the realism and absence of trick photography in the 1920s and 1930s, the account then ponders the obsession with close-ups of body parts in later decades. The overview ends in the late 1970s, when the advent of home videos changed adult entertainment completely.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you have any kind of rock'n'roll reference library, chances are you own at least one book by Dave Thompson"   —Paper magazine

"Thompson tells the story behind milestones in the genre's history . . . cultural historians will delight in Thompson's tale."  —Playboy.com

"Definitely enlightening, and entertaining."  —The A.V. Club

"The book is effective and moving."   —Alarm

"A comprehensive historical view of adult cinema."  —The Hornet

"In a series of chronological chapters, [Thompson] takes a scholarly look at an industry for which there is little mainstream archive or history."  —Rambles.net

About the Author

Dave Thompson is the author of more than 80 books, including Cream: The World's First Supergroup, Go Phish, Moonage Daydream, Never Fade Away, and Smoke on the Water. In 1998, he was ranked one of rock's five foremost authors in Mojo magazine. He lives in London and Delaware.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: ECW Press (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550227912
• ISBN-13: 978-1550227918
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #371,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Could have been a lot better, October 13, 2011

By 

Joe Blough "JB" (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black and White and Blue: Adult Cinema From the Victorian Age to the VCR (Kindle Edition)

This book could have been a lot better if it was written in more of a point A to Point B list syle of writing or rather more as a time-line. Instead the author took a lot of litery license with this book and tried to write it in the style of a romanticized novel. There is a lot of big descriptive words that were unnecessary and obscured the information that was presented. Even though it had some good information most of it got lost in all of the unnecessary words. It wasn't a total waste of money but not the best read.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably the first "professional" textbook of this sort, April 4, 2008

By 

william Bessmer "Remember kids, gangrape is bad" (South Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black and White and Blue: Adult Cinema From the Victorian Age to the VCR (Paperback)

Dave Thompson has created the hypothetical keystone textbook to a hypothetical college class called "Historical analysis of American Adult Cinema." The book is thorough and scholarly with regards to its subject matter. Thompson quickly dispatches controversy by claiming that the study of blue cinema is not inherently dirty, as people are moved to view films of ill repute with the same ferocity as they would a picture of a sunset. With moral objections held at bay, Thompson focuses on detailing the milestones that spurred the development of the industry starting with the first moving pictures.

The jewel in the crown of the book is the interview with (what is now a grandmother) a starlet from stag films during the great depression. It was extra-ordinarily enlightening.

The books failures are it's near total omission of non-heterosexual liaisons in film history as well as the darker side of the material: snuff. The book is grounded in an American perspective with diversions into European film.

This a great book for true lovers of film, film history, or even human sexuality studies.

P.S. There are a couple (2 or 3) puns that Thompson had the power to avoid, but chose not to. Shame on him and his editors.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable contribution to an oft-overlooked area of film history, January 20, 2008

By 

Jessica Lux (Rosamond, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black and White and Blue: Adult Cinema From the Victorian Age to the VCR (Paperback)

Dave Thompson's history of the stag film discusses the industry from the black and white silent era to the advent of the VCR in the 1970's. In a series of chronological chapters, he takes a scholarly look at an industry for which there is little mainstream archive or history. Many of the early films have disintegrated into vinegary-smelling dust, and the official records are few.

Before the age of adult movie theaters, reels were carried by traveling entrepreneurs who showed them in clubs, at bachelor parties, and in fraternity houses. Ends of the filmstrips would wear, so with time, two or more fragments of different movies would be spliced together. Plots were paper thin-who'd want to waste precious filmstock on plot? Traveling had an added bonus because the entrepreneurs were meeting new dancers, wannabe actresses, and even adventurous husband/wife pairs willing to help film new material.

When the films moved into adult movie houses, patrons had to leave the safety of their homes to sneak down dirty alleys to watch movies away from proper society. With the advent of the VCR in the 1970's, adult film could again be viewed in private. Thompson's book looks at both American and world cinema, and includes a 28-page filmography.