Customer Reviews

"Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!": A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959

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I have read many books & articles on exploitation films as well as viewing many of the films mentioned in Eric's book. THE BOOK IS WELL RESEARCHED. The chapters about censorship & distribution/marketing were the most interesting. Eric gives an excellent example of what cuts were required for a specific film for both the Chicago & the Ohio censorship boards (the Ohio board being much stricter), & mentions about how the same film was handled for the different markets. Detailed descriptions of many films are provided(& this is about the only book that mentions about exploitation films during the silent era). This is also the only book that I have seen that mentions about the ultra-low budgets(including dollar amounts)of these films. Anybody with a serious interest in film should read this book.

The author of this book, Eric Schaefer, is an associate professor and, frankly, reads like one. With that said, Bold! Daring! is probably the most important book on the American screen published in recent times. The author eminently explains not only how exploitation movies, the step children of the Golden Era film industry, came to be but, more importantly, why. Using a liberal dose of both contemporary and modern sources, Schaefer eminently describes the rise and fall and rise again of a genre not as easily dismissed as previous works would have us believe. BOLD! DARING! SHOCKING! TRUE quite simply fills an important gap in our knowledge of society in general and the film industry (with stress on INDUSTRY) in particular. Anyone owning a copy of, say, REEFER MADNESS, will wish to view it again for more than the accustomed camp value.

In Eric Schaefer's beautifully designed and illustrated book, Bold! Daring! Shocking! True! A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959, you get the full history of the exploitation film genre, a genre that concentrates on shocking the viewer and making money in the process. In language that is brutally simplistic, and images that don't require second-guessing, exploitation films deliver the darkest fantasy of American culture along with its moral. Schaefer discusses the writing, production, and distribution of these films and profiles some filmmakers. He presents details on such exploitation masterpieces as Road to Ruin, Modern Motherhood, One Way Ticket to Hell, and The Wages of Sin.

Eric Schaefer is a professor of visual and and media arts at Emerson College who developed an interest in exploitation films while writing his master's thesis. He defines the "exploitation film" as being the often lurid "educational" movies that were released by small time film makers between 1919-1959. Sex hygiene and anti-drug propaganda were the most typical themes, though vice, gangs and "exotic" cultures were also part of the genre. The films are often characterized by their attempts to titillate the audience while claiming to be preaching against social evils.

Much of the first half of the book is devoted to describing the production techinques, marketing and commercial appeal of these films. Film makers and hardcore cinema junkies will probably be intrigued. But this portion of the book held little interest for me. I did, however, enjoy the chapter on censorship. It discussed Hollywood history and how exploitation films developed as a sort of "alternative cinema" following the implementation of production codes by the the Hays Office in the 1920's - which censored much of the sex and other taboo topics out of the big studio movies of the era.

The second part of the book is a lengthy chronicling of dozens of these exploitation films. I enjoyed reading about the various story lines, actors and directors, though it did get a bit repetitive at times.

Schaefer is a decent writer and this book largely suceeds in its scholarly intentions. But one should remember, before purchasing, that this is an academic work directed towards a specific audience - devoted exploitation film fans, movie makers and film students. I, as someone with a more casual interest in these types of movies, was hoping for a more accessible book that covered a wider range of cult films. The appendix does serve as a good resource for the directors and films covered. It was this part of the book that I found most useful.

This book is without question the best book written on exploitation films made before 1960. It is incredibly meticulous but still very clearly written. If you are a fan of the genre, you need to get this book--I first read it many years ago but am still amazed whenever I go back to it at how good, how professional, it truly is. It makes all the other books in the area seem of "fanzine" quality by comparison. If I have one complaint, it is that Mr. Schaefer has not yet supplied the world with his long awaited follow-up on the subject of sexploitation films. But I am happy to wait if said wait means that the next book will be just as good. Buy it!

Yes, the book is exquisitely researched; it offers more. For those with an interest in the close past, Schaefer examines the time through its rejection/acceptance of these films. The book is worth purchasing for its pictures alone (if you don't like words). If you like films, well, naturally you will want it.

If you are one of those persons who just likes knowing "stuff"; if you enjoy _Longtitude_ or the _The Professor and the Madman_ then you will find this book entertaining.

The subject matter is both tillitating and important. The films encapsulate both the desires and the anxieties of the time; gratuitious scenes of sex tempered with doctor's warnings of veneral disease. What a wonderful juxtaposition of the double standards of the time.

Schaefer's style is soo easy to read too.