An analysis of the ideologies and artistic conventions of American movies includes examinations of films such as Casablanca, Taxi Driver, and The Godfather.
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An informative and stimulating book that explores our popular mythology through illuminating discussions of commercially successful films ranging from Casablanca to Taxi Driver. -- New York Times Book Review
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mandatory reading for Classic Hollywood enthusiasts,
By
This review is from: A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980 (Paperback)
The book's title alludes to the 1954 essay by Francois Truffaut, "A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema," in which Truffaut describes the "current" trends in French cinema and calls for a change. He, along with Godard, Rivette, Varda, Rohmer et. al, proceeded to enact a French cinema revolution -- the nouvelle vague. It is in this spirit that Ray outlines a certain "tendency" of classic Hollywood cinema: a formal and narrative paradigm. Ray's book is a brilliant tour-de-force analysis of the persistant ideological and formal registers that have come to define the "classic" Hollywood style. He begins with the 30s, with the codification of the studio system style, and moves to the present of the book's publication. Ray provocatively moves from an analysis of narrative conventions -- the frontier/western story, such as the much-adapted Huck Finn, as a persistent theme in American cinema -- to a shot-by-shot breakdown of the conventional Hollywood scene. Implicitly, the book, like its forebear, asks for some sort of shift in the seemingly intransigent formula that has become the Hollywood movie. How does the "same" Hollywood movie bespeak the same American ideology? The book has proved invaluable to me as a lover of movies as well as someone who wants to speak/think astutely about film. Each time I dip into the book, I am rewarded by a new insight. And, after reading a number of scholarly film books, I can say that this is one of the best written. Hey, the guy is a beautiful writer! For those of you who don't want to "think" about movies, this is not a film-for-fun book; it's for those who take movies seriously as an aesthetic/ideological form. And, as its been in print for twenty-years, it clearly is one of the most important books in American film scholarship.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a good read,
By
This review is from: A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980 (Paperback)
While I have always enjoyed going to the movies. I know little about them on an academic level. Reading Ray's book gave me a new understanding and higher appreciation for movies. After reading this book I was able to enjoy watching a movie more because I understood the art better. He has keen insight and I truly enjoyed reading his book. At times however the text was complex and caused a small amount of difficulty for me. But the extra work put in reading this book is well worth it. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys the movies and is interested in learning more.
6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ray is a genius,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980 (Paperback)
A Certain Tendancy of the Hollywood Cinema is without doubt one of the finest books that I have ever read. Ray enlightens and entertains like a true master. Ray's crisp prose opens up a new world of understanding and thought about Hollywood. He makes old ideas seem new while providing new ones. Anyone who has ever seen a movie should read this book. After reading this book, you will never view the silver screen the same way again. Movies will become infinitly more enjoyable as you understand them on the deepest levels of their creators. A Certain Tendancy of the Hollywood Cinema is a true tour de force.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
TO SENSE quickly the importance of the years 1930-1945 for the history of the American Cinema, one only has to realize that: 1. All of the nine major studios (MGM, Twentieth Century-Fox, Warner Brothers, RKO, Paramount, Columbia, Universal, United Artists, and Disney) that have produced and distributed the vast majority of American films came to prominence before 1945. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
reluctant hero story, reconciliatory pattern, thematic paradigm, ironic audience, outlaw hero, official hero, disguised westerns, class divisiveness, invisible style, western parody, formal paradigm, frontier mythology, combat films, traditional mythology, film scholarship, naïve audience, counter cinema, continuity rules, problem pictures Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Classic Hollywood, The Godfather, Liberty Valance, Taxi Driver, New York, New Wave, Butch Cassidy, Easy Rider, Bedford Falls, George Bailey, Don Corleone, United States, Classic Period, China Seas, Dirty Harry, Red River, The Graduate, Andy Hardy, Red Dust, Cool Hand Luke, Walking Tall, Air Force, Cold War, Death Wish, Victor Laszlo New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
TO SENSE quickly the importance of the years 1930-1945 for the history of the American Cinema, one only has to realize that: 1. All of the nine major studios (MGM, Twentieth Century-Fox, Warner Brothers, RKO, Paramount, Columbia, Universal, United Artists, and Disney) that have produced and distributed the vast majority of American films came to prominence before 1945. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
reluctant hero story, reconciliatory pattern, thematic paradigm, ironic audience, outlaw hero, official hero, disguised westerns, class divisiveness, invisible style, western parody, formal paradigm, frontier mythology, combat films, traditional mythology, film scholarship, naïve audience, counter cinema, continuity rules, problem pictures Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Classic Hollywood, The Godfather, Liberty Valance, Taxi Driver, New York, New Wave, Butch Cassidy, Easy Rider, Bedford Falls, George Bailey, Don Corleone, United States, Classic Period, China Seas, Dirty Harry, Red River, The Graduate, Andy Hardy, Red Dust, Cool Hand Luke, Walking Tall, Air Force, Cold War, Death Wish, Victor Laszlo New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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44
books
cite this book:
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- It's a Wonderful Life by James W. Rodgers on 11 pages
- Bonnie and Clyde by Arthur Penn on 9 pages
- Les Aventures de Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain on 5 pages
- Only Angels Have Wings on 5 pages
- For Marx (Radical Thinkers) by Louis Althusser on 4 pages
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- Hollywood Cinema by Richard Maltby on 6 pages
- Romance and the "Yellow Peril": Race, Sex, and Discursive Strategies in Hollywood Fiction by Gina Marchetti in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Celluloid Mushroom Clouds: Hollywood And Atomic Bomb (Critical Studies in Communication and in the Cultural Industries) by Joyce Evans in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- New Ground: Western American Narrative and the Literary Canon by A. Carl Bredahl in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Projections of War: Hollywood, American Culture, and World War II. (Film and Culture Series) by Thomas Doherty in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 44 books citing this book
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