The Death of Classical Cinema: Hitchcock, Lang, Minnelli (Suny Series, Horizons of Cinema) [Paperback]

Joe Mcelhaney (Author)

Book Description

Series: Suny Series, Horizons of Cinema | Publication Date: October 19, 2006

A study of three classical filmmakers and the films they made at the cusp of the modernist movement in cinema.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Death of Classical Cinema uncovers the extremely rich yet insufficiently explored dialogue between classical and modernist cinema, examining the work of three classical filmmakers--Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, and Vincente Minnelli--and the films they made during the decline of the traditional Hollywood studio system. Faced with the significant challenges posed by alternative art cinema and modernist filmmaking practices in the early 1960s, these directors responded with films that were self-conscious attempts at keeping pace with the developments in film modernism. These films--Lang's The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse, Hitchcock's Marnie, and Minnelli's Two Weeks in Another Town--were widely regarded as failures at the time and bolstered critics' claims concerning the irrelevance of their directors in relation to contemporary filmmaking. However, author Joe McElhaney sheds new light on these films by situating them in relation to such acclaimed modernist works of the period as Godard's Contempt, Fellini's La dolce vita, Antonioni's Red Desert, and Resnais's Last Year at Marienbad. He finds that these modernist films, rather than being diametrically opposed in form to the work of Hitchcock, Lang, and Minnelli, are in fact profoundly linked to them.

"This is a brilliant work that restores my faith in film studies. McElhaney's sweeping command of film history and theory, his nuanced formal analyses, and his stately and sustained argument result in a book that I already find indispensable in my own teaching." -- Scott Bukatman, author of Matters of Gravity: Special Effects and Supermen in the 20th Century

"A sharp, erudite, and sensitive mind, wholly committed to the cinema, is here at work. At a time when the idea of the film director as `auteur' is making a comeback, McElhaney's perspective will no doubt emerge as crucial for the necessary critical realignment between the performativity of Hollywood as a studio system and the achievements of its outstanding masters." -- Thomas Elsaesser, author of European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Joe McElhaney is Assistant Professor of Film Studies at Hunter College, The City University of New York. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 270 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (October 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791468887
• ISBN-13: 978-0791468883
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,630,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars artistically serious efforts, January 18, 2007

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This review is from: The Death of Classical Cinema: Hitchcock, Lang, Minnelli (Suny Series, Horizons of Cinema) (Paperback)

McElhaney gives a sophisticated treatment of the later films of Hitchcock, Lang and Minnelli. Of these directors, Hitchcock and Lang are perhaps better known to Americans. The author shows that the reader (or viewer) can derive a deeper appreciation of the films made by these men during the 60s. By not just considering each film in isolation, but in the context of the other films by that director and the other 2 directors.

The films looked at in the book were not generally the highest grossing of the directors'. But a main theme of the book is that they should be regarded as artistically serious efforts. Perhaps more so than they were at the time, since when a film appears, its box office yields are often defined as the only real criterion of success. The elapsed decades permit a more nuanced treatment and appreciation.