Customer Reviews

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

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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.