A History of Film (History of Film) [Paperback]

Virginia Wright Wexman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 3, 2005 | ISBN-10: 020544976X | ISBN-13: 978-0205449767 | Edition: 6th

Substantially revised for the Sixth Edition, A History of Film is a comprehensive international survey of film from its beginnings to the present. This text highlights the contributions of major film-producing countries, significant filmmakers, and their films within social, artistic, economic, and technological contexts. This Sixth Edition incorporates major revisions designed to improve the book’s focus and provide more balanced coverage.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Substantially revised for this edition, A History of Film is a comprehensive international survey of film from its beginnings to the present. This text highlights the contributions of major film-producing countries, significant filmmakers, and their films within social, artistic, economic, and technological contexts. This Sixth Edition incorporates major revisions designed to improve the book's focus and provide more balanced coverage.

New to the Sixth Edition

• Includes new chapters on Indian and Chinese cinemas, emphasizing the exploding film industry in these two countries.
• Adds a chapter on “The Digital Future” in American film, bringing the text up-to-date with latest technological and industrial developments.
• Discusses more women filmmakers throughout the text and adds a section on Asian-American filmmakers, expanding the diversity and inclusiveness of the text.
• Replaces many illustrations with new examples, most of them frame enlargements, and, specifically, keys all illustrations to discussions in the text, ensuring that the images will be valuable learning tools for students.
• Adds more extended analyses of individual films, helping students grasp large historical questions by presenting them within specific cases rather than in abstract generalities.
• Provides a new glossary, helping students understand the technical, foreign-language, and industry terms used in the text.

Praise for A History of Film

“The reason why I selected A History of Film over all of the other textbooks has to do with the basic approach of the subject of film as a developing art form while paying careful attention to film genres and history; the organizational structure of the chapters; a clear and authoritative writing style that explains the interconnectivity of film as a global phenomenon; and the use of judiciously selected stills in support of the text. . . . The structure, organization and content of A History of Film is so good that it is, to me, still the standard by which all other film textbooks must be measured.”
-Stephen Ambra, New Hampshire Technical Institute

“The text concisely covers all of film history, and its size makes it particularly useful for film history courses taught in a single term. . . . It is typically quite insightful, yet not too dense for motivated introductory students.”
-Mark Gallagher, University of Missouri

Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 6th edition (September 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 020544976X
• ISBN-13: 978-0205449767
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but provides a good overview, May 29, 2001

By 

"literarydaemon" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of Film, A (Paperback)

Though less formal than a typical textbook, this book practically functions as one. The reading is quick, though the author tends to get carried away on personal tangents. Nevertheless, it provides an impressive overview of cinematic history, from its modest start in the 1890s until the 1990s. One negative aspect is that many films and directors are left out, owing to space constraints, I assume. (the book is over 400 pages!) Still,one great aspect of this book is a list of recommended (historically- and aesthetically-relevant) films at the end of each chapter, sorted by director and year. Also, though America and Hollywood occupy a substantial part of the text, the author makes a concerted effort to give equal historical credence to international movements. A worthy resource for film buffs and students, as well as anyone else interested in the development of cinema.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do yourself a service and buy it in the real world, September 13, 2011

By 

iveseenspikynor - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: History of Film, A (7th Edition) (Paperback)

When I opened my order two days ago, I was terribly...miffed.

This "book" is about as real as a three dollar bill and just as useless.

This knock-off of Wexman's "A History of Film, 7th Edition" could only have been printed off of the fabricators's PC printer. The fake-copy is made with computer paper, and the paper was cut poorly to where the body of text is too high on the page.

What's worse, their printer seems to have been low on ink. For example, boxes Wexman uses to designate timelines and lists of films she considers good examples of the subject matter, are nearly impossible to see... and the text inside is at times illegible. The subjects of photographs are almost unrecognizable as anything that has ever appeared on celluloid.

Meanwhile, the real "History of Film, 7th ed." is thinner and is printed on the proper paper. (I know this because I've been forced to buy a badly treated used-edition from the campus bookstore; also, I've looked through a classmate's personal copy)

One might think that a cheap copy of the book would be as good as anything, especially if you're living on a student's budget, but if you're going to pay eighty-bucks-plus-tax to buy the thing anyway, you might as well buy the legit thing and get your money's worth.

Also, Wexman often uses specific stills from a film to illustrate things like composition, lighting, acting, makeup, etc - techniques, film making styles that may have originated in the work or even been unique to it. Important details for a film major which make the faults in the fake copy all the more noticeable.

This thing and it's sellers have been granted a 1 out of 5 stars. A concession of 'kudos' for successfully ticking me off.