Customer Reviews

Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Sklar's Movie Made America was assigned as my textbook for a film class I just finished here at UCLA. At first I thought it to be a bit boring, especially because I thought it was just repeating what the professor had discussed in class. However, when I truly began to appreciate this book and take the time to read every word, I realized that Sklar not only presents the facts, but synthesizes the history of American cinema in innovative and interesting contexts. He discusses the way that film, from its start, has changed America as a social body, as a political body, as an economic body, and as a body in of itself.

Certain chapters were intriguing because they took standpoints different than any other author. And while the words are a bit dated, last revised over 10 years ago, it still has a spooky sense of relevance.

Overall, a wonderful book. If you're interested in the history of American film, here you go. I'm not selling this one back to the bookstore during Buy-Back time. That's for sure.

For those who wish to extend beyond the wisdom of the typical movie buff -- knowing how much a particular film grossed; memorizing the dialogue of a film word for word; spotting discrepancies in plots -- this book is for you. Do you know how films came to be? Who and what were the catalysts that aided the popularity of the motion picture industry? What's the story on the current Hollywood studios? Although sometimes tedious, this book is the complete guide for those who are curious about both motion pictures and the interesting history that entails.

While I realize that Robert Sklar's Movie Made America is a regularly used text in many university film courses, I can only surmise that this may be why so many film classes are boring. While Skylar's book is somewhat comprehensive as far as it goes, it is not only overly pedantic but it is written with no determinable sense of chronology. While it is subtitled "A Cultural History of American Movies," it is more a social history of early Hollywood with an emphasis on the old studio system and those early personages which comprised that system. Furthermore, easily one-third of the book is dedicated to the first twenty years of American film making.

I purchased this book for adoption in a university film course that I teach which has as its emphasis the cultural underpinnings of American Film. While my students appreciated that the book was inexpensive, both the students and I agreed that the book was uninspired, unexciting, unimaginative, unattractive, unintelligible, and nearly unreadable. Additionally, it is cheap looking; it is printed on cheap paper which allowed bleed-through of the ink; and the photographs are reproduced with less quality than you would find in a newspaper. I am going back to John Belton's book, American Cinema, American Culture, next semester.

I was assigned this as reading in my History and Film class. It covers everything from the beginning of film with Edison and the creation of the first projectors up to the 80's. Sklar presents the material in an easy to read way, its not too much information for those who are not familiar with this area of history. At times it can be a little monotonous, listing film after film and its relevance, but if you can get through it, you will learn a decent amount about the films. It is not a comprehensive work but a good start if you are interested. It will make you go and watch some of those old historical classics.

This is a great book that was required reading for Steven Ross' "Film, Power, and American, History" course at USC. Not only was it very relevant and well organized, but genuinely interesting too!

I am taking a night class and needed this book for it. I received the book in the mail quickly. It was in good shape. If I can find a deal on books for the future will use again.

The author shows how movies not only reflect our society but influence it as well.

Are you a film buff, a history buff, or both?

Then this book will fascinate you from start to finish.

Sklar has combined 100 years of film and history to present a cultural portrait of the United States.

This is a must read in the social and cultural history of American cinema.

Isn't this more than "the definitive work"? One could imagine its insights and grand scope to be inspiring and instructive for the later reflections that were to shape the concerns that became the American Museum of the Moving Image. As in along the lines that society shapes the individuals who shape society, we have here no less than "media shaped culture". Forwards, or backwards to the future, these illuminations give us sober pause to consider those powers -- and so by extension -- to be afraid of our forthcoming "videogame savageries". When you and I look back to those early inventions which are now mirrored by today's electronic magic, we might be both tickled and informed -- and afraid for Columbine.