Bold! Daring! Shocking! True: A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959 (Paperback)

by Eric Schaefer (Author) "Poor Mr. Martin was very upset when he wrote those words in 1937..." (more)
Key Phrases: clinical reels, sex hygiene films, other exploitation films, New York, World War, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Eric Schaefer's readable history of exploitation movies begins with a description of what the genre ain't--the rabid "nudie pics" of Russ Meyer (Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!) and the drecky, knowing arthouse flicks made by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey (Andy Warhol's Dracula). Though these camp movies are sometimes labeled "exploitation," they do not exactly fit Schaefer's definition. For him, exploitation is the brand of movie that puts nudity and antisocial behavior up on the screen in the name of civic-mindedness and healthy social conscience--and with a wink. Between 1919 and 1959, sexual hygiene and antidrug movies with kicky, lascivious titles such as No Greater Sin (1939), Call Girls (1959), Nudist Land (1937), and Paroled from the Big House (1938) traveled through the country outside regular theater chains, advertising themselves as "shocking" yet educational. The posters didn't slouch either. No Greater Sin promised viewers, "You'll gasp, you'll wince, you'll shudder... so powerful, many will faint!" Schaefer argues that studying the films tells us cartloads about the way Puritanical America grappled with complex issues like premarital sex, drugs, infidelity, and alternative lifestyles. And he may be right: by 1959, audiences had begun turning to European films like And God Created Woman, films that treated exploitation movie subjects legitimately. The story of a lost culture, Bold! Daring! Shocking! True! is finally an archaeology of the immediate past that throws our present incoherence about sex, public-mindedness, virtue, and immediate gratification into high and sometimes hilarious relief. With priceless historical black-and-white photographs. --Lyall Bush

From Library Journal
The "classic" exploitation film of the silent to postwar eras was made cheaply with glaringly poor production values by a small independent firm, was independently distributed and usually shown in theaters not affiliated with the majors, and generally featured a forbidden topic. The genre was created when the major studios began to realize the economic advantages of some sort of self-censorship; what Hollywood would no longer put on the screenAsex, drug use, venereal disease, prostitution, and nudityAthe exploitation filmmakers would. With minuscule budgets and no identifiable stars, the exploitation film maker only had the lure of the forbidden to get people into the theater. The first half of this book looks at the mechanics of the films; production, distribution, advertising, and exhibition differed greatly from Hollywood norms. The second half examines the major catagories of exploitation films. A good look at a neglected topic; for academic and larger public libraries.AMarianne Cawley, Charleston Cty. Lib., SC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 488 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822323745
• ISBN-13: 978-0822323747
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #428,343 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A DEFINITIVE WORK!, November 24, 1999

By	Michael Favareille (Pinole, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read many books & articles on exploitation films as well as viewing many of the films mentioned in Eric's book. THE BOOK IS WELL RESEARCHED. The chapters about censorship & distribution/marketing were the most interesting. Eric gives an excellent example of what cuts were required for a specific film for both the Chicago & the Ohio censorship boards (the Ohio board being much stricter), & mentions about how the same film was handled for the different markets. Detailed descriptions of many films are provided(& this is about the only book that mentions about exploitation films during the silent era). This is also the only book that I have seen that mentions about the ultra-low budgets(including dollar amounts)of these films. Anybody with a serious interest in film should read this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully designed and illustrated, November 19, 2001

By	Tosh Berman/TamTam Books "[e-mail]" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

In Eric Schaefer's beautifully designed and illustrated book, Bold! Daring! Shocking! True! A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959, you get the full history of the exploitation film genre, a genre that concentrates on shocking the viewer and making money in the process. In language that is brutally simplistic, and images that don't require second-guessing, exploitation films deliver the darkest fantasy of American culture along with its moral. Schaefer discusses the writing, production, and distribution of these films and profiles some filmmakers. He presents details on such exploitation masterpieces as Road to Ruin, Modern Motherhood, One Way Ticket to Hell, and The Wages of Sin.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Academic Study Of Exploitation Films, February 17, 2007

By	Chris Luallen (Nashville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Eric Schaefer is a professor of visual and and media arts at Emerson College who developed an interest in exploitation films while writing his master's thesis. He defines the "exploitation film" as being the often lurid "educational" movies that were released by small time film makers between 1919-1959. Sex hygiene and anti-drug propaganda were the most typical themes, though vice, gangs and "exotic" cultures were also part of the genre. The films are often characterized by their attempts to titillate the audience while claiming to be preaching against social evils.

Much of the first half of the book is devoted to describing the production techinques, marketing and commercial appeal of these films. Film makers and hardcore cinema junkies will probably be intrigued. But this portion of the book held little interest for me. I did, however, enjoy the chapter on censorship. It discussed Hollywood history and how exploitation films developed as a sort of "alternative cinema" following the implementation of production codes by the the Hays Office in the 1920's - which censored much of the sex and other taboo topics out of the big studio movies of the era.

The second part of the book is a lengthy chronicling of dozens of these exploitation films. I enjoyed reading about the various story lines, actors and directors, though it did get a bit repetitive at times.

Schaefer is a decent writer and this book largely suceeds in its scholarly intentions. But one should remember, before purchasing, that this is an academic work directed towards a specific audience - devoted exploitation film fans, movie makers and film students. I, as someone with a more casual interest in these types of movies, was hoping for a more accessible book that covered a wider range of cult films. The appendix does serve as a good resource for the directors and films covered. It was this part of the book that I found most useful.