To enumerate all the good movies of actor Robert Mitchum would make a long list. To his very best works, however, counts the 1948 Western movie Blood on the Moon. This film turned out to be one of the few examples for a perfect blend of two very American genres, namely the Western and film […]
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Tag: 1940s United States
Film Noir and Los Angeles: Urban History and the Dark Imaginary by Sean W. Maher (2022)
Movies of the film noir genre, shot in the US, usually had two favorite locations when it came to large cities and a setting that would breathe the air of crime, provide sinister plots, gunmen and desperate main characters: the pictures were either set in New York City or Los Angeles. As with Los Angeles, […]
The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold by Billy Boy Arnold and Kim Field (2021)
There are very few masters of the harmonica (or “harp” as the instrument is called colloquially by musician) that had a lasting impression on rock music, as English and America groups in the 1960s during the Beat era covered many blues originals that featured a harp. Among the most prominent players, we find Little Walter […]
Broadcasting Hollywood: The Struggle Over Feature Films on Early TV by Jennifer Porst (2021)
Even if the topic of Porst’s book, with regard to today’s video watching agenda that includes streaming media, Netflix, or any Internet-based platform consulted to watch movies, documentaries or series, may look a bit outdated at first sight, Broadcasting Hollywood actually is a highly interesting study, as it chronicles how we as audiences originally “learned” […]
Law Enforcement in American Cinema, 1894-1952 by George Beck (2020)
In this short title, author George Beck takes a close look at some movies of the first half of the twentieth century that employed representations of American law enforcement, starting with silent era productions and chronologically end with films noir. Five sections altogether and a final coda chapter on roughly 130 pages consider stereotypes, good […]
Hillbilly Maidens, Okies, and Cowgirls: Women’s Country Music, 1930-1960 by Stephanie Vander Wel (20
Going back to the early days of medicine shows, vaudeville and traveling entertainment troupes, female performers there already had their regular part in the entertainment industry; and country music, or hillbilly music as it was first named, played a role in building up that reputation. For example, what in the 1940s was transported as “parodic […]
The Western Films of Robert Mitchum. Hollywood’s Cowboy Rebel by Gene Freese (2020)
Maybe one of the reasons why actor Robert Mitchum looked so comfortable and at home in western movies, was the fact that he bred horses, preferred the casual cowboy outfit off the film set, and seemingly simply played himself, whenever he took the part of the cowboy, the Sheriff, the outlaw or the weather-beaten stranger […]
Crime and Spy Jazz on Screen 1950-1970: A History and Discography by Derrick Bang (2020)
The brief period of American sound film until roughly the mid-1940s was dominated by soundtracks and extradiegetic audio based on mostly sweet string orchestras, allusions to classical compositions and ballads. Then, in the 1950s and 60s, soundtrack composers increasingly used popular music of the decades before for police/detective/spy action productions, which would be in large […]
Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics by Lou Mougin (2020)
Even with comic book superheroes, there have been the fortunate ones, the famous gang, and then, the “others,” in this case describing the many clones or rather, imitators of the likes of Superman or Bat-Man (as he originally was named in the golden age). As it should be clear that in the Golden Age of […]