Paul Monaco is professor of Cinema/Video at Montana State University. He is the author of Understanding Society, Culture, and Television (2000) and The Sixties: 1960-1969 volume in The History of American Cinema Series (2003).
Considering the films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture
from 1927 to 2008 and the American Film Institute's 'Greatest
American Films' listed in 1996 and 2006, Monaco (cinema/video,
Montana State Univ.; Understanding Society, Culture, and
Television) has injudiciously divided American cinema into three
eras—'Classic Hollywood (1927–48),' 'Hollywood in Transition
(1949–74),' and 'New Hollywood' (1975 to the present). There are
also sections about the founding of the studio system, a handful of
classic silent films, and the coming of sound. For each era, Monaco
attempts to encapsulate the genres, leading directors, dominant
studios, and the best films. As he discusses the films, he proffers
brief plot summaries, production background, and information about
those involved in making the films, budgets, critical reviews, and
public receptions.
*Library Journal*
Paul Monaco has created an intriguing look at the history of the
American movie industry and the movies it created….a comprehensive
look at the fascinating development of American filmmaking from a
nascent technology to a multi-billion dollar industry and
culture-maker….Schools with active film studies departments or
strong interest in film from other departments will find this work
especially relevant for their circulating collection, if not for
their reference collections.
*American Reference Books Annual, May-August 2010*
A History of American Movies: A Film-by-Film Look at the Art,
Craft, and Business of Cinema explains how the collaboration among
screen-writers, directors, producers, actors, cinematographers
designers, sound recorders, and mixers, editors, and production
management teams "works." The complexity of movies as art, craft,
and business is explained using Best Picture Oscar winners and
American Film Institute "greatest" narrative feature films from the
1920s to the present.
*Communication Booknotes Quarterly*
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