Promotional Information

Spanning all genres, including horror and drama, adventure, comedy, musicals, science fiction, and more, Bigger Than Blockbusters: Movies That Defined America tells the stories behind the most significant and influential films in American culture, movies that had a profound influence on the literary, cinematic, and popular culture of our time.

Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1:Through a Glass Darkly, 1915-1938 Chapter 2: A Rumble to War, 1939-1942 Chapter 3: Boom & Bust: the Films of Post War America, 1946-1947 Chapter 4: The Hop, Bop, and Stroll, 1950-1959 Chapter 5: The Space Race, Civil Rights, and a Nation Torn, 1960-1969 Chapter 7:Platform Shoes, Pet Rocks, Disco and a Dysfunctional Presidency, 1970-1979 Chapter 8: Bits, Bytes, and Boomers, 1980-1989 Chapter 9:TITLE FOTHCOMING, 1990-1999 Chapter 10: The New Millennium, 2000-2008 Appendix A: Films Listed Chronologically Appendix B: Films Listed Alphabetically Bibliography

About the Author

JAMES ROMAN is Professor of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York. He is the author of Love, Light, and a Dream (Praeger, 1996) and From Daytime to Primetime (Greenwood, 2005).

Reviews

A noteworthy feature of the book is its organization. It is arranged by decade to illustrate the cultural and historical context of the films of a particular period.
*Reference & Research Book News*

Roman's study functions as both a 20th-century historical survey and a film compilation, focusing on movies that changed American culture from 1915 through 2008. . . . The writing style is academic but accessible. Film students will appreciate grouped discussions, within selected chapters, of topics such as Hitchcock's films, the French New Wave movement, and musicals. Additional resource information includes alphabetical and chronological lists of the films discussed, a comprehensive bibliography of print and electronic sources, and a detailed index. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.
*Choice*