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Defining Cinema

Rouben Mamoulian and Hollywood Film Style, 1929-1957

Michael Slowik (Associate Professor, Associate Professor, Wesleyan University)

$69.95

Paperback

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English
Oxford University Press Inc
08 August 2024
Arriving in cinema when synchronized sound had just been adopted, director Rouben Mamoulian demonstrated key early methods for making sound aid storytelling, for giving films a crisper sense of rhythm, for creating musicals set in backstage, fairy-tale, and folk environments, for providing intricate and arresting colour palettes, and for rendering sexual content more palpable under industry censorship. Mamoulian also wrote many articles throughout his lifetime and gave interviews and lectures where he advanced his complex ideas about the potentials of various artforms, including cinema. In addition, he left an extensive paper record of his work, including heavily annotated scripts for each of the sixteen films he directed. Mamoulian also enjoyed major success on the stage. He directed the original landmark productions of Porgy, Porgy and Bess, Oklahoma!, and Carousel, and his efforts in this domain informed his film work.

Defining Cinema takes a holistic look at Mamoulian's oeuvre by examining both his stage and his screen work, and also brings together insights from his correspondence, his theories on film, and analysis of the films themselves. It presents a filmmaker whose work was innovative and exciting, who pushed hard on cinema's potential as an artform, and who in many ways helped move cinema towards the kind of entertainment that it remains today. The book thus tells a story that is vital not just for better understanding the work of a neglected filmmaker, but for anyone interested in the history of Hollywood filmmaking.

By:  
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 235mm,  Width: 156mm, 
ISBN:   9780197511237
ISBN 10:   0197511236
Series:   Oxford Music / Media
Pages:   320
Publication Date:  
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Further / Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Michael Slowik is an associate professor of film studies at Wesleyan University. He is the author of After the Silents: Hollywood Film Music in the Early Sound Era, 1926-1934 and numerous articles on U.S. film history.

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