Main Street Movies

The History of Local Film in the United States

Martin L. Johnson

$194.50

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Indiana University Press
23 January 2018

Films, movies & cinema; Cultural studies; Cinema industry

See yourself in the movies!

Prior to the advent of the home movie camera and the ubiquitousness of the camera phone, there was the local film. This cultural phenomenon, produced across the country from the 1890s to the 1950s, gave ordinary people a chance to be on the silver screen without leaving their hometowns. Through these movies, residents could see themselves in the same theaters where they saw major Hollywood motion pictures. Traveling filmmakers plied their trade in small towns and cities, where these films were received by locals as being part of the larger cinema experience. With access to the rare film clips under discussion, Main Street Movies documents the diversity and longevity of local film production and examines how itinerant filmmakers responded to industry changes to keep sponsors and audiences satisfied. From town pride films in the 1910s to Hollywood knockoffs in the 1930s, local films captured not just images of local people and places but also ideas about the function and meaning of cinema that continue to resonate today.

By: Martin L. Johnson
Imprint: Indiana University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9780253032522
ISBN 10: 0253032520
Pages: 316
Publication Date: 23 January 2018
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Accessing Moving Images Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: Defining the Local Film 1. The Silent Pageant: Municipal Booster Films 2. The Home Talent Film and the Origins of Itinerancy 3. How Movies Are Made : Hollywood and the Local Film 4. Itinerants Adopt a Baby: The Local Hollywood Film and the Operational Aesthetic 5. Kidnapping the Movie Queen: Amateur Aesthetics as Cultural Critique 6. The Cameraman Has Visited Your Town: The Local Film and the Politics of Recognition 7. Every Town has its Main Street: The Banal Localism of the Civic Film 8. Reclaiming the Local Film: Artifacts, Archives, and Audiences Conclusion: See Your Town Disappear: The Historicity of the Local Film Filmography Bibliography Index

Martin L. Johnson is Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews for Main Street Movies: The History of Local Film in the United States

[A] quietly radical rewriting of American film history since the 1910s. * Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television * This carefully researched and nuanced account of local film history is essential reading for researchers and students who are interested in understanding the evolution of film culture as it played out beyond Hollywood. * Early Popular Visual Culture *