Reframing Culture

The Case of the Vitagraph Quality Films

William Uricchio, Roberta E. Pearson

$67.99

Paperback

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

Princeton University Press
14 July 2014

Film theory & criticism; Social & cultural history; Media studies; Cinema industry

Series: Princeton Legacy Library

The works of Shakespeare and Dante or the figures of George Washington and Moses do not often enter into popular conceptions of the silent cinema, yet, between 1907 and 1910, the Vitagraph Company frequently used such material in producing ""quality"" films that promulgated ""respectable"" culture. William Uricchio and Roberta Pearson situate these films in an era of immigration, labor unrest, and mainstream American xenophobia, in order to explore the cultural views promoted by the films and the ways the audiences--the middle classes as well as workers and immigrants--related to what they saw. The authors associate the production of quality films with a top-down forging of cultural consensus on issues such as patriotism and morality, and reveal the surprising bottom-up negotiations of these films' ""meanings."". Devoting chapters to the literary, historical, and biblical subjects used by Vitagraph, this book draws upon plays, pageants, school textbooks, and even product advertisements to illuminate the conditions of cinematic production and reception.

It provides a detailed look at one aspect of the film industry's transformation from ""despised cheap amusement"" to the nation's dominant mass medium, while showing how cultural elites engaged in a struggle similar to that of today's American academy over the literary canon and national value systems. Originally published in 1993. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

By: William Uricchio, Roberta E. Pearson
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Volume: 234
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 369g
ISBN: 9780691600277
ISBN 10: 0691600279
Series: Princeton Legacy Library
Pages: 268
Publication Date: 14 July 2014
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction3Ch. 1Responses to Cultural Crisis: Political Domination and Hegemony17Ch. 2The Film Industry's Drive for Respectability41Ch. 3Literary Qualities: Shakespeare and Dante65Ch. 4Historical Qualities: Washington and Napoleon111Ch. 5Biblical Qualities: Moses160Conclusion195Appendix: Vitagraph's Description of the Washington and Napoleon Films201Notes205Index245

Reviews for Reframing Culture: The Case of the Vitagraph Quality Films

""Vitagraph, the largest of the New York studios during the early part of the century, made numerous films based in literary classics, historical events, and Biblical Lore. The authors make a convincing case that the 'Vitagraph Quality Films' series played an important role in improving the cultural status of the movies.""--American Cinematographer