Help me find books on film history by decade.

February 5, 2013 10:10 AM

I'm looking for good books detailing the history of film by decade-- as in a book on 1940's Hollywood, the 60's and the French New Wave, 1970's New Hollywood (in that case Easy Riders, Raging Bulls might be a good suggestion).

My goal is to accumulate great books on everything from 1910's or 20's cinema until, well, as close to now as possible (are there any truly good books on 90's or 00's?).

I'm looking for both specialized topics (decade important movements, countries, styles) and books with a more broad focus (film in the 20's, 30's, 60's etc.)

I'm not against text books if they're well regarded but I'm more interested in something a little more... readable.

posted by dr handsome to media & arts (6 answers total)

I'm very fond of James Harvey's Romantic Comedy in Hollywood: From Lubitsch to Sturges. His Movie Love in the 50s is not as good, I think. And I know many people will recommend books by Jeanine Basinger, but I think she's a bit dull and pedantic.
And everything by Kevin Brownlow is wonderful.
posted by Ideefixe at 10:20 AM on February 5

OK, so they may be textbooks, but I have found the History of American Cinema series to be an invaluable and exhaustive resource, both as a moving image historian/archivist and as a general cinephile.

My favourite classic cinema blogger, The Self-Styled Siren, recommends City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s by Otto Friedrich.

Seconding Ideefixe, Kevin Brownlow is a must for any fan of the silent era. The Parade's Gone By is marvellous.

I really liked Mark Harris' Scenes From a Revolution, which doesn't so much cover a decade but a point in time, when the industry, technology and content of Hollywood films shifted dramatically.
posted by dumdidumdum at 10:33 AM on February 5

There's a fantastic little out-of-print series of paperbacks called the International Film Guide Series published in the '60s and '70s. The titles include: Hollywood in the Twenties, Hollywood in the Thirties, etc., on through the Sixties. They're smart, readable rundowns of the decade in film at breakneck speed, full of titles both obscure and classic. They're not hard to track down on the internet and so worth it. The first volume by David Robinson is especially worthwhile.

I also third The Parade's Gone By and would add American Silent Film by William K. Everson and Silent Film Sound by Rick Altman.
posted by thetortoise at 11:31 AM on February 5

Taschen has exactly what you're looking for.
posted by Jon_Evil at 11:41 AM on February 5

Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes is a decent book about the rise of the indie film movement in the 1990s.
posted by Clustercuss at 3:59 PM on February 5

Hollywood From Vietnam to Reagan by Robin Wood.

you may also be interested in Alien Zone by Annette Kuhn, on sci-fi.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:08 PM on February 5