Looking Past the Screen

“From university classrooms in 1915 and adult films in the 1930s to secretary-producers and dish night at the movies, this compelling collection reminds us that the power, importance, and complexity of films and film studies reside in the vibrant details of the medium’s extraordinary cultural history.” - Timothy Corrigan, author of New German Film and A Cinema without Walls

“The ace editors and A-list film historians Jon Lewis and Eric Smoodin have assembled a stellar cast of critics and scholars to illuminate the mutually enabling relationship between film and history. The provocative essays in this marvelous collection might be likened to a must-see motion picture program with a choice marquee entry for every taste, a bill whose featured attractions encompass the forgotten pioneers of the silent screen, the CGI-laden blockbusters of Planet Hollywood, the kid-centric fare of the Saturday matinee, and the proto-porn of the classic adult film market, with excursions into the noir, the star, the auteur, the Oriental, and the queer. Throughout, the screenings are cinema-smart, culturally savvy, and—appropriately—highly entertaining.” - Thomas Doherty, Brandeis University

“[An] intelligent and entertaining anthology. . . .” - Scott McKinnon, Media International Australia

“[E]ssays in Looking Past the Screen are exciting and informative examples of the type of scholarly work that explores the non-filmic evidence that broadens our understanding of film history. . . . Overall, Looking Past the Screen is an informative contribution to the study of film history. . .” - Shayne D. Pepper, Film Criticism

“I am not aware of another anthology on US film history that illustrates such a wide range of subjects and methodologies. . . . [M]ost of the essays in this volume are well worth reading and assigning as examples of thoughtfully conceived research.” - James Steffen, Film International

“The ability of this collection to move outside of formalist analysis, and towards a more socially inclusive mode of criticism, pays multiple dividends: in particular, it provides a rich sense of the classical Hollywood film’s unparalleled social importance.” - Tim Roberts, M/C Reviews

“This is a very useful book. It has an introduction which states simply and clearly what it intends to do, and why; then twelve essays which exemplify those aims. . . . Looking Past the Screen is a book worth having. It is of course aimed primarily at researchers into American film, but the principles outlined in the introduction and illustrated in the essays can equally well be applied to any other national cinema.” - Colin Crisp, Screening the Past