Cool and the Crazy

PETER STANFIELD is a professor in the film department at the University of Kent, UK. His previous books include Maximum Movies-Pulp Fiction: Film Culture and the Worlds of Mickey Spillane, Samuel Fuller, and Jim Thompson, "Un-American" Hollywood: Politics and Film in the Blacklist Era (both Rutgers University Press), and Horse Opera: The Strange History of the Singing Cowboy.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1   Monarchs for the Masses: Boxing Films2   War Fever: Korea-Timely! Powerful! Exploitable!3   Got-to-See: Teenpix and the Social Problem Picture4   Teenpic Jukebox: Jazz, Calypso, Beatniks, and Rock ’n’ Roll5   Intent to Speed: Hot Rod Movies6   Punks! JD Gangsters7   Dude Ranch Duds: Cowboy CostumeConclusionNotesIndex

"Fresh ideas, fresh arguments, and a good feel for the 1950s-Stanfield has it all. This book is one of a kind." - Wheeler Winston Dixon (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) "This dazzling archaeology of cycles and genres in postwar cinema goes deep into cultural history, then pulls back to reveal patterns and movements unseen until Stanfield saw them. Highly recommended." - Will Straw (McGill University) "One of the strengths of Stanfield's work is his willingness to resist easy and superficially satisfying answers in favour of demonstrating the imprecise and often awkward ways in which cinema relates to public debates and social trends." (Journal of American Studies) "The Cool and the Crazy is a breath of fresh air in that it takes a new look at film cycles that have been written about on multiple occasions-1950s B motion pictures-studying them from topical, social, and production-level perspectives ... This is indeed the 'jazzy, accessible' read it claims to be. Highly recommended." (CHOICE) "Uptight yet simmering below the surface, the fifties were a great decade for style and culture. Peter Stanfield’s The Cool and the Crazy explores the pulpy cinema of the era with aplomb." (Campus Circle)