Hollywood's Embassies

Ross Melnick is professor of film and media studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of American Showman: Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel and the Birth of the Entertainment Industry, 1908–1935 (Columbia, 2012) and coeditor of Rediscovering U.S. Newsfilm: Cinema, Television, and the Archive (2018).

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: “Shop Windows,” “Cultural Embassies,” and Hollywood’s Global ExhibitionPart I. Europe. When Expansion Was Paramount (1923–1993): “Shop Window” Cinemas and the European Expansion of U.S. Film Exhibitors1. Hollywood’s British Invasion and the Battle of Birmingham, 1919–19292. Hollywood’s European Adventure, 1925–19413. A New Battleground: U.S. Exhibitors Under Nazi Occupation, 1941–19454. Postwar Europe and the Legacy of Hollywood Cinemas, 1945–1993Part II. Australasia. Banking on Australasia (1930–1982): Global Banks and U.S. Cinema Ownership in Australia and New Zealand5. Fox Chases Hoyts: U.S. Cinema Ownership in Australia, 1930–19366. The Fox Chase in New Zealand and Australia, 1936–19467. Hollywood and Australasian Cinemas, 1946–1982Part III: Latin America and the Caribbean. Hollywood in Cinelandia (1927–1973): U.S. Cinemas and Local Politics in Latin America and the Caribbean8. Cine Metros y Cine Paramounts, 1926–1941: MGM and Paramount’s Latin American Shop Window Cinemas9. Prop(aganda) Window Cinemas, 1933–1945: Ufa, Hollywood, and the Battle for Hearts and Minds Through South American Cinemas During World War II10. Hollywood Cinema Expansion in Postwar South America, 1945–197311. Caribbean Dreams, 1929–1973: Hollywood Cinemas in Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and TrinidadPart IV. Middle East. Hollywood’s Muddle East (1925–1982): Political Change in Egypt and Israel and the Consequences for Hollywood’s Middle Eastern Cinemas12. Buildings, Ballyhoo, and Boycotts in Egypt, 1925–1947: Alternating Realities at Hollywood’s Egyptian Cinemas13. No Meeting in the Middle, 1947–1956: Hollywood Cinemas, Egyptian Revolution, and Israeli Independence14. After the Revolution, 1957–1982: Twentieth Century-Fox, Egypt, and IsraelPart V. Africa. An “Unhappy Image of the United States Before an African Population” (1932–1975): Race, Industry, and Rebellion at Hollywood’s African Cinemas15. MGM and the “Uncrowned King of South Africa,” 1932–1937: Hollywood Shop Window Cinemas in a Bitterly Protected Market16. Fox Hunting on the African Continent, 1937–1956: Twentieth Century-Fox and the Struggle for Control of African Cinemas17. A “Royal” Mess: Racial Strife in Colonial Zimbabwe, the Struggle for Independence in Postcolonial Kenya, and the End of Hollywood’s Control of South African Cinemas, 1959–1975Part VI. Asia. Eastern Promises (1927–2013): Hollywood’s Cinemas in China, India, Japan, and the Philippines18. Benshi and Ballyhoo, 1927–1973: Hollywood’s Shop Window Cinemas in Japan and the Philippines19. Joining the Global Metro Cub Club, 1936–1973: MGM and Fox’s Shop Window Cinemas in India20. China as Hollywood’s Final Frontier, 1946–2013: Hollywood’s Chinese Cinemas and the End of Hollywood’s Exhibition EmpiresEpilogue: Global Exhibition Flows in Reverse Before the Pandemic, 2013–2019NotesIndex

This is nothing short of a sterling book, an assiduously researched compendium of notable facts and compelling anecdotes culled from public archives, personal memorabilia collections, and old-time newspaper morgues all over the map.