Movies and American Society

Steven J. Ross is Professor of History at the University of Southern California. He is co-director of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities and author of Workers On the Edge: Work, Leisure, and Politics in Industrializing Cincinnati, 1788-1890 (1985), Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America (1998), and Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics (2011). Ross is the recipient of the Theater Library Association Book Award and a Film Scholars Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

• Preface ixPreface to the First Edition xSource Acknowledgments xiiiIntroduction: Why Movies Matter 11 Going to the Movies: Early Audiences 14Introduction to Article 14“The Celluloid Stage: Nickelodeon Audiences” by Richard Butsch 15Documents 32Introduction to Documents 32“The Nickel Madness” by Barton W. Carrie 32Report of Censorship of Motion Pictures and of Investigation of Motion Picture Theatres of Cleveland 38by Robert O. Bartholomew “House Fly Panics Pittsburgh Movie Audience” 40Readings and Screenings 412 Heroes and Heroines of Their Own Entertainment: Progressive-Era Cinema 43Introduction to Article 43“Front Page Movies” by Kay Sloan 44Documents 58Introduction to Documents 58“The Social Uses of the Moving Picture” by W. Stephen Bush 59“Los Angeles Socialist Movie Theater” 62Readings and Screenings 643 The Rise of Hollywood: Movies, Ideology, and Audiences in the Roaring Twenties 66Introduction to Article 66“Fantasy and Politics: Moviegoing and Movies in the 1920s” by Steven J. Ross 67Documents 91Introduction to Documents 91“The Deluxe Picture Palace” by Lloyd Lewis 92“Petting at the Movies” by E. J. Mitchell 94“The Actor’s Part” by Milton Sills 95Readings and Screenings 984 Who Controls What We See? Censorship and the Attack on Hollywood “Immorality” 100Introduction to Article 100“Hollywood Censored: The Production Code Administration and the Hollywood Film Industry, 1930–1940” by Gregory D. Black 101Documents 123Introduction to Documents 123Quotes from Censorship of the Theater and Moving Pictures edited by Lamar T. Beman 123Readings and Screenings 1295 Confronting the Great Depression: Renewing Democracy in Hard Times 130Introduction to Article 130“The Recreation of America: Hybrid Moviemakers and the Multicultural Republic” by Lary May 131Documents 160Introduction to Documents 160Responses to Edward G. Robinson’s “Declaration of Democratic Independence” 161Readings and Screenings 1636 Alternatives Cinemas: Movies on the Margins 165Introduction to Article 165“Others’ Movies” by Thomas Cripps 166Documents 185Introduction to Documents 185“The Negro and the Photo-Play” by Oscar Micheaux 185“‘The Symbol of the Unconquered,’ New Play” 187“Some New American Documentaries: In Defense of Liberty” by John H. Winge 188Readings and Screenings 1917 Seeing Red: Cold War Hollywood 193Introduction to Article 193“Hollywood and the Cold War” by John Belton 194Documents 214Introduction to Documents 214FBI Report, “Communist Political Influence and Activities in the Motion Picture Business in Hollywood, California” 215“The Waldorf Statement,” Issued by the Association of Motion Picture Producers 219Readings and Screenings 2208 Eisenhower’s America: Prosperity and Problems in the 1950s 222Introduction to Article 222“The Fifties” by Leonard Quart and Albert Auster 223Documents 242Introduction to Documents 242“Teen Idol: Hedda Hopper Interviews James Dean” 243Reviews of Rebel Without a Cause 246Readings and Screenings 2499 Race, Violence, and Film: From the Blaxploitation Era of the 1960s to the “Hood-Homeboy” Movies of the 1990s 252Introduction to Article 252“Black Violence as Cinema: From Cheap Thrills to Historical Agonies” by Ed Guerrero 253Documents 269Introduction to Documents 269Variety Reports Reactions to Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? 269“Blaxploitation Movies: Cheap Thrills That Degrade Blacks” by Alvin F. Poussaint 271Readings and Screenings 27410 Vietnam and the Crisis of American Power: Movies, War, and Militarism 277Introduction to Article 277“Vietnam and the New Militarism” by Michael Ryan and Douglas Kellner 278Documents 300Introduction to Documents 300Correspondence Regarding the Making of The Green Berets 300“Platoon Marks ‘End of a Cycle’ for Oliver Stone” by Sean Mitchell 302“Reunion: Men of a Real Platoon” by Jay Sharbutt 306Readings and Screenings 30811 Reagan’s America: The Backlash Against Women and Men 310Introduction to Article 310“Fatal and Fetal Visions: The Backlash in the Movies” by Susan Faludi 311Documents 333Introduction to Documents 333Equal Rights Amendment, 1972 334“A Backlash Manifesto” by Phyllis Schlafly 334“A New Stereotype: The Crazy Career Woman” by Richard Cohen 338Readings and Screenings 33912 American Film in the Age of Terror: The Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq 342Introduction to Article 342“Limited Engagement: The Iraq War on Film” by Susan L. Carruthers 343Documents 358Introduction to Documents 358“Why Iraq War Films Fail” by Tom Streithorst 359“Total Receipts and Production Costs for Films About Afghanistan and Iraq” by John Markert 362Readings and Screenings 36313 Hollywood Goes Global: The Internationalization of American Cinema 365Introduction to Article 365“Why Hollywood Rules the World, and Whether We Should Care” by Tyler Cowen 366Documents 382Introduction to Documents 382Testimony Before Congressional Hearings on Television Broadcasting and the European Community 383“Global Box Office Climb Continues in 2011” 385Readings and Screenings 386Index 389