A good case can be made for the 1950s as the most stimulating decade in the annals of film criticism. Credit for this goes largely to the French journal Cahiers du Cinéma, which nurtured and published a small band of iconoclasts who later moved into active filmmaking and became the core of the influential New Wave group. Jean-Luc Godard and the late François Truffaut were probably its most important members, with Jacques Rivette, Eric Rohmer, and Claude Chobrol right at their heels… Jim Hillier’s collection…concentrates on the 1950s, assessing the pre-New Wave cinema of France, as well as classical Hollywood film and Italy’s neo-realist school. It also treats such technical issues as the essence of mise en scène and the advent of CinemaScope… This is a fascinating and provocative book that casts a keen light on the ideas (and by extension, the films) of such astonishing cinéastes as Godard and Rivette, while also showing their affinities with the incisive thought of André Bazin, the group’s mentor… This collection deserves a wide readership among casual and committed filmgoers alike.