Bigger Than Blockbusters: Movies That Defined America

430 Pages·2009·4.21 MB·English

by  James Roman

Bigger than Blockbusters
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Bigger Blockbusters
than
Movies That Defined America
James Roman
GREENWOODPRESS
Westport,Connecticut(cid:2)London
ThankstoJarahMoeshandShaShaFengfortheirvaluableeditorialassistance.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Roman,JamesW.
Biggerthanblockbusters:moviesthatdefinedAmerica/JamesRoman.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-313-33995-0(alk.paper)
1.Motionpictures—UnitedStates—History.2.Motionpictures—Socialaspects—
UnitedStates.I.Title.II.Title:Onehundredfilmsthatchangedthetwentiethcentury.
PN1993.5.U6R64 2009
791.430973—dc22 2008033457
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:3)C 2009byJamesRoman
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2008033457
ISBN:978-0-313-33995-0
Firstpublishedin2009
GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.greenwood.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ForMardee,HeatherGail,andBenjaminZiggy
AndinlovingmemoryofSavannah(tootie),whohuddledatmyfeet
duringthewritingofthisbook
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Contents
Preface ix
Chapter1
ThroughaGlass...Darkly,1915–1938 1
Chapter2
ARumbletoWar,1939–1942 29
Chapter3
BoomandBust:TheFilmsofPost-WarAmerica,1946–1947 42
Chapter4
TheHop,Bop,andStroll,1950–1959 52
Chapter5
TheSpaceRace,CivilRights,andaNationTorn,1960–1969 112
Chapter6
PlatformShoes,PetRocks,Disco,andaDysfunctional
Presidency,1970–1979 175
Chapter7
Bits,Bytes,andBoomers,1980–1989 250
Chapter8
GenX,RealityTV,Terror,Impeachment,Seinfeld,
BeavisandButthead,1990–1999 283
Chapter9
TheNewMillennium,2000–2008 311
Appendix1:AlphabeticalListingofFilms 381
Appendix2:ChronologicalListingofFilms 383
Bibliography 385
Index 395
vii
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Preface
The purpose of writing and editing a book entitled Bigger than Blockbusters: Movies that
DefinedAmericaisnotsimplytoaddtotheclutterofeditedtextsthatpurporttoarticulate
whatthereadershouldconsiderasimportantfilms,butrathertoofferthereaderacom-
pellingrationaletoconsiderwhyanyofthefilmslisteddeservetobeculturaliconsthat
changed twentieth and twenty-first century America. To accomplish this, one must
makedeterminationsthatmaynotalwaysbeagreeabletoalargeraudienceofcriticsbut
indeedwillaccommodatetherationale forchoosingfilmsastheyaredefinedaspromi-
nent cultural forces in America. Because America’s population is so diverse, part of the
objective is to identify films that reach beyond the discrete interests of audiences and
touch a vibrant chord in everyone’s psyche. That doesn’t necessarily presume a film
mustbeablockbusterorhavebeenawardedagaggleofAcademyAwards.Itdoesmean
thatsuchafilmshouldhavehadsomeinfluenceontheliterary,cinematic,andbehav-
ioral culture of our time, reflecting not only our virtues but also our hypocrisy. Such a
filmisexpressiveofdefiningourfoiblesandmeasuringthecapacitiesofbehaviorwithin
adynamicofafilm’scanvasthatgoesbeyondnurturingthepublic’staste.
Some films also make dramatic and prominent statements about historical events
that have affected America and the world, thus becoming part of the narrative associ-
ated with a time and place ritualizing events that took place. Films do not have to be
dramatically compelling to be culturally impressive; they may have a lighter side that
offers humor and pathos in an endearing theme. They may also be provocative and
revealing,creatingaresonatingdisturbanceoftruthandfact.
We speak of revolutions and identify various chronological epochs as revolution-
ary, such as the Industrial Revolution, or with political inference like the American or
Russian Revolutions. The term has also entered the vernacular within the context of
society as the Cultural Revolution. What is a cultural revolution, and can we define it
when it’s happening? Or is it the case, as Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart noted
aboutthedefinitionofhardcorepornography,“IknowitwhenIseeit.”
Theworldoffilm,narrative,andnonfictionhasbeenadefiningforceforAmerican
and global culture since the first publicly screened short films. In 1895, when the
brothers Lumi(cid:2)ere projected their first films of everyday life at a theater in Paris, one of
those films, The Arrival of the Train at the Station, shocked some of the audience as it
appeared that the projected image of the train was heading straight for them. Thomas
Edison, inventor of the phonograph and the peephole kinetoscope, exhibited the first
films in the United States. Two notable ones were Fred Ott’s Sneeze (January 1894) and
ix