Many feature length films and films made for television are adaptable to classroom use, especially in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, and students may accept a well-produced film (even if it is older) more readily than an inexpensively produced educational film. This booklet discusses how animated films, narrative feature films,…

The thesis of this classic, the major part of which was originally published in 1933, is that the peculiar virtues of film as art derive from an exploitation of the limitations of the medium: the absence of sound, the absence of color, the lack of three-dimensional depth. Silent-film artists made virtues of these necessities and were on their way…

This second edition of "A Short History of the Movies" includes expanded information and judgments about some of the "old masters" of film; an updated discussion of the "new masters"; and new sections on Japanese, Indian, and Czech cinema. In general, this history reveals significant trends in film history. American…

Prefaced by a brief discussion of early films and film criticism, 10 essays treat selected modern directors and their works. Essays on Stanley Kubrick's "Lolita," the early works of Elia Kazan, and the response of French critics to Jerry Lewis explore the American scene, while Francois Truffaut's "Jules and Jim," the early work of Robert Bressen,…

This book covers the life and aesthetic qualities of the work of the European film-maker Jean-Marie Straub (1933- ). It contains introductory chapters on the biography and artistic milieu of Straub and continues with a chapter-by-chapter critical treatment of each of his films: "Machorka-Muff"; "Not Reconciled"; "Chronicle…

This biography of Sergei M. Eisenstein records the life of this pioneering Soviet filmmaker and concentrates upon the events in Eisenstein's life which motivated him to create films in the methods he chose. A chapter is devoted to each of Eisenstein's major films. His creative techniques are explored along with his relationship with other major…

This is an interview with the director of an instructional film on Baudelaire. Questions and answers deal with the use of sound, images, interviews and with general theory. (Text is in French.) (AM)

Describes a method, used in intermediate French classes on the university level, which uses films to improve listening comprehension skills. (AM)

Akira Kurosawa, the most popular Asian film maker with audiences in the United States, has found in William Shakespeare's plays themes and plots that resonate within Japanese culture. While the translations of "Macbeth" into "Throne of Blood" and "King Lear" into "Ran" are quite direct and literal with only…

An approach that introduces a Quebec film into a college-level course for advanced students of French is described. The technique addresses three aspects of the film: organization; the significance of certain film-making processes; and cultural and social aspects of the film as they relate to Quebecoise culture. (MSE)

This brief history of the cinema surveys the birth, development, and modern period of silent and sound films. The approach seeks out major "auteurs" of film, discusses their more artistic works, and places them in historical perspective. Commentary on the aesthetic nature of film includes speculation on the relationship of sound to…

The author, in this new edition of a 1945 classic on film theory, proposes that films have a greater influence on the minds of the general public than any other art form; therefore, a careful study of film is necessary to control and direct its potential influence. He delineates the early history of films, pointing out that not until 10 or 12…

Outlines a high school or college level course involving the combination of literary texts and commercial films. A selected list of films suitable to such a course is also included. (DB)