| Description |
269 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm |
| Contents |
Introduction to the second edition -- Part 1: Exercising artistic license: communicating through a mix of fact and fiction. Mississippi burning : "A standard to which we couldn't live up" ; JFK : "Fact, fiction, and supposition" -- Part 2: Drawing lessons: making the past relevant to the present. Sergeant York : "If that is propaganda, we plead guilty" ; Missing : "An assault on the integrity of the U.S. government, the Foreign Service, and the military" -- Part 3: Opening debate: revealing current controversy in portrayals of the past. Bonnie and Clyde : "Violence of the most grisly sort" ; Patton : "Deliberately planned as a Rorschach test" -- Part 4: Accenting heroism: celebrating the "Great man" in the documentary style. All the President's men : "The story that people know and remember" ; Norma Rae : "A female Rocky" -- Epilogue |
| Summary |
"This newly updated edition of History by Hollywood explores the question of what happens to history when Hollywood filmmakers get their hands on it. With a fresh look at recent films and television productions such as Titanic, Pearl Harbor, The Patriot, and John Adams, Robert Brent Toplin examines how filmmakers have interpreted American history through their movies." "Toplin discusses how writers, producers, and directors become involved in making historical films, what influences their interpretations of the past, and the responses they make to the controversies their works excite. With a realistic appreciation of the challenges filmmakers face, he effectively measures the strengths and weaknesses of Hollywood's presentation of history in the films Mississippi Burning, JFK, Sergeant York, Missing, Bonnie and Clyde, Patton, All the President's Men, and Norma Rae."--BOOK JACKET |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [229]-259) and index |
| Subject |
Historical films -- United States -- History and criticism.
|
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Motion pictures and history.
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| LC no. |
2009014549 |
| ISBN |
9780252076893 (paperback: alk. paper) |
|
0252076893 (paperback: alk. paper) |
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