| Description |
ix, 254 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Contents |
Introduction: Hollywood Stories -- 1. Cautionary Tales. What Price Hollywood? (1932). A Star Is Born (1937). The Star (1952) -- 2. Singin' on the Screen. Singin' in the Rain (1952). A Star Is Born (1954) -- 3. Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella. Sullivan's Travels (1941). Pennies from Heaven (1981) -- 4. Screen Passages. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985). Last Action Hero (1993) -- 5. No Business Like. Stand-In (1937). The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) -- 6. Picturing Writers. Boy Meets Girl (1938). In a Lonely Place (1950) -- 7. Offing the Writer. Sunset Boulevard (1950). The Player (1992) -- Epilogue: California Dreams -- Appendix. Film and Videotape Availability |
| Summary |
Hundreds of films belonging to the genre of Hollywood-on-Hollywood movies can be found throughout the history of American cinema, from the days of silents to the present. They include films from genres as far ranging as musical, film noir, melodrama, comedy, and action adventure. Such movies seduce us with the promise of revealing the reality behind the camera. But, as part of the very industry they supposedly critique, they cannot take us behind the scenes in any true sense. This paradox - the simultaneous debunking and celebration of Hollywood - lies at the heart of the genre. Through close analysis of the best of these films. Ames reveals how the idea of Hollywood is constructed (and constructs itself), particularly through such moments of explicit self-referentiality as the movie-within-a-movie and scenes set in studios |
| Analysis |
BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, THE (US, Vincente Minnelli, 1952) |
|
BOY MEETS GIRL (US, Lloyd Bacon, 1938) |
|
FILMS IN FILMS |
|
HOLLYWOOD IN FILMS |
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IN A LONELY PLACE (US, Nicholas Ray, 1950) |
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LAST ACTION HERO (US, John McTiernan, 1993) |
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PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (US, Herbert Ross, 1981) |
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PLAYER, THE (US, Robert Altman, 1992) |
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PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, THE (US, Woody Allen, 1985) |
|
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (US, Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen, 1952) |
|
STAND-IN (US, Tay Garnett, 1937) |
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STAR IS BORN, A (US, George Cukor, 1954) |
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STAR IS BORN, A (US, William Wellman, 1937) |
|
STAR, THE (US, Stuart Heisler, 1952) |
|
SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (US, Preston Sturges, 1942) |
|
SUNSET BOULEVARD (US, Billy Wilder, 1950) |
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WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD (US, George Cukor, 1932) |
| Notes |
Includes filmography (p. 227) |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 238-244) and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Motion picture industry in motion pictures.
|
| LC no. |
96052946 |
| ISBN |
0813120187 (cloth : alk. paper) |
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