American Cinema

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  • : 13
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  • PBS
  • Documentary

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1
1x1
The Hollywood Style
Episode overview
In the classical Hollywood film, the story is primary. Filmmakers rely on style — structure, narrative, and visual elements — to effectively tell their story. Martin Scorsese and Sydney .. show full overview
1x2
The Studio System
Episode overview
This program surveys Hollywood's industrial past during the era of contract players and directors, studio police forces, and colorful movie moguls. It also looks at the filmmaking .. show full overview
1x3
The Star
Episode overview
Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Dustin Hoffman — these among many others are names synonymous with Hollywood. Early on, Hollywood saw that recognizable talent could minimize the financial risks .. show full overview
1x4
The Western
Episode overview
The western is an American myth that has been translated by other cultures and reinterpreted time and again, but never dies. With clips and critical commentary on westerns from John .. show full overview
1x5
Romantic Comedy
Episode overview
Breezy and silly to witty and intelligent, romantic comedies have been with us since the 1930s. But the surface humor has often just barely masked issues of gender and sexuality. This .. show full overview
1x6
The Combat Film
Episode overview
Beginning with World War II combat films — produced under directives from the federal government — this program examines the role of the combat film in filling a social and political .. show full overview
1x7
Film Noir
Episode overview
These cynical and pessimistic films from the 1930s and '40s touched a nerve in Americans. Historians link the genre's overriding paranoia to Cold War-related angst over the nuclear .. show full overview
1x8
Film in the Television Age
Episode overview
Television first arrived in American homes just as the Hollywood studio system was collapsing. As the new medium took hold, so did a new era of motion picture entertainment. Top .. show full overview
1x9
The Film School Generation
Episode overview
Maverick filmmakers of the 1960s and '70s, including Brian DePalma, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg, capitalized on new technology and borrowed from classical Hollywood and French .. show full overview
1x10
The Edge of Hollywood
Episode overview
While many of the old rules are still in force, independent filmmakers today often add their dissenting voices to the forum. This program looks at some alternative visions from new .. show full overview
1x11
Film Language
Episode overview
"Film Language" illustrates basic terms such as tracking shots and zooms and also provides a primer on editing technique.
1x12
Writing and Thinking About Film
Episode overview
"Writing and Thinking About Film" provides a formal and cultural analysis of a classical film sequence. It serves as a critical how-to guide for those new to film critique.
1x13
Classical Hollywood Today
Episode overview
"Classical Hollywood Today" offers interviews with contemporary directors, European filmmakers, scholars, and critics, as well as studio-era veterans who probe Hollywood's influence on both American and world culture.

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