by Lary May ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2000
Somewhat academic, but not without its merits.
La-La Land goes political.
May (Screening Out the Past, 1980) begins his account with Will Rogers in the 1930s and ends it somewhere between Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando in the 1960s. His quest to show how the movies, through their erection of idealized images of self and home, influenced American nationalism. Needless to say, this is a pretty broad canvas, and May finds no lack of material to consider—especially during the war years, when Hollywood became a kind of Ministry of Propaganda serving the Allied High Command. The House on 92d Street, Back to Bataan, This Is the Army, and The Fighting 69th are just a handful of the suspects he rounds up to support his case. In his examination of the McCarthy years, May relates the many ways in which the US government worked hand-in-glove with Hollywood to root out communist influence from the industry. Curiously enough, however, May stops short of labeling such efforts “propaganda.” More interesting are his comments on some of the more memorable films by respected directors, such as Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity), Mark Hellinger (High Sierra) and John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre). May sees these efforts as attempts made by the more radical elements in Hollywood to counter the trend toward succumbing to the political pressures emanating from Washington. May, of course, is not the first cultural historian to point to Hollywood’s political impact on American society, but he does, however, give greater recognition than usual to minorities and the role they have played in the public consciousness (as expressed through popular films), both before and immediately after the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. He also points to a certain cross-cultural fertilization in American entertainment that perhaps is inevitable given the nature of our heritage.
Somewhat academic, but not without its merits.Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-226-51162-6
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Univ. of Chicago
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2000
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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