A little solitaire : John Frankenheimer and American film / edited by Murray Pomerance, R. Barton Palmer.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Pomerance, Murray, 1946-

Palmer, R. Barton, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Frankenheimer, John, 1930-2002--Criticism and interpretation.

Motion pictures--Biography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (325 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Think about some commercially successful film masterpieces--The Manchurian Candidate. Seven Days in May. Seconds. Then consider some lesser known, yet equally compelling cinematic achievements--The Fixer. The Gypsy Moths. Path to War. These triumphs are the work of the best known and most highly regarded Hollywood director to emerge from live TV drama in the 1950s--five-time Emmy-award-winner John Frankenheimer. Although Frankenheimer was a pioneer in the genre of political thrillers who embraced the antimodernist critique of contemporary society, some of his later films did not receive the attention they deserved. Many claimed that at a midpoint in his career he had lost his touch. World-renowned film scholars put this myth to rest in A Little Solitaire, which offers the only multidisciplinary critical account of Frankenheimer's oeuvre. Especially emphasized is his deep and passionate engagement with national politics and the irrepressible need of human beings to assert their rights and individuality in the face of organizations that would reduce them to silence and anonymity.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Why Don't You Pass the Time by Playing a Little Solitaire? / Palmer, R. Barton / Pomerance, Murray

Thrills

Murdered Souls, Conspiratorial Cabals: Frankenheimer's Paranoia Films / Sterritt, David

The Manchurian Candidate: Compromised Agency and Uncertain Causality / Berg, Charles Ramírez

Stealth, Sexuality, and Cult Status in The Manchurian Candidate and Seconds / Bell-Metereau, Rebecca

The Train: John Frankenheimer's "Rape of Europa" / Bernstein, Matthew H.

Action and Abstraction in Ronin / Prince, Stephen

Politics

Late Frankenheimer/ Political Frankenheimer / McFarland, Douglas

John Frankenheimer's "War on Terror" / Creekmur, Corey K.

The Burning Season: Environmentalism versus Progress? / Murray, Robin L.

Pictures and Prizes: Le Grand Prix de Rome and Grand Prix / Duckett, Victoria

Families

Crashing In: Birdman of Alcatraz / Conley, Tom

Walking the Line with the Fille Fatale / Williams, Linda Ruth

Live TV, Filmed Theater, and the New Hollywood: John Frankenheimer's The Iceman Cometh / Morrison, James

Ashes, Ashes: Structuring Emptiness in All Fall Down / Pomerance, Murray

Secrets

An American in Paris: John Frankenheimer's Impossible Object / Mosher, Jerry

Shot from the Sky: The Gypsy Moths and the End of Something / Bingham, Dennis

Frankenheimer and the Science Fiction/Horror Film / Cornea, Christine

The Fixer: A Jew Who Could Be Any Man, Any Time, Anywhere / Palmer, R. Barton

Jonah / Krohn, Bill

John Frankenheimer's Directorial Career: A Chronology

Works Cited and Consulted

Contributors

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references, filmography and index.

ISBN:

1-283-86462-2

0-8135-5098-X

OCLC:

775872933