Main Street movies : the history of local film in the United States / Martin L. Johnson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnson, Martin L., author.

Series:

Cinema and the American experience.

Cinema and the American Experience

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion pictures--United States--History.

Motion pictures.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (295 pages) : illustrations, tables.

Place of Publication:

Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, 2018.

Summary:

"See yourself in the movies!" Prior to the advent of the home movie camera and the ubiquitousness of the camera phone, there was the local film. This cultural phenomenon, produced across the country from the 1890's to the 1950's, gave ordinary people a chance to be on the silver screen without leaving their hometowns. Through these movies, residents could see themselves in the same theaters where they saw major Hollywood motion pictures. Traveling filmmakers plied their trade in small towns and cities, where these films were received by locals as being part of the larger cinema experience. With access to the rare film clips under discussion, Main Street Movies documents the diversity and longevity of local film production and examines how itinerant filmmakers responded to industry changes to keep sponsors and audiences satisfied. From town pride films in the 1910's to Hollywood knockoffs in the 1930's, local films captured not just images of local people and places but also ideas about the function and meaning of cinema that continue to resonate today.

Contents:

Introduction : defining the local film

The silent pageant : municipal booster films

The home talent film and the origins of itinerancy

"How movies are made" : Hollywood and the local film

Itinerants adopt a baby : the local Hollywood film and the operational aesthetic

Kidnapping the movie queen : amateur aesthetics as cultural critique

The cameraman has visited your town : the local film and the politics of recognition

Every town has its Main Street : the banal localism of the civic film

Reclaiming the local film : artifacts, archives, and audiences

Conclusion : see your town disappear

the historicity of the local film.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references, filmography and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (EBC, viewed February 21, 2018).

ISBN:

9780253032546

0253032547

OCLC:

1020790072