Cancer, research, and educational film at midcentury : the making of the movie "Challenge: science against cancer" (1950) / David Cantor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cantor, David, 1957- author.

Series:

Rochester studies in medical history.

Rochester studies in medical history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Challenge (Motion picture : 1950).

Scientists--Recruiting--United States.

Scientists.

Cancer--Research.

Cancer.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 338 pages).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Cancer, Research, and Educational Film at Midcentury

Place of Publication:

University of Rochester Press 2022

Rochester, NY : Boydell & Brewer, 2021.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"In 1949, the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Canadian Department of National Health and Welfare (DNHW) commissioned a film, eventually called Challenge. Science Against Cancer, as part of a major effort to recruit young scientists into cancer research. Both organizations feared that poor recruitment would stifle the development of the field at a time when funding for research was growing dramatically. The fear was that there would not be enough new young scientists to meet the demand, and that the shortfall would undermine cancer research and the hopes invested in it. Challenge aimed to persuade young scientists to think of cancer research as a career. This book is the story of that forgotten film and what it tells us about mid-twentieth century American and Canadian cancer research, educational filmmaking, and health education campaigns. It explores why Canadian and American health agencies turned to film to address the problem of scientist recruitment; how filmmakers turned such recruitment concerns into something they thought would work as a film; and how information officers at the NCI and DNHW sought to shape the impact of Challenge by embedding it in a broader educational and propaganda program. It is, in short, an account of the important, but hitherto undocumented, roles of filmmakers and information officers in the promotion of post-Second World War cancer research"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The Americans

The Canadians

Baiting the Hook

Mr. Foster Goes Fishing

Producing and Directing

Animation

Live Action

Pulling Together

Between Production and Promotion

Planning Premieres

Receptions and Responses

The Package.

Notes:

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-64825-029-7

1-80010-367-0

OCLC:

1525621039