Boom and Bust American Cinema in the 1940s [Paperback]

Boom and Busttraces the movie industry through the momentous decade of the 1940s. It discusses changes in the structure of the studio systemincluding the shift to independent productionand the dominant stars, genres, and production trends through the period.

Thomas Schatzis Philip G. Warner Professor of Communication at the University of Texas, Austin. His previous books includeThe Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era(1996) andHollywood Film Genres(1980). He is a regular contributor to various television programs on film, including the PBS seriesThe American Cinema.

This book represents some of the finest scholarship in the field. . . . Schatz draws on a broad range of archival and trade press sources, and organizes his findings to highlight the dynamics of studio house styles, executive management and the production strategies of the major studios as the studio system coped with an array of 'momentous reversals.' Matthew Bernstein, author ofWalter Wanger, Hollywood Independent