The University Press of Kentucky

An Armenian national raised in Russia, Rouben Mamoulian (1897–1987) studied in the influential Stanislavski studio, renowned as the source of the “method” acting technique.

Raoul Walsh (1887–1980) was known as one of Hollywood’s most adventurous, iconoclastic, and creative directors.

Widely regarded as a turning point in American independent cinema, Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies, and videotape (1989) launched the career of its twenty-six-year-old director, whose debut film was nominated for an Academy Award and went on to win the Cannes Film Festival’s top award, the Palme d’Or. The Philosophy of Steven Soderbergh breaks new ground by investigating salient philosophical themes through the unique story lines and innovative approaches to filmmaking that distinguish this celebrated artist.

Popular culture often champions freedom as the fundamentally American way of life and celebrates the virtues of independence and self-reliance. But film and television have also explored the tension between freedom and other core values, such as order and political stability.

From the Academy Award–winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Academy Award–nominated Adaptation (2002) to the cult classic Being John Malkovich (1999), writer Charlie Kaufman is widely admired for his innovative, philosophically resonant films.

Over his twenty-plus year tenure in Hollywood, Spike Lee has produced a number of controversial films that unapologetically confront sensitive social issues, particularly those of race relations and discrimination.

Animators work within a strictly defined, limited space that requires difficult artistic decisions.

Arthur Penn: American Director is the comprehensive biography of one of the twentieth century’s most influential filmmakers.

One of the most accomplished writers and directors of classic Hollywood, Billy Wilder (1906–2002) directed numerous acclaimed films, including Sunset Boulevard (1950), Sabrina (1954), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), and Some Like It Hot (1959). Featuring Gene D. Phillips’s unique, in-depth critical approach, Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder provides a groundbreaking overview of a filmmaking icon.

During World War II, Hollywood studios supported the war effort by making patriotic movies designed to raise the nation’s morale.

For three decades, no American filmmaker has been as prolific—or as paradoxical—as Woody Allen.

Hal Ashby (1929–1988) was always an outsider, and as a director he brought an outsider’s perspective to Hollywood cinema.

Though he never reached the lead actor status he labored so relentlessly to achieve, Warren Oates (1928–1982) is one of the most memorable and skilled character actors of the 1970s.

In the history of cinema, many film genres have gained and lost popularity with the changing times, but one has maintained its supreme reign—the royal biopic.

Late in Claude Rains’s distinguished career, a reverent film journalist wrote that Rains “was as much a cinematic institution as the medium itself.

Film moves audiences like no other medium; both documentaries and feature films are especially remarkable for their ability to influence viewers.

Sports films are popular forms of entertainment around the world, but beyond simply amusing audiences, they also reveal much about class, race, gender, sexuality, and national identity.

Has any film director had a greater impact on popular culture than Steven Spielberg?

In 2008 No Country for Old Men won the Academy Award for Best Picture, adding to the reputation of filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, who were already known for pushing the boundaries of genre.

In 1988, director Martin Scorsese fulfilled his lifelong dream of making a film about Jesus Christ.

" Bela Lugosi won immediate fame for his portrayal of the immortal count in the 1931 film Dracula . After a decade of trying vainly to broaden his range and secure parts to challenge his acting abilities, Lugosi resigned himself to a career as the world’s most recognizable vampire.

American historians such as Frederick Jackson Turner have argued that the West has been the region that most clearly defines American democracy and the national ethos.

Why has a nineteenth-century author with an elitist reputation proved so popular with directors as varied as William Wyler, François Truffaut, and James Ivory?

WITH A FOREWORD BY WALTER MURCH Gene Phillips blends biography, studio history, and film criticism to complete the most comprehensive work on Coppola ever written.

In the postwar era, the lure of controversy sold movie tickets as much as the promise of entertainment did.