The American Newsreel: A Complete History, 1911-1967, 2d ed. - Softcover

Fielding, Raymond

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786466103 ISBN 13: 9780786466108

Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2011

Synopsis

For fifty years, the newsreel was a fixture in American movie theaters. Released twice a week, less than ten minutes long, each had news footage that combined journalism with entertainment. With the advent of television news programs after World War II, newsreels began to be obsolete, but they remain the first instances of moving image photographic journalism and were for decades a unique source of information--and misinformation. This history details the full span of the American newsreel from 1911 to 1967, discussing the European forerunners, changes in the American version over time, and the ethical and unethical use of newsreels in present-day television documentaries. Photographs, bibliography and index.

About this title

About the Author:

Raymond Fielding is dean emeritus of the School of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts at Florida State University in Tallahassee. He lives in Tallahassee.

Review:

"Fielding wrote [a book] which laid out the rise and fall of a now-forgotten form that delivered news to the masses in moving pictures and sound in movie theaters through the first half of the 20th century. It was a potent blend of journalism and entertainment long before Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. By the mid-1920s, nearly 90 percent of the 18,000 theaters in the United States exhibited at least one of the six newsreels then available, Fielding wrote. 'Mussolini said "Let me run the newsreels and I can rule the world,"' said Fielding, who taught Frances Ford Coppola among others at UCLA and later was founding dean of the film school at Florida State University." --The Baltimore Sun

"very scholarly, worthwhile history...93 photos" --Classic Images.

About this edition

• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0786466103
• ISBN 13: 9780786466108
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 250