Author: Robert E. Weir Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 1476688958 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 295
Book Description
The ground has shifted from the days in which "serious history" and "boring" went hand in glove. Textbooks and lectures have their place, but less traditional classrooms can be powerfully immersive and insightful. Take the 1929 Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts and what it teaches about both the Great Depression and early sound films. The Marx Brothers are among the funniest comedy teams of all time. Four of their 13 films are on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American comedies ever made. For many contemporary viewers, though, "getting" the jokes is not always easy because the humor can be subjective and timebound. This work looks at the American past through the lens of the Marx Brothers' films and other projects. Each of the chapters focuses on a specific film, contextualizing the world at the time and how the Marx Brothers lampooned those subjects. Along the way, the book demonstrates what the Marx Brothers revealed about weighty topics like gambling, gender relations, immigration, medical care, Prohibition, race and war, all leavened with offbeat humor.
Author: Robert E. Weir Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 1476688958 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 295
Book Description
The ground has shifted from the days in which "serious history" and "boring" went hand in glove. Textbooks and lectures have their place, but less traditional classrooms can be powerfully immersive and insightful. Take the 1929 Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts and what it teaches about both the Great Depression and early sound films. The Marx Brothers are among the funniest comedy teams of all time. Four of their 13 films are on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American comedies ever made. For many contemporary viewers, though, "getting" the jokes is not always easy because the humor can be subjective and timebound. This work looks at the American past through the lens of the Marx Brothers' films and other projects. Each of the chapters focuses on a specific film, contextualizing the world at the time and how the Marx Brothers lampooned those subjects. Along the way, the book demonstrates what the Marx Brothers revealed about weighty topics like gambling, gender relations, immigration, medical care, Prohibition, race and war, all leavened with offbeat humor.
Author: Christopher Beach Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521002097 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 254
Book Description
This book examines the evolution of American film comedy through the lens of language and the portrayal of social class. Christopher Beach argues that class has been an important element in the development of sound comedy as a cinematic form. With the advent of sound in the late 1920s and early 1930s, filmmakers recognized that sound and narrative enlarged the semiotic and ideological potential of film. Analyzing the use of language in the films of the Marx Brothers, Frank Capra, Woody Allen and the Coen brothers, among others, Class, Language, and American Film Comedy traces the history of Hollywood from the 1930s to the present, while offering a new approach to the study of class and social relationships through linguistic analysis.
Author: Marnie M. Sullivan Publisher: Syracuse University Press ISBN: 0815652852 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 316
Book Description
In this new addition to the America in the Twentieth Century series, Sullivan and others present a detailed look into life in America during the 1930s. Beginning with the events leading up to The Great Depression, America in the Thirties presents the themes and events that shaped America during this decade. President Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Dust Bowl and life during the Great Depression, domestic life, and America’s foreign policy are some of the many issued covered in this highly readable, concise manuscript. Throughout the text, the authors also provide commentary on the role of various societal groups such as women, immigrants, African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Latino Americans. The America in the Twentieth Century series presents the major economic, political, social, and cultural milestones of the decades of the twentieth century. Each decade is treated in individual books: thus far, books focusing on 1920s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s have been published. This latest addition to the series, focusing on the tumultuous 1930s, will provide logical links to the previously published books in the series.
Author: Martin A. Gardner Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 0786454547 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 219
Book Description
The Marx Brothers' films are packed with slapstick and obvious jokes, gags, puns, pratfalls, and mimicry. But beneath the laughs is a serious and biting condemnation of American culture. This book examines historical events, political practices, economic conditions, manners and customs, literary subjects, and popular entertainment as satirized in the films and considers the ways in which the films were relevant in their era and remain so today.
Author: Lawrence J. Epstein Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 0786469625 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 223
Book Description
This is a thematic survey of American films with significant Jewish content that made an important statement about America. Both familiar and lesser known films are included. An introduction discusses why American Jews were attracted to films as audiences, performers and business people, and evaluates how films help audiences think about their lives. The book then focuses on themes and representative and important films, placing them in their cultural contexts. One of the aspects of American Jewish life brought out by the films in general is the tensions between an American and a Jewish identity and between a Jewish identity and a broader human identity. Other themes are assimilation and acculturation, interfaith relations, Israel, marriage and family relations, the role of women, Jews and American politics, and anti-Semitism including the Holocaust.
Author: William H. Young Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA ISBN: 0313088713 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 717
Book Description
Everything from Amos n' Andy to zeppelins is included in this expansive two volume encyclopedia of popular culture during the Great Depression era. Two hundred entries explore the entertainments, amusements, and people of the United States during the difficult years of the 1930s. In spite of, or perhaps because of, such dire financial conditions, the worlds of art, fashion, film, literature, radio, music, sports, and theater pushed forward. Conditions of the times were often mirrored in the popular culture with songs such as Brother Can You Spare a Dime, breadlines and soup kitchens, homelessness, and prohibition and repeal. Icons of the era such as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George and Ira Gershwin, Jean Harlow, Billie Holiday, the Marx Brothers, Roy Rogers, Frank Sinatra, and Shirley Temple entertained many. Dracula, Gone With the Wind, It Happened One Night, and Superman distracted others from their daily worries. Fads and games - chain letters, jigsaw puzzles, marathon dancing, miniature golf, Monopoly - amused some, while musicians often sang the blues. Nancy and William Young have written a work ideal for college and high school students as well as general readers looking for an overview of the popular culture of the 1930s. Art deco, big bands, Bonnie and Clyde, the Chicago's World Fair, Walt Disney, Duke Ellington, five-and-dimes, the Grand Ole Opry, the jitter-bug, Lindbergh kidnapping, Little Orphan Annie, the Olympics, operettas, quiz shows, Seabiscuit, vaudeville, westerns, and Your Hit Parade are just a sampling of the vast range of entries in this work. Reference features include an introductory essay providing an historical and cultural overview of the period, bibliography, and index.
Author: Andrew Davis Publisher: Penn State Press ISBN: 0271035781 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 428
Book Description
"Traces the history of the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia from its founding in 1809. Documents the productions and players at the theater, and the difficulties it has faced from economic crises, changing tastes, and competition from new media"--Provided by publisher.
Author: Sharon M. Scott Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA ISBN: Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 536
Book Description
Tracing developments in toy making and marketing across the evolving landscape of the 20th century, this encyclopedia is a comprehensive reference guide to America's most popular playthings and the culture to which they belong. From the origins of favorite playthings to their associations with events and activities, the study of a nation's toys reveals the hopes, goals, values, and priorities of its people. Toys have influenced the science, art, and religion of the United States, and have contributed to the development of business, politics, and medicine. Toys and American Culture: An Encyclopedia documents America's shifting cultural values as they are embedded within and transmitted by the nation's favorite playthings. Alphabetically arranged entries trace developments in toy making and toy marketing across the evolving landscape of 20th-century America. In addition to discussing the history of America's most influential toys, the book contains specific entries on the individuals, organizations, companies, and publications that gave shape to America's culture of play from 1900 to 2000. Toys from the two decades that frame the 20th century are also included, as bridges to the fascinating past—and the inspiring future—of American toys.
Author: Robert E. Weir
Author: Christopher Beach
Author: Marnie M. Sullivan
Author: Martin A. Gardner
Author: Lawrence J. Epstein![The Great Depression in America [2 volumes] PDF](https://books.google.com/books/content/images/frontcover/ekPPEAAAQBAJ?fife=w80-h100)
Author: William H. Young
Author: Andrew Davis
Author: Sharon M. Scott
Author: Allen Eyles