Introduction p. xiii
Pioneers: The Silent Era and the Transition to Sound
The Photoplay of Action p. 3
The Artistic Position of Douglas Fairbanks and The Thief of Bagdad Production p. 7
The Function of the Photoplay p. 10
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari p. 18
Nanook of the North p. 20
A Woman of Paris p. 21
Manhandled p. 22
The Temptress p. 23
What Price Glory? p. 24
The Ten Commandments p. 27
Greed p. 29
The New Chaplin Comedy (The Gold Rush) p. 31
from Appendix from Moronia: Note on Technic p. 35
The Passion of Joan of Arc p. 39
The "Talkies" p. 45
"A" in the Art of the Movie and Kino p. 48
Remarks on D. W. Griffith p. 51
from An Hour with the Movies and the Talkies p. 56
Anna Christie p. 67
Good Art, Good Propaganda p. 69
King Kong p. 73
The Invisible Man p. 74
Parachute Jumper p. 76
Hallelujah I'm a Bum p. 77
Ladies They Talk About p. 77
Our Betters p. 78
King Kong p. 79
Night Flight p. 80
Camille p. 80
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney p. 81
Personal Property p. 82
Another Dawn p. 83
A Day at the Races p. 84
The Devil Is a Woman p. 85
The Future of Color p. 86
The Film Critic of Tomorrow p. 90
Dancing in Films p. 96
The Charge of the Light Brigade p. 103
Masters and Moonlighters: The Late 1930s, World War II, and the Postwar Era
It's Up to the Kiddies (Stand Up and Cheer) p. 110
Stars and Garters (Belle of the Nineties) p. 111
Artist Among the Flickers (Three Songs about Lenin) p. 112
Arms and Men (Lives of a Bengal Lancer) p. 115
Words and Music (Broadway Melody of 1936) p. 116
In a Dry Month (Hands across the Table) p. 119
Cagney: Great Guy p. 121
Through the Looking Glass (Stage Door) p. 124
Walt Disney's Grimm Reality (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) p. 126
Hitchcock in Hollywood (Foreign Correspondent) p. 128
For Better, For Worse (Time in the Sun) p. 130
Handsome Is... (High Sierra) p. 131
Citizen Welles p. 132
Welles and His Wonders: II p. 135
Gone with the Wind Is More Dangerous Than Birth of a Nation p. 140
Griffith and the Technical Innovations p. 145
The Song of Bernadette p. 150
Annual Wrap-Up of 1944 p. 151
A Great Film (The Story of G.I. Joe) p. 155
The Lost Weekend p. 158
Shoeshine p. 161
Day of Wrath p. 163
Introduction to From Caligari to Hitler p. 166
The Gangster as Tragic Hero p. 175
A Feeling of Sad Dignity (Limelight) p. 180
The Shadow and the Act p. 192
Got a Match? p. 198
The Golden Age of Movie Criticism: The 1950s through the 70s
The Reluctant War Hero (Casablanca) p. 209
Underground Films p. 222
White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art p. 233
Kitchen Without Kitsch (with Patricia Patterson) p. 241
Double into Quadruple Indemnity p. 249
Warhol's New Sex Film (Blue Movie) p. 257
A King in New York p. 263
Pather Panchali and Aparajito p. 271
A Note on La Belle, La Perfectly Swell, Romance p. 276
The Creative Joy of the Independent Film-Maker p. 280
Renoir and Plotless Cinema p. 281
Marilyn Monroe and the Loveless World (The Misfits) p. 282
On Andy Warhol's Sleep p. 283
Not Everything That Is Fun Is Cinema (A Hard Day's Night) p. 284
On Bresson and Une Femme Douce p. 285
The Misfits p. 286
L'Avventura p. 289
Lola Montes p. 291
The Birds p. 297
La Guerre Est Finie p. 298
Falstaff and A Countess from Hong Kong p. 300
Science Fiction: The Forbin Project p. 303
Billy Wilder p. 306
Billy Wilder Reconsidered p. 307
John Wayne's Strange Legacy p. 311
The Imagination of Disaster p. 316
Band of Outsiders p. 331
Funny Girl p. 334
Trash, Art, and the Movies p. 337
McCabe & Mrs. Miller p. 367
8 1/2 p. 371
Cold Blood: Cheap Fiction p. 385
The Runners p. 389
Midnight Cowboy p. 395
The Wild Bunch p. 397
Easy Rider p. 399
Z p. 401
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? p. 402
Patton p. 404
Zabriskie Point p. 407
Is Fiddler More De Mille Than Sholem Aleichem? p. 409
These Are a Few of My Favorite Things p. 413
Bunuel p. 417
The Woman's Film p. 426
Sophisticated Interiors p. 450
Melancholy Males or Movies About Men Turning 50 p. 452
Notes on Film Noir p. 456
The Last Picture Show p. 467
Jaundice of the Soul (Chinatown) p. 471
Blue Notes p. 476
M*A*S*H p. 485
from The Devil Finds Work (Lady Sings the Blues) p. 491
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant p. 501
Reconsiderations and Renegade Perspectives: The 1980s to the Present
The Keaton Quiet p. 507
Bad Movies p. 517
The Film Critic of Tomorrow, Today p. 528
Cons and Pros (The Lady Eve) p. 538
Blue Velvet p. 558
Sam Fuller: Movie Bozo p. 562
Rebirth of a Nation (Do the Right Thing) p. 570
Malcolm X'd Again (Malcolm X) p. 574
The Real Thing p. 579
The Italian System p. 591
A Boy Named Sioux (Dances with Wolves) p. 606
Cary Grant p. 610
Howard Hawks p. 613
Cool Cynicism: Pulp Fiction p. 617
Titanic Sinks Again (Spectacularly) p. 622
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities (Eyes Wide Shut) p. 626
Trouble in Paradise p. 636
Gladiator p. 640
Imitation of Life p. 644
Of Love and the City (In the Mood for Love) p. 667
On Val Lewton's The Seventh Victim p. 673
Ratpacks and Pack Males p. 677
Saying "Ain't" and Playing "Dixie": Rhetoric and Comedy in Judge Priest p. 682
Good and Evil Locked in Violent Showdown (The Passion of the Christ) p. 699
The Most Overrated Film of the Year (Sideways) p. 702
High Hopes (The Royal Tenenbaums) p. 706
Not-So-Nice Kitty (The Cat in the Hat) p. 709
Once Disaster Hits, It Seems Never To End (A History of Violence) p. 711
Sources and Acknowledgments p. 715