The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style & Mode of Production to 1960

by David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson

How films are conceived,planned, and produced leaves a mark upon the films, directly and structurally. The relations between film style and mode of production are, according to the authors, reciprocal and mutually influencing. The authors trace such topics as style, economics, and technology over time, demonstrating how significant changes occurrred in Hollywood from the earliest days through the sixties.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Art, Academic, History, Media Tie In, Collections

506 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 1985

About the author

David Bordwell, Jacques Ledoux Professor at the University of Wisconsin, is arguably the most influential scholar of film in the United States. The author, with his wife Kristin Thompson, of the standard textbook Film Art and a series of influential studies of directors (Eisenstein, Ozu, Dreyer) as well as periods and styles (Hong Kong cinema, Classical Hollywood cinema, among others), he has also trained a generation of professors of cinema studies, extending his influence throughout the world. His books have been translated into fifteen languages.

Reviews

[Nikola Lindenberg]

Incredibly dry and factual in essence. The authors shy away from any opportunity to analyze the style and the techniques of classic Hollywood filmmaking, choosing instead to argue that nearly everything in the way Hollywood films before the 60s were made was influenced by technological developments and changes.
I see this book as a historical encyclopedia where the authors act as mere chroniclers. This is still a commendable effort on a larger scale, but reductive and uninspiring one for those who try to dissect and unpack the plethora of different stylistic ways in which films convey meaning to the spectator.

[Greta]

Detailed study of how a Hollywood film is constructed, much on camera set up, shots, editing, and narrative structure. Essential.

[Graeme]

A useful survey of Hollywood film production up to 1960, considering style, organizational modes of production, and technology, including the effects of technology on style. Occasionally, the writing on style can be pompous and pseudo-intellectual, finding academic-sounding words when simple words would do.

Hollywood has also exploited our search for temporal meaning by shaping the felt duration of our experience. Narrative 'rhythm' can be thought of as a way in which narration focuses and controls successive hypotheses.

[Anna]

The book gives lots of great information about this classical period in Hollywood but does it in a confusing way. Many of the paragraphs are long and encompass many ideas, therefore it switches thought and many times without further explanation. I recommend it for the information you can wheedle out of it.

[Madelyn]

Though I generally disagree with the theory Bordwell and Thompson put forward (it's so reductive and a bit ridiculously simplistic), the book does a fantastic job of disseminating this theory; it's very convincing, and a very useful book for historical purposes, and learning how to see the narrative processes of the film.

[Viv]

bordwell and thompson haunted me through my undergrad and made it absolutely miserable
i cannot express how much these readings made me want to switch out of my film degree
the fact that some of these chapters were mandatory readings for almost all my film classes is so sick and twisted

[Sabino Ibargüengoitia]

A superb work of great scholarship.

[Liquidlasagna]

embarrassing awful arguments made at times

[Jessica]

A very interesting, very thorough look at classical Hollywood cinema - although it's much more focused on the technical aspects than on the lives of the main players. If you're interested in Hollywood figures, I would recommend Richard Dyer's Stars for an unconventional look at their lives and impact.

[Kellista]

Wordy, but a great resource for anyone who loves or is studying film.

[Chuck Williamson]

Whaddya want me to say? If you're an aspiring film scholar and haven't read this (or at least the first section), you're doing everything wrong.

[Sara Alexandra]

¿Qué más se puede decir de este clásico? Imprescindible.