The World in a Frame: What We See in Films

by Leo Braudy

Now a classic, The World in a Frame covers the history of popular American films from the 1930s to the 1970s. Leo Braudy, one of America's leading film critics, gives an account of the histories of visual style and film genres, as ell as techniques of characterization—all in an evolving cultural context. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition includes a new preface addressing developments in film since 1976.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2002

About the author

Leo Braudy is among America's leading cultural historians and film critics. He currently is University Professor and Leo S. Bing Chair in English and American Literature at the University of Southern California. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Michael Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent. especially, made me think about the values of bad v good acting

[RC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Braudy makes a big deal about how his book about film has no pictures. It's actually kind of a funny and endearing section of the book. But the lack of pictures doesn't matter. This is a marvelously readable book, and Braudy is especially strong in discussing the power and durability of genre in film, especially Westerns and musicals. He is equally strong in discussing the transition from silent film to sound, and the sea change that brought. The book is dated, and there is a focus on films from the 60s and 70s, but that was a fertile time for film in America, and Braudy makes one nostalgic for the period. A classic work of film criticism.