Hollywood Genres And Post-War America: Masculinity, Family And Nation In Popular Movies And Film Noir

American culture after the end of World War II has been characterized by an abiding pessimism most clearly manifested in the film noirs of the period. Mike Chopra-Gant challenges this “noir and Zeitgeist” reading and proposes that the view of American cinema and society it develops relies on a retrospective re-imagining of the era, based on the erroneous promotion of selected movies. His vigorous revisionist account of the films and culture of the period also challenges traditional approaches to genre, to masculinity and the family, by focusing on key themes in the most popular films in terms of box office revenues, including Best Years of Our Lives, Night and Day, Scarlet Street and Gilda

About The Author:

Mike Chopra-Grant is Lecturer in Cultural Studies at London Metropolitan University.

Table Of Contents:

Introduction: Movies, genre and Zeitgeist
Reinvigorating the nation: popular early postwar movies and American national identity
Restoring the family: “moms” and absent fathers
Soldier to civilian: performance and postwar masculinities
The military milieu and male companionship
Popular films, film noir and the postwar Zeitgeist
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography and Filmography
Index

Special Features:

Hollywood Genres and Post-war America