University of California Press Blog

UC Press Presents...the Spring 2008 Film Round-Up

In honor of the 2008 Academy Awards, we've rounded up a list of our latest film-related books for your reading enjoyment:

Fight Pictures: A History of Boxing and Early Cinema, by Dan Streible (forthcoming in April)
Before there were Pay-Per-View prizefights, there was the first filmed sports competition—the Corbett-Fitzsimmons fight of 1897. Fight Pictures discusses how this and other early filmed boxing matches fused and transformed the worlds of spectator sports and the media, setting the stage for modern sports culture.

The Decline of Sentiment: American Film in the 1920s (forthcoming in April), by Lea Jacobs
Many films in the early 20th century were saturated with syrupy moments of triumph, tragedy, and passion. In The Decline of Sentiment, Lea Jacobs argues that the public’s taste for sentiment began to ebb after World War 1; scenes that once caused goosebumps began to seem a bit corny and unrealistic. This shift against the dominant cinematic style encouraged the development of other genres like comedy, adventure and suspense.

Cinema and Fascism: Italian Film and Society, 1922-1943, by Steven Ricci
In this book, Steven Ricci examines the often-ignored political and cultural legacy of Italian film during the fascist era. Rather than using film solely for totalitarian propaganda, the government more subtly influenced the masses by making films that created a sense of national cohesion. Ricci also looks at film’s expanding role in Italian popular culture, and the relationship between Italian and American filmmaking during this period.

Hollywood in the Neighborhood: Historical Case Studies of Local Moviegoing, edited by Kathryn Fuller-Seeley
This collection of essays from various scholars chronicles how going to the movies arrived at “a theater near you” and became an essential part of modern life. From traveling shows to small-town theaters, Hollywood in the Neighborhood illuminates the fascinating history of one of our favorite pastimes.

Other recent Film Studies books from UC Press:

Canyon Cinema: The Life and Times of an Independent Film Distributor, by Scott MacDonald

Uncanny Bodies: The Coming of Sound Film and the Origins of the Horror Genre, by Robert Spadoni

How the West Was Sung: Music in the Westerns of John Ford, by Kathryn Kalinak

Mining the Home Movie: Excavations in Histories and Memories, by Karen L. Ishizuka and Patricia R. Zimmermann

Playing to the World’s Biggest Audience: The Globalization of Chinese Film and TV, by Michael Curtin

Body Shots: Early Cinema’s Incarnations, by Jonathan Auerbach

Ethel Merman at 100 by Caryl Flinn

Caryl Flinn's recent book, Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman, is an account of the life of Ethel Merman, is a marvelously detailed account of how the stenographer from Queens, New York became the queen of the Broadway musical in its golden age.  January 16th, 2008, is the 100th anniversary of Ethel Merman's birth.  Flinn takes some time to reflect on Ethel Merman at 100.

January 16 2008: Happy birthday, Ethel Merman.  You are 100 years old today.  For five years now, I’ve taken note of the date while writing Brass Diva. 

Merman, of course, was the Broadway belter who introduced some of the 20th century’s classic songs to the public: “I’ve Got Rhythm” “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries” “Anything Goes,” “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better” “You’re Just in Love” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and her anthem–and Broadway’s–Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

Merman died in February,1984, but 76 birthdays never slowed her down–she was still doing concert specials and TV guest spots. For a woman who got her start performing with Jimmy Durante, Rudy Vallee and even Betty Boop, it’s striking to see her interacting with 70s icons like Donna Summer and Kermit the Frog nearly 50 years later.

Merman entered Broadway history on October 14, 1930, singing “I Got Rhythm” in the Gershwin Brothers Girl Crazy.  A second-billed player (a young Ginger Rogers was the star), Ethel blew the house open when she held the “I’ in the chorus for somewhere between 16 to 32 measures.  Producer Alex Aarons thought a gun had gone off .

Ethel was an overnight sensation.  Here was a 22 year old stenographer in Queens by day who’d never had a singing lesson and now was the toast of Broadway.  Merman later told a biographer that she had it easier than Cinderella---and there was no Prince Charming to help her.  She went on do do twelve other shows such as Anything Goes, DuBarry Was a Lady, Annie Get Your Gun, Call Me Madam, and Gypsy.

In the 60s and 70s, she turned to TV cameos in shows like Batman, That Girl, and The Love Boat.  In 1979 she released “The Ethel Merman Disco Album,” an instant camp classic.  And her hysterical turn as the traumatized war vet in the disaster spoof Airplane!—the poor Lt. Hurwitz believes he’s Ethel Merman—wins over even die-hard Merman detractors.

And there is no shortage of those. “She was coarse and uneducated,” said one co-star of the Brass Diva; “She didn’t sing, she honked!” recalled an elderly man from New Jersey.  Similarly, the voice—that famous, big voice, can send some screaming out of the room (particularly with the aforementioned Disco Album).  Others were wowed by the voice they called a force of nature, comparing it to the Hoover Dam or the atom bomb.  The Merm’s personality was just as tough.  Famous for her lack of stage fright (What’s to be scared of? I know my lines),) and her robust, X-rated jokes, Ethel was a shrewd business woman–and someone you didn’t want to cross.  Her cut offs were as permanent as they were icy.

No one ever called Miss Merman nice, but a surprising number of intimates attested to her shy, child-like, even vulnerable side.  Maybe those contradictions describe a lot of strong celebrity women, but all those disconnects among “Ethel Mermans” have intrigued me these last five years. 

For the centenary, I am thinking of putting on a Merman recording–probably not the Disco LP—and toasting the Brass Diva with a champagne on the rocks, her drink of choice.

Journal Subscriptions as a Gift for the Holidays? Yes!

Now through December 31, 2006 new individual and gift subscriptions to Contexts, Film Quarterly, or Gastronomica are available at a 25% discount off the regular rate. These are three of our journals that appeal to a wide audience of readers.

Contexts: Understanding People in their Social Worlds
Sample Article: Marriage: the Good, the Bad, and the Greedy

Film Quarterly
Sample Article: Sex, lies and marketing: Miramax and the Development of the Quality Indie Blockbuster

Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture
Sample Article: Wedding Cake: A Slice of History

Click here for details and conditions.

New Film Quarterly Editor

UC Press Journals and Digital Publishing welcomes Rob White as the new editor of Film Quarterly. From 1995 to 2005, Rob was Editor of Books at the British Film Institute, where he was responsible for the three BFI Classics series As a writer, he was for many years a regular contributor to Sight and Sound magazine, including a spell as a columnist. He has also written journalism for the U.K. Spectator as well as scholarly essays for Angelaki, Oxford Literary Review, and the Journal of European Studies. He is the author of the 2003 BFI Film Classic on The Third Man.

Rob takes over from Ann Martin to become only the third editor in Film Quarterly's nearly 50 year history. The upcoming volume for Film Quarterly promises to be an exciting one with both new features and special issues, including one devoted to examining Brokeback Mountain from a variety of critical perspectives in March 2007.