British Cinema: A Very Short Introduction

Description

British Cinema: A Very Short Introduction explores the history of cinema in Britain, and considers what has made its films and techniques distinctive, especially in the context of British relations with America. Ranging across the 20th century, Barr's account looks at key British films and filmmakers within this context.

• Considers the whole of of British Cinema and explains its place in the world of filmmaking
• Analyses the influence of key figures in the history of British cinema, particularly Alfred Hitchcock
• Describes the varying reputation that British Cinema has had around the world
• Considers the impact of television, and the future of British cinema
• Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series - over seven million copies sold worldwide

About the Author(s)

Charles Barr

Charles Barr worked for many years at the University of East Anglia, helping to develop one of the first UK programmes in Film Studies at graduate and undergraduate level. He has since taught in St Louis, Galway and Dublin and St Mary's University, Twickenham, and is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of East Anglia. Much of his published work has been on British Cinema, including books on Ealing Studios (1977) and English Hitchcock (1999), and he was co-writer, with director Stephen Frears, of Typically British, part of the centenary history of cinema broadcast on Channel 4 in 1995. He has continued writing on Hitchcock, with a study of Vertigo in the BFI Classics series (new edition, 2012) and Hitchcock: Lost and Found, co-authored with the Parisian scholar Alain Kerzoncuf.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
1:Britain and Cinema
2:Varieties of Britishness
3:A very short history
4:1933 and after
5:The war and after
6:Ealing and after
7:Chariots and after
8:Looking back, looking forward
References
Further Reading
General Index
Index of Names

Reviews

"Writing with a graceful style and a quiet wit, Barr has made a valuable contribution to the increasing array of cinematic Very Short Introductions." - David Sterritt, Quarterly Review of Film and Video

"It's a long time since I've read such a short book that seems so rich in content and offered so comprehensive and lucid approach to a complex phenomenon. This is a book for any intelligent non-specialist reader with an interest in British film." - Brian McFarlane, On Screen

"An entertaining and very informative tour of British film history, starting from the silent days of course, but taking a more productive route than a simple chronological tour." - Pamela Hutchison, Silent London