Praise for Thinking about Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying
“This thoroughly revised and up‐to‐date edition of Lehman’s and Luhr’s celebrated textbook will continue to inform and inspire new generations of students and researchers of film and media. It combines a commendable clarity of argument with incisive and innovative close analysis of key illustrative examples. The book covers a wide range of key aspects of film and media studies (narrative, analysis, authorship, stars, genres, seriality or reception) and key theoretical issues and frameworks. Every student of film and media should read this book.”
“This incomparable introductory film textbook is one that I truly want to read and continue reading—even as a film professor who has used a number of the most lauded texts on the market over my many years of teaching. In this intelligently structured book, every chapter invites film students and professors, alike, to embark on an engagingly coherent yet open‐ended journey through the fundamental roads of film aesthetics, form, style, history, and—quite crucially—through the unpredictable avenues of film’s mediating role in representing and responding to varied historical, cultural, and industrial contexts. Posing many honest, and often, unanswerable questions—yet within strongly articulated and informative frameworks for analysis—all chapters place fascinating films in dialogue with each other and encourage readers, at whatever level, to consider and reconsider their responses to and understanding of the traditional cinema and its emerging iterations in the digital age.”
“Filled with extremely helpful images and delightfully detailed, insightful analyses of films and other media, Thinking About Movies shows two of our most eminent film scholars in excellent form. Besides its obvious use for introductory cinema studies courses, this engaging, highly readable text could also prove valuable in courses dedicated to close textual analysis, the politics of representation, and film theory, and should have considerable interest for general readers as well. This new edition explores issues of new technology, globalization and more with the same thoughtfulness and erudition as the rest of the book. An impressive achievement, designed and certain to provoke healthy discussion.”
FOURTH EDITION
This edition first published 2018
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Edition History
Harcourt Brace & Company (1e, 1999); Blackwell Publishing Ltd (2e, 2003); Blackwell Publishing Ltd (3e, 2008)
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The right of Peter Lehman and William Luhr to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with law.
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Lehman, Peter author. | Luhr, William author.
Title: Thinking about movies : watching, questioning, enjoying / Peter Lehman, William Luhr.
Description: Fourth edition. | Hoboken : Wiley, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2017038243 (print) | LCCN 2017042738 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118337561 (pdf) | ISBN 9781118337554 (epub) | ISBN 9781118315446 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Motion pictures.
Classification: LCC PN1994 (ebook) | LCC PN1994 .L373 2018 (print) | DDC 791.43–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017038243
Cover images: (Retro 1940s’ Film Noir Detective or Gangster) © peepo/iStockphoto;(Man using digital tablet computer) © ouh_desire/iStockphoto; (Empty cinema screen with audience) © danr13/iStockphoto; (Home theater, hugging couple is watching movies on huge screen) © domin_domin/iStockphoto; (E‐commerce Shopping) © tolgart/iStockphoto; (World Map) © johnason/iStockphoto
Cover design by C. Wallace
For my son, David, with admiration and love
William Luhr
For my grandchildren, Lila and Jonah, with love
Peter Lehman
Chapter 1 | |
1.1 | Zero Dark Thirty, © 2012 Zero Dark Thirty LLC |
1.2 | American Sniper, © 2014 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc, Village Roadshow Films North America Inc. and Ratpac‐Dune Entertainment LLC |
1.3 | Spotlight, © 2015 SPOTLIGHT FILM, LLC |
1.4 | Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, © 2013 Paramount Pictures Corporation |
1.5 | Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, © 1992, Universal |
1.6 | Breakfast at Tiffany’s, © 1961, Paramount |
1.7 | Psycho, © 1960, Universal |
1.8 | The Hills Have Eyes (2006), © 2006 BRC Rights Management, LTD |
1.9 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), © 2003 Chainsaw Productions, LLC |
1.10 | Son of the Pink Panther (1993), © United Artists Productions, Inc. |
1.11 | Breakfast at Tiffany’s, © 1961, Paramount |
1.12–1.21 | Fatal Attraction, © 1987, Paramount |
1.22–1.33 | Scarface, © 1932, Caddo Co., Inc. |
Chapter 2 | |
2.1 | Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, © 2015 Paramount Pictures Corporation |
2.2 | Jurassic World, © 2015 Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. |
2.3 | Jurassic Park, © 1993, Universal |
2.4–2.6 | She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, © 1949, RKO31 |
2.7 | Alien, © 1979, Fox |
2.8–2.10 | A Perfect World, © 1993, Warners |
2.11–2.14 | The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, © 1962, Paramount |
2.15–2.16 | Fatal Attraction, © 1987, Paramount |
2.17 | Scarface, © 1932, Caddo/Universal |
2.18–2.19 | The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, © 1962, Paramount |
2.20 | A Perfect World, © 1993, Warners |
2.21 | Psycho, © 1960, Universal |
2.22 | In the Realm of the Senses, © 1976, Argos Films |
2.23 | Orphan Black, © 2013 Orphan Black Productions, Ltd. |
2.24–2.27 | Jurassic Park, © 1993, Universal |
2.28–2.30 | Rashomon, © 1950, RKO |
Chapter 3 | |
3.1 | Titanic, © 1997 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Paramount Film Corporation |
3.2–3.3 | 2001: A Space Odyssey, © 1968, MGM |
3.4 | Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, © 1963, Hawk Films |
3.5 | Psycho, © 1960, Universal |
3.6 | Alien, © 1979, Fox |
3.7 | Jurassic Park, © 1993, Universal |
3.8–3.9 | Schindler’s List, © 1993, Universal |
3.10–3.11 | Carrie, © 1976, United Artists |
3.12–3.13 | Return of the Pink Panther, © 1975 United Artists Corporation, Mirisch‐Geoffrey |
3.14–3.15 | Stagecoach, © 1939, W. Wanger |
3.16–3.17 | The Pink Panther Strikes Again, © 1976, United Artists |
3.18–3.22 | The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, © 1962, Paramount |
3.23–3.25 | Dead Ringers, © 1988, Morgan Creek Productions |
3.26 | Scarface, © 1932, Caddo Co., Inc. |
3.27–3.41 | Rules of the Game, © 1939, Les Grandes Films |
3.42–3.55 | The Sixth Sense, dir. M. Knight Shyamalan, © 1999, Hollywood Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment |
Chapter 4 | |
4.1 | Lincoln © 2012 Dreamworks II Distribution Co., LLC87 |
4.2 | Hateful 8, © Visiona Romantica, Inc. |
4.3 | Django, © Visiona Romantica, Inc |
4.4 | Gone Girl, © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Regency Entertainment [USA] Inc., and TSG Entertainment Finance LLC89 |
4.5 | Big, © 1988, Fox |
4.6 | A League of their Own, © 1992, Columbia |
4.7 | Renaissance Man, dir. Penny Marshall, © 1994, Cinergi |
4.8–4.9 | Scarface, © 1983, Universal |
4.10 | The Birds, © 1963, A. J. Hitchcock |
4.11 | Notorious, © 1946, RKO92 |
4.12 | North by Northwest, © 1959, Loews, Inc. |
4.13–4.25 | The Searchers, © 1956, Warners |
4.26 | The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, © 1962, Paramount |
4.27 | She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, © 1949, Argosy Pictures |
4.28 | The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, © 1962, Paramount |
4.29 | Chi‐raq, © 2015 Da Chi Picture Company, LLC105 |
4.30–4.36 | JungleFever, © 1991, Universal |
Chapter 5 | |
5.1 | World War Z, © 2013 Paramount Pictures Corporation and GK Films, LLC111 |
5.2 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, © 1974, Vortex, Inc. |
5.3 | The Stepfather, © 1986, ITC Prod., Inc. |
5.4 | Dances with Wolves, © 1990, TIG Prod., Inc. |
5.5 | Posse, © 1993, Polygram |
5.6 | Geronimo, © 1993, Columbia |
5.7 | Tombstone, dir. George P. Cosmatos, © 1994, Cinergi |
5.8 | Bad Girls, dir. Jonathan Kaplan, © 1994, Fox |
5.9 | Wolf, dir. Mike Nichols, © 1994, Columbia |
5.10 | Letter From an Unknown Woman, © 1948, Rampart |
5.11 | A Fistful of Dollars, © 1964, Jolly Film |
5.12–5.15 | Sin City, dir.Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, © 2005, Dimension Films, Troublemaker Studios |
5.16–5.21 | Gunfight at the OK Corral, © 1956, Paramount |
Chapter 6 | |
6.1 | X‐men: Apocalypse, © 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and TSG Entertainment Finance LLC |
6.2 | Captain America: Civil War |
6.3 | The Pink Panther, © 1963, Mirisch‐G‐E |
6.4 | Lethal Weapon, © 1987, Warners |
6.5 | Lethal Weapon 2, © 1989, Warners |
6.6 | Lethal Weapon 3, © 1992, Warners |
6.7 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day, © 1991, Carolco |
6.8 | The Pink Panther Strikes Again, © 1976, United Artists |
6.9 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day, © 1991, Carolco |
6.10 | True Lies, dir. James Cameron, © 1994, Lightstorm |
6.11 | Goldfinger, © 1964, Danjaq |
6.12 | The Fugitive, © 1993, Warners |
6.13 | Rio Bravo, © 1958, Armada Prod. |
6.14 | Rio Lobo, © 1970, Malabar Prod. |
6.15 | El Mariachi, © 1992, Los Houligans |
6.16–6.23 | Goldfinger, © 1964, Danjaq |
6.24–6.33 | King Kong, © 1933, RKO Pictures, Inc. |
6.34–6.38 | King Kong, dir. Peter Jackson, © 2005, Universal Pictures and Wingnut Films |
Chapter 7 | |
7.1 | The Monuments Men, © Columbia Pictures Inc., and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation |
7.2 | Last Action Hero, © 1993, Columbia |
7.3–7.4 | The Searchers, © 1956, Warners |
7.5 | The BFG, © Storyteller Distribution Co. LLC, Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Walden Media |
7.6 | It Happened One Night, © 1934, Columbia |
7.7 | Gone with the Wind, © 1939, Selznick International |
7.8–7.10 | The Public Enemy, © 1931, Warners |
7.11–7.17 | Morocco, © 1930, Paramount |
7.18 | Shanghai Express, © 1932, Paramount |
7.19 | The Blue Angel, © 1930, UFA186 |
7.20–7.22 | Morocco, © 1930, Paramount |
7.23–7.30 | Dirty Harry, © 1971, Malpaso/Warners |
7.31 | The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, © 1966, PEA |
7.32 | Coogan’s Bluff, © 1968, Universal |
7.33 | Sudden Impact, © 1983, Warners |
7.34 | The Outlaw Josey Wales, © 1976, Warners |
Chapter 8 | |
8.1 | The Dark Knight, © 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. |
8.2 | Basic Instinct, © 1992, Carolco |
8.3 | Forrest Gump, dir. Robert Zemeckis, © 1994, Paramount |
8.4 | Fantasia, © 1940, Disney |
8.5 | The Crow, dir. Alex Proyas, © 1994, Miramax |
8.6 | The Wizard of Oz, © 1939, MGM |
8.7 | It’s a Wonderful Life, © 1946, Republic |
8.8 | The Birth of a Nation, © 1915, David W. Griffith Corp. |
8.9 | The Rink, © 1916, Mutual |
8.10 | Easy Street, © 1917, Mutual |
8.11 | The Immigrant, © 1917, Mutual |
8.12 | A King in New York, © 1957, Archway |
8.13–8.20 | A Woman of Paris, © 1923, United Artists |
8.21–8.30 | The Crying Game, © 1992, Miramax |
Chapter 9 | |
9.1 | Gone Girl, © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Regency Entertainment [USA] Inc., And TSG Entertainment Finance LLC |
9.2 | M. Hulot’s Holiday, © 1953, Cady/Discina |
9.3–9.4 | The Searchers, © 1956, Warners |
9.5 | Victor/Victoria (Broadway), © 2000 Victor/Victoria LLC |
9.6 | The Untouchables, © 1987, Paramount |
9.7–9.8 | Gone with the Wind, © 1939, Selznick International |
9.9–9.22 | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, © 1932, Paramount |
9.23–9.42 | Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, © 2011 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. and Metro‐Goldwyn‐Mayer Pictures Inc. |
Chapter 10 | |
10.1 | Straight Outta Compton (2015), © 2015 Universal Studios and Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC |
10.2 | Village of the Damned, dir. John Carpenter, © 1995, Universal |
10.3 | Star Trek, © 2009 MavroCine Pictures GMBH & Co. KG |
10.4 | Driving Miss Daisy, © 1989, Warners |
10.5 | Village of the Damned, dir. John Carpenter, © 1995, Universal |
10.6 | Jurassic Park, © 1993, Universal |
10.7 | Gone with the Wind, © 1939, Selznick International |
10.8 | North by Northwest, © 1959, Loews |
10.9 | Miami Vice, © 1984, Universal |
10.10 | Blue Velvet, © 1986, Warners |
10.11 | Twin Peaks, © 1987, Lynch/Frost Prod. |
10.12 | Murder, My Sweet, © 1944, RKO |
10.13–10.15 | Peter Gunn “Lady Windbell’s Fan,” “Bullet For Badge,” © 1958 Spartan Productions |
10.16–10.26 | Peter Gunn: “Skin Deep”, © 1958, International Creative |
10.27–10.29 | Victor/Victoria, © 1982, Ladbroke for MGM |
10.30–10.33 | The Pink Panther, © 1964, Mirisch‐G‐E |
10.34–10.39 | Victor/Victoria, © 1982, Ladbroke for MGM |
10.40–10.41 | 24 (2001–2010) season 1, episode 1, season 8, episode 24 © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Imagine Entertainment |
10.42–10.44 | Homeland (2011‐) s1e1 © 2011 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation |
Chapter 11 | |
11.1 | Gravity, © 2013 Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. |
11.2 | Basic Instinct, © 1992, Carolco |
11.3 | Bonfire of the Vanities, © 1990, Warners |
11.4–11.5 | The Untouchables, © 1987, Paramount |
11.6 | The Battleship Potemkin, © 1925, Goskino |
11.7 | Carrie, © 1976, United Artists |
11.8–11.9 | Boyhood, © 2014 Boyhood Inc./IFC Productions I, LLC |
11.10 | Last Tango in Paris, © 1972, United Artists |
11.11–11.23 | The Battleship Potemkin, © 1925, Goskino |
11.24–11.31 | Umberto D, © 1952, Rizzoli Films |
Chapter 12 | |
12.1 | Magic Mike, © 2012 The Estate of Redmond Barry LLC |
12.2 | Lucy, © 2014 Europacorp – TF1 Films Production‐ Grive Productions |
12.3 | Geronimo, © 1993, Columbia |
12.4 | Aliens, © 1986, Carolco |
12.5 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day, © 1991, Carolco |
12.6 | The Hunger Games, © 2012 Lions Gate Films Inc |
12.7 | The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, © 1962, Paramount |
12.8 | Scarface, © 1983, Universal |
12.9 | The Terminator, © 1984, Cinema 84 |
12.10 | Every Which Way but Loose, © 1978, Warners |
12.11 | Point of No Return, © 1993, Warners |
12.12 | Gravity, © 2013 Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. |
12.13 | Way Down East, 1920, © 1920, D. W. Griffith Corp. |
12.14 | Stagecoach, © 1939, W. Wanger Prod. |
12.15 | Rio Bravo, © 1958, Armada Prod. |
12.16 | Single White Female, © 1992, Columbia |
12.17 | Alien, © 1979, Fox |
12.18 | True Lies, dir. James Cameron, © 1994, Lightstorm |
12.19 | Longmire “Bad Medicine,” © 2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. |
12.20 | Rio Bravo, © 1958, Armada Prod. |
12.21 | The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, © 1966, PEA |
12.22 | Cyrano de Bergerac, © 1950, Stanley Kramer |
12.23–12.30 | The Silence of the Lambs, © 1990, Orion |
12.31–12.36 | American Gigolo, © 1980, Paramount |
Chapter 13 | |
13.1 | Lee Daniels’ The Butler, © 2013 Butler Films, LLC |
13.2 | Do the Right Thing, © 1989, 40 Acres & Mule |
13.3–13.4 | Lethal Weapon, © 1987, Warners |
13.5 | Bonfire of the Vanities, © 1990, Warners |
13.6–13.7 | Stagecoach, © 1939, W. Wanger Prod. |
13.8–13.9 | Dirty Harry, © 1971, Malpaso/Warners |
13.10 | Higher Learning, dir. John Singleton, © 1994, Columbia |
13.11 | Gone with the Wind, © 1939, Selznick International |
13.12 | The People Under the Stairs, © 1991, Universal |
13.13 | Dances with Wolves, © 1990, Tig Productions, Inc. |
13.14 | Jungle Fever, © 1991, Universal |
13.15 | Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013), © 2013 Butler Films, LLC |
13.16 | Boyz N the Hood, © 1991, Columbia |
13.17 | Precious, © 2008 Push Pictures, LLC |
13.18 | Selma, © 2014 Pathe Productions Ltd. |
13.19–13.22 | Out of the Past (1947), © RKO Radio Pictures Inc. |
13.23–13.28 | LA Confidential, © 1997, Warner Brothers |
13.29–13.37 | Boyz N the Hood, © 1991, Columbia |
Chapter 14 | |
14.1 | Wolf of Wall Street, 2013, TWOWS, LLC |
14.2 | The Big Short, © 2015 Paramount Pictures Corporation and Regency Entertainment |
14.3–14.4 | The Wizard of Oz, © 1939, MGM |
14.5 | The Pink Panther, © 1964, Mirisch‐G‐E |
14.6–14.7 | Gone with the Wind, © 1939, MGM |
14.8 | The Birth of a Nation, © 1915, David W. Griffith Corp./ Epoch Producing Corp. |
14.9 | It’s a Wonderful Life, © 1946, Republic |
14.10 | The Adventures of Robin Hood, © 1938, Warners |
14.11 | The Legend of Tarzan, © 2016 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. |
14.12 | Young Mr. Lincoln, © 1939, Fox |
14.13 | The Godfather, Part II, © 1974, Paramount |
14.14 | The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, © 1956, Allied Artists |
14.15 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, © 1974, Vortex |
14.16 | Penny Dreadful season 3 ep. 5, © 2016 Showtime Networks Inc. |
14.17 | Double Indemnity, © 1944, Paramount |
14.18 | Little Caesar, © 1930, Warners |
14.19 | The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, © 1962, Paramount |
14.20 | Deliverance, © 1972 Warner Bros. Inc. |
14.21 | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, © 1932, Paramount |
14.22–14.32 | Pretty Woman, © 1990, Touchstone |
14.33–14.43 | The People Under the Stairs, © 1991, Universal |
Chapter 15 | |
15.1 | Too Much Johnson (1938). Preserved in 2013 by Cinema Arts, Inc., United States and Haghefilm Digitaal, Netherlands |
15.2–15.4 | Citizen Kane, © 1941, RKO |
15.5 | Stagecoach, © 1939, W. Wanger Prod. |
15.6 | Touch of Evil, © 1958, Universal |
15.7–15.10 | Citizen Kane, © 1941, RKO |
15.11 | His Girl Friday, © 1939, Columbia |
15.12–15.19 | Citizen Kane, © 1941, RKO |
15.20 | The Third Man, © 1949, London Films |
15.21–15.40 | Citizen Kane, © 1941, RKO. |
Chapter 16 | |
16.1 | House of Cards – season 4 chap. 52, © 2016 MRC II Distribution Company L.P. |
16.2 | A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, © 2014 Shahre Bad Picture, LLC |
16.3 | Gladiator, dir. Ridley Scott, © 2000, Dreamworks SKG and Universal Pictures |
16.4 | Forrest Gump, dir. Robert Zemeckis, © 1994, Paramount |
16.5 | Mad Max: Fury Road, © 2015 Warner Bros. feature Production Pty Ltd. |
16.6 | Jurassic Park, © 1993, Universal |
16.7 | The Little Mermaid, © 1989 The Walt Disney Company |
Thinking about Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying, Fourth Edition is designed to introduce students to a variety of approaches for understanding movies. Our goal is to help students to always watch movies critically and analytically and to learn that doing this will increase their enjoyment rather than detract from it.
We have designed this book to be used in a variety of classroom settings. It provides an introduction to film study for students who have never previously taken a film course and may never take another one. It is comprehensive and includes the major fundamental areas of the field. At the same time, the book is sufficiently detailed and cutting‐edge to take its place within a well‐structured film curriculum that includes specialized courses in such areas as film theory and criticism, film history, the film industry, media and gender studies, and film and television as well as new media. We use a clear, jargon‐free style that is readily accessible to students and the general reader.
The book introduces film studies in an ever‐broadening pattern, which we describe in Chapter 1. It is roughly divided into two major parts: the first deals with those things that are specific to the dynamics of cinema and the second with the relationship of film to larger social, cultural, and industrial issues. We start with showing methods by which students can understand the workings of individual films. These methods are commonly called textual analysis and deal with things that are “in” any film, such as its narrative, visual and spatial patterns. We then expand the focus to include the insights that we can derive from contextual analysis. These methods group films together to discover significant relationships among them such as authorship, genre, performance, or their place among series, sequels, and remakes.
Chapter 8 on “Audiences and Reception” occurs mid‐way through the book and supplies the transition to even broader kinds of approaches: one of these confines itself to the world of the arts and media; the other moves beyond that world and engages issues concerning culture and society. The first approach requires understanding the relationship of film to the other arts, especially literature and the frequent practice of literary adaptation. We also have to understand the increasingly complex relationships among media, historically those of radio, television, and film. We devote chapters to both of those topics.
The second approach, dealing with social and cultural issues, is frequently termed ideological analysis because it engages such fundamental sociocultural issues as race, class, and gender. Each of us defines ourselves in relationship to those categories and we devote a chapter to each one. To do so, however, we must introduce the fundamental issue of film theory since it teaches us that we cannot adequately question race, class, and gender if we naïvely believe that films depict unmediated “reality.” What is the relation between film and reality? What is “realism”?
We conclude the book with two dramatically different chapters: Chapter 15 uses a single film, Citizen Kane, undoubtedly the most highly praised American film of all time, to illustrate and summarize all the critical methods we have introduced. We do this not because we want to heap further praise upon the film but because we want to show that, no matter what a film’s reputation, we can and should always think critically about it. The final chapter gives a broad assessment of significant forces affecting the contemporary world of film, particularly the convergence of the technology and entertainment industries, the resultant trans‐media environment, the new 3D technology, and globalization.
So, we return to the initial question, how should one use this book? The structure of the chapters enables students to read about every topic in general before reading about the specific film for that week or class and learning how that film illustrates important aspects of the general topic. We have found that, if an instructor tells students what to look for before screening a film, they will probably find it. However, students need not be tied to the interpretation that the chapter gives. Some students may learn more by watching the film with less guidance and then comparing their responses with what they hear in lecture or what they read and see illustrated in the later portion of the chapter. This may enable a more active learning experience. Are the authors convincing? Did they see something the authors didn’t see or mention? These questions not only make learning active but they also lead to lively discussions. Although this book has a logical structure, it is extremely flexible and instructors can change the order of the chapters and choose to skip various topics or extend others. We have successfully done so ourselves in various combinations.
The book is lavishly illustrated with over 500 film illustrations in both color and black and white, with illustrations from color films reproduced in color. We have highlighted key terms in bold and defined them in a glossary as well as supplied an index. We provide additional resources at the end of each chapter including “Annotated Readings” that acknowledge and briefly describe sources we have drawn upon for ideas, examples, and facts in the chapter. Occasionally, we have updated that bibliography with “Further Readings” to highlight significant new contributions. We also include a “Further Screenings” section with films available via streaming or on DVD, as well as relevant resources such as Web sites, blogs, social media, radio programs, and so on. Lastly, we provide “Topics for Discussion” for each chapter based upon our classroom experiences.
This new edition of the book also comes with a Companion Blog (https://thinkingaboutmoviesblog.wordpress.com/) that we will update regularly with attention to films and industry developments directly related to each chapter. We will also update readings and resources. As the world of film and media is changing rapidly, so is the world of film textbook publishing and the fourth edition of Thinking about Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying makes us all – as students, instructors, and authors – part of that.
Since we have both written, together and separately, on a variety of areas in film studies, we have, of course, drawn upon that research throughout this book. Although we feel an obligation as scholars to cite published sources upon which we have drawn, we do not always consider it appropriate to do so in the chapter bibliographies, especially when the work is dated, out of print, or published in academic publications difficult for many undergraduates to access, or presented at professional conferences. Consequently, we have placed those citations here for the record (we try, however, to credit the key scholars in the field whose work we have drawn upon in the annotated bibliographies at the end of each chapter):
Chapter 2 (Narrative Structure): William Luhr and Peter Lehman give a formal account of narrative, including a discussion of free and bound motifs and the distinction between story and plot, in Authorship and Narrative in the Cinema: Issues in Contemporary Aesthetics and Criticism (New York: G.P. Putnam’s, 1977).
Chapter 4 (Authorship): Peter Lehman also analyzes film authorship and The Searchers in Luhr and Lehman, Authorship and Narrative in the Cinema: Issues in Contemporary Aesthetics and Criticism (New York: G.P. Putnam’s, 1977) and in his Ph.D. dissertation, “John Ford and the Auteur Theory” (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1978).
Chapter 6 (Series, Sequels, and Remakes): William Luhr analyzes the 1933 and 2005 King Kong, as well as other films related to them, with reference to reception and censorship issues in “Reprocessing Kong: Censorship, Repression, and Compensatory Strategies,” a paper delivered at the 2007 Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference.
Chapter 9 (Film and the Other Arts): William Luhr and Peter Lehman discuss the distinctions between literature and film and Luhr analyzes Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as an example, in Authorship and Narrative in the Cinema (New York: G.P. Putnam’s, 1977). William Luhr also analyzes the relationship of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel to both stage and film versions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as narrative structure, visual motifs, and issues of sexuality in Dracula and Nosferatu, in Victorian Novels on Film (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1979).
Chapter 12 (Gender and Sexuality): Peter Lehman discusses female vision and power in Silence of the Lambs in “In the Dark Basement: Silence of the Lambs and Female Vision in the Hollywood Cinema,” lecture delivered at the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, 1992.
Our special thanks go to Juliet Booker and Catriona King, respectively our new editor and new publisher at Wiley Blackwell, and to Rosemary Morlin, our copyeditor, for the fourth edition of this book, and to Jayne Fargnoli whose enduring support for earlier editions as well as this one has been inspirational to us. We would also like to thank our student assistant Jessica Conn at Arizona State University for her professional level, invaluable help in preparing the manuscript by doing extensive screen‐grabbing, researching the copyright updates on all the new figures, editing all the manuscript figure numbers, assisting in the submission of the figures and and copyright information, and setting up the blog accompanying this edition. We are particlularly indebted to Santiago Fouz‐Hernández, Durham University for his comments on the fourth edition and remain grateful to the many readers of earlier editions of this textbook: Robert Eberwein, Oakland University; Krin Gabbard, SUNY‐Stony Brook; Pamela Grace, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York; Martha Nochimson, Cineaste; Kevin S. Sandler, University of Arizona; Don Staples, University of North Texas; Rick Altman, University of Iowa; Charles Harpole, University of Central Florida; Brian Henderson, SUNY‐Buffalo; Gary London, Everett Community College; Paul Pilger, Florida State University; David Popowski, Mankato State University; Gerry Veeder, University of North Texas; and Mark Zalk, Nassau Community College.
Peter Lehman: I would like to thank George Justice, Dean of Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University, for his continued support of my work as the Director of the Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture. Serving in that position motivates my productivity. It has enabled me to work with such outstanding fellows as Jeremy Carr, Faculty Associate in Film and Media Studies, and Ana Olenina, now an ASU assistant professor teaching in Russian and Film and Media Studies; interns such as Jessica Conn; and outstanding international visiting scholars, with many from China. I am especially grateful to Professors Liu Zhaohui and Guo Fang from North China Electric Power University in Beijing for their professional contributions and deep personal, family friendships. Aaron Baker, has been an invaluable colleague, administrator, and friend throughout. Once again, Melanie Magisos helped in more ways than can ever be acknowledged, but I always try. A week never goes by in which I don’t discuss movies and television with my brother, Steve; and no list of thanks can ever be complete without mentioning my daughter, Eleanor, who always keeps me up on which movies and television shows I should stream immediately. She shares my enthusiasm at the same time as she chuckles at it. We especially like to share a laugh about those, which many years ago as a young girl, she said I had “to watch for my work.”
William Luhr: I would like to thank the New York University Faculty Resource Network, along with Chris Straayer and Bill Simon of the Department of Cinema Studies, who have been valuable in providing research help and facilities, as have Charles Silver, Dave Kehr, and the staff of the Film Study Center of the Museum of Modern Art. Generous assistance has also come from the members of the Columbia University Seminar on Cinema and Interdisciplinary Interpretation, particularly my co‐chair, Cynthia Lucia, as well as Krin Gabbard, David Sterritt and Christopher Sharrett. Our fruitful and intellectually stimulating seminar has received constant support from Robert Pollock, Director of the University Seminars, and his associates Alice Newton and Pamela Guardia in the Seminars Office. At Saint Peter’s University, gratitude goes to the President Eugene Cornacchia, Academic Vice President and Provost Frederick Bonato, Academic Dean Scott Stoddart, Bill Knapp and the staff of Media Services, Andrea Bubka and the members of the Committee for the Professional Development of the Faculty, John M. Walsh, Paul Almonte, Daisy DeCoster, Barbara Kuzminski, Deborah Kearney, David Surrey, Oscar Magnan, SJ, Jon Boshart, Leonor I. Lega, and Joseph McLaughlin for generous support, technical assistance, and research help. Lisa O’Neill and Rachel Wifall, former Directors of the Honors Program at Saint Peter’s University, also provided valuable help with research assistance. Joseph Mannion, Robert Glaser and Keith Ditkowsky have been of valuable help. As always, I am deeply indebted to my father, Walter; my aunts, Helen and Grace; Walter and Richie; Bob, Carole, Jim, Judy, and David.
The fourth edition of Thinking about Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying is accompanied by a Companion Blog designed and maintained by Peter Lehman and William Luhr:
https://thinkingaboutmoviesblog.wordpress.com
The Companion Blog will be regularly updated by the authors and includes: