Los Angeles Before Hollywood: Journalism and American Film Culture, 1905 to 1915

by Jan Olsson

Overview

This study provides a meticulous account of the reception and regulation of cinema in the United States during a decade of upheaval, transition, and industrial consolidation that affected all aspects of film culture. Written in close dialogue with contemporary journalism, the volume focuses on Los Angeles film culture from 1905 to 1915. The study discusses exhibition practices, regulatory efforts and reforms, the critical role of women in all areas of film culture, and the burgeoning movement of film journalism that pivoted around the feature format and serial films. Jan Olsson makes an important contribution to both film history and urban studies on the Progressive Era as it took place within a multiethnic city predicated on Midwestern sensibilities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789188468062
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	05/14/2009
Series:	National Library of Sweden
Pages:	479
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jan Olsson is professor of cinema studies at Stockholm University and is the author of a series of Swedish monographs concerning different aspects of Scandinavian silent cinema. He is the coeditor of Nordic Explorations, Allegories of Communication and Television After TV.

Editorial Reviews

Los Angeles Before Hollywood is a thoroughly researched, heavily theoretical contribution to the history of American cinema in the early twentieth century.

Southern California Quarterly - Paul Kahan

Olsson performs a remarkable, magical feat... Highly recommended.

Choice

A meticulously detailed and finely researched work and a significant addition to historical studies of early film reception.

Journal of American History - Samantha Barbas

Los Angeles Before Hollywood is a thoroughly researched, heavily theoretical contribution to the history of American cinema in the early twentieth century.

— Paul Kahan

Southern California Quarterly

A meticulously detailed and finely researched work and a significant addition to historical studies of early film reception.

— Samantha Barbas

Journal of American History