Overkill: The Rise and Fall of Thriller Cinema

by Bill Mesce , Jr.

Overview

The work examines the evolution of the thriller from the heyday of the Hollywood mogul era in the 1930s when it was primarily bottom-of-the-bill fodder, through its maturity in the World War II years and noir-breeding 1950s, its commercial and critical ascendancy in the 1960s and 1970s, and finally its subsequent box office dominance in the age of the blockbuster.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786427512
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	03/06/2007
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.69(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Bill Mesce, Jr., is an adjunct instructor at several New Jersey universities and colleges, and an author, screenwriter, and playwright. He lives in Linden, New Jersey.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Preface     
Introduction     

PART I. THE DREAM FACTORY
1. The Assembly Line     
2. The Mill Wheels     
3. Marginalia     

PART II. THEWAR YEARS
4. Answering the Call     
5. Stepping into the Abyss     

PART III. DYSTOPIA
6. The Empires Begin to Fall     
7. Into the Blackness     

PART IV. RETRENCHMENT
8. Out of Chaos Comes Order     
9. Sweet Freedom     

PART V. FOOL’S GOLD
10. The Money Train     
11. Shock and Awe     
12. The Funnel     
13. Killers     
14. Anomie     

Conclusion     
Bibliography     
Index