First printing April, 2008; second printing June, 2008; third printing October, 2008.
"This excellent introduction stands out in a crowded field with its lively, accessible writing, broad coverage, and particular focus on traditionally marginalized figures in film history. Dixon and Foster discuss the technical innovations that moved the art form forward, and their lucid descriptions of often complicated concepts convey the excitement of innovation in mechanical as well as creative processes. The most striking aspect of the book is the coverage of women, African Americans, and Third World filmmakers, which strongly complements its solid coverage of American and European film. Illustrations abound, and even the best-versed cineaste will find new films to track down after reading the breezy, enthusiastic analysis in this book. Highly recommended for all collections, this text would also make an excellent textbook for introductory film-studies courses."-- Christian Zabriskie, Library Journal
"With the goal of offering 'a fast paced tour' of movie history, Dixon and Foster have produced a study in the tradition of Paul Rotha's The Film till Now. The authors touch all the bases--they address new trends in international moviemaking, technologies, and critical theory and the emergence of new national and ethnic cinemas--and relate film history to social history (the latter augmented by a witty, useful time line: e.g., the year l900 lists quantum theory, Freud, the Brownie camera, the Boxer Rebellion, and 'the hamburger' as benchmarks). Each new technique, style, school, trend, and newly visible ethnic or feminist group takes its place in the larger history, and Dixon and Foster make it all accessible to the neophyte reader without ever breaking the pace. Uncommonly well-reproduced stills and a topically organized bibliography enhance the discussion. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers." -- Thomas Cripps, Choice.
"Wheeler Winston Dixon is a major American film critic, whose writing is distinguished by its rhetorical sweep and vigor, its wide-ranging synthetic power, and its unusual depth and reach. As an archivist, he is unmatched in his knowledge of the highways and byways of film production. And as a theorist, his books display an argumentative energy and clarity that reaches out beyond the academic, scholarly audience in order to address a broader audience." - Steven Shaviro, author of Connected, or What It Means to Live in the Network Society
Wheeler Winston Dixon is the Ryan Professor of Film Studies, Professor of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and Editor in Chief of the Quarterly Review and Film and Video. Dixon teaches courses in film history, theory and criticism at UNL from the undergraduate to the graduate levels. On April 11-12, 2003, he was honored with a retrospective of his films at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and his films were acquired for the permanent collection of the Museum, in both print and original format.
