The American Jewish Story through Cinema

The American Jewish Story through Cinema

Author: Eric A. Goldman

Publisher: Univ of TX + ORM

Published: 2013-04-01

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0292744315

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“A superb, thought-provoking analysis tracing the metamorphosis of the image of the Jew as portrayed through 80 years of American cinema.” —Library Journal Like the haggadah, the traditional story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt read at the Passover seder, cinema offers a valuable text from which to gain an understanding of the social, political, and cultural realities of Jews in America. In an industry strongly influenced by Jewish filmmakers, the complex, evolving nature of the American Jewish condition has had considerable impact on American cinema and, in particular, on how Jews are reflected on the screen. This groundbreaking study analyzes select mainstream films from the beginning of the sound era to today to provide an understanding of the American Jewish experience over the last century, from the time when Hollywood’s movie moguls, most of whom were Jewish, shied away from asserting a Jewish image on the screen, to a period when Jewish moviemakers became more comfortable with the concept of a Jewish hero and with an overpowered, yet heroic, Israel, and the way that the Holocaust assumed center stage as the single event with the greatest effect on American Jewish identity. Recently, as American Jewish screenwriters, directors, and producers have become increasingly comfortable with their heritage, we are seeing an unprecedented number of movies that spotlight Jewish protagonists, experiences, and challenges. This is “a wonderful book for any lover of American films” (Hadassah Magazine).


Book Synopsis The American Jewish Story through Cinema by : Eric A. Goldman

Download or read book The American Jewish Story through Cinema written by Eric A. Goldman and published by Univ of TX + ORM. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A superb, thought-provoking analysis tracing the metamorphosis of the image of the Jew as portrayed through 80 years of American cinema.” —Library Journal Like the haggadah, the traditional story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt read at the Passover seder, cinema offers a valuable text from which to gain an understanding of the social, political, and cultural realities of Jews in America. In an industry strongly influenced by Jewish filmmakers, the complex, evolving nature of the American Jewish condition has had considerable impact on American cinema and, in particular, on how Jews are reflected on the screen. This groundbreaking study analyzes select mainstream films from the beginning of the sound era to today to provide an understanding of the American Jewish experience over the last century, from the time when Hollywood’s movie moguls, most of whom were Jewish, shied away from asserting a Jewish image on the screen, to a period when Jewish moviemakers became more comfortable with the concept of a Jewish hero and with an overpowered, yet heroic, Israel, and the way that the Holocaust assumed center stage as the single event with the greatest effect on American Jewish identity. Recently, as American Jewish screenwriters, directors, and producers have become increasingly comfortable with their heritage, we are seeing an unprecedented number of movies that spotlight Jewish protagonists, experiences, and challenges. This is “a wonderful book for any lover of American films” (Hadassah Magazine).

The American Jewish Story through Cinema

The American Jewish Story through Cinema

Author: Eric A. Goldman

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2013-04-01

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0292744323

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“A superb, thought-provoking analysis tracing the metamorphosis of the image of the Jew as portrayed through 80 years of American cinema.” —Library Journal Like the haggadah, the traditional story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt read at the Passover seder, cinema offers a valuable text from which to gain an understanding of the social, political, and cultural realities of Jews in America. In an industry strongly influenced by Jewish filmmakers, the complex, evolving nature of the American Jewish condition has had considerable impact on American cinema and, in particular, on how Jews are reflected on the screen. This groundbreaking study analyzes select mainstream films from the beginning of the sound era to today to provide an understanding of the American Jewish experience over the last century, from the time when Hollywood’s movie moguls, most of whom were Jewish, shied away from asserting a Jewish image on the screen, to a period when Jewish moviemakers became more comfortable with the concept of a Jewish hero and with an overpowered, yet heroic, Israel, and the way that the Holocaust assumed center stage as the single event with the greatest effect on American Jewish identity. Recently, as American Jewish screenwriters, directors, and producers have become increasingly comfortable with their heritage, we are seeing an unprecedented number of movies that spotlight Jewish protagonists, experiences, and challenges. This is “a wonderful book for any lover of American films” (Hadassah Magazine).


Book Synopsis The American Jewish Story through Cinema by : Eric A. Goldman

Download or read book The American Jewish Story through Cinema written by Eric A. Goldman and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A superb, thought-provoking analysis tracing the metamorphosis of the image of the Jew as portrayed through 80 years of American cinema.” —Library Journal Like the haggadah, the traditional story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt read at the Passover seder, cinema offers a valuable text from which to gain an understanding of the social, political, and cultural realities of Jews in America. In an industry strongly influenced by Jewish filmmakers, the complex, evolving nature of the American Jewish condition has had considerable impact on American cinema and, in particular, on how Jews are reflected on the screen. This groundbreaking study analyzes select mainstream films from the beginning of the sound era to today to provide an understanding of the American Jewish experience over the last century, from the time when Hollywood’s movie moguls, most of whom were Jewish, shied away from asserting a Jewish image on the screen, to a period when Jewish moviemakers became more comfortable with the concept of a Jewish hero and with an overpowered, yet heroic, Israel, and the way that the Holocaust assumed center stage as the single event with the greatest effect on American Jewish identity. Recently, as American Jewish screenwriters, directors, and producers have become increasingly comfortable with their heritage, we are seeing an unprecedented number of movies that spotlight Jewish protagonists, experiences, and challenges. This is “a wonderful book for any lover of American films” (Hadassah Magazine).

Hollywood's Chosen People

Hollywood's Chosen People

Author: Daniel Bernardi

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Published: 2012-09-17

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0814338070

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As studio bosses, directors, and actors, Jews have been heavily involved in film history and vitally involved in all aspects of film production. Yet Jewish characters have been represented onscreen in stereotypical and disturbing ways, while Jews have also helped to produce some of the most troubling stereotypes of people of color in Hollywood film history. In Hollywood's Chosen People: The Jewish Experience in American Cinema, leading scholars consider the complex relationship between Jews and the film industry, as Jews have helped to construct Hollywood's vision of the American dream and American collective identity and have in turn been shaped by those representations. Editors Daniel Bernardi, Murray Pomerance, and Hava Tirosh-Samuelson introduce the volume with an overview of the history of Jews in American popular culture and the American film industry. Multidisciplinary contributors go on to discuss topics such as early Jewish films and directors, institutionalized anti-Semitism, Jewish identity and gossip culture, and issues of Jewish performance on film. Contributors draw on a diverse sampling of films, from representations of the Holocaust on film to screen comedy; filmmakers and writers, including David Mamet, George Cukor, Sidney Lumet, Edward Sloman, and Steven Spielberg; and stars, like Barbra Streisand, Adam Sandler, and Ben Stiller. The Jewish experience in American cinema reveals much about the degree to which Jews have been integrated into and contribute to the making of American popular film culture. Scholars of Jewish studies, film studies, American history, and American culture as well as anyone interested in film history will find this volume fascinating reading.


Book Synopsis Hollywood's Chosen People by : Daniel Bernardi

Download or read book Hollywood's Chosen People written by Daniel Bernardi and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2012-09-17 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As studio bosses, directors, and actors, Jews have been heavily involved in film history and vitally involved in all aspects of film production. Yet Jewish characters have been represented onscreen in stereotypical and disturbing ways, while Jews have also helped to produce some of the most troubling stereotypes of people of color in Hollywood film history. In Hollywood's Chosen People: The Jewish Experience in American Cinema, leading scholars consider the complex relationship between Jews and the film industry, as Jews have helped to construct Hollywood's vision of the American dream and American collective identity and have in turn been shaped by those representations. Editors Daniel Bernardi, Murray Pomerance, and Hava Tirosh-Samuelson introduce the volume with an overview of the history of Jews in American popular culture and the American film industry. Multidisciplinary contributors go on to discuss topics such as early Jewish films and directors, institutionalized anti-Semitism, Jewish identity and gossip culture, and issues of Jewish performance on film. Contributors draw on a diverse sampling of films, from representations of the Holocaust on film to screen comedy; filmmakers and writers, including David Mamet, George Cukor, Sidney Lumet, Edward Sloman, and Steven Spielberg; and stars, like Barbra Streisand, Adam Sandler, and Ben Stiller. The Jewish experience in American cinema reveals much about the degree to which Jews have been integrated into and contribute to the making of American popular film culture. Scholars of Jewish studies, film studies, American history, and American culture as well as anyone interested in film history will find this volume fascinating reading.

The Jew in American Cinema

The Jew in American Cinema

Author: Patricia Erens

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 1988-08-22

Total Pages: 478

ISBN-13: 9780253204936

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Examples range from film's early days to the present, from Europe, Israel, and the United States.


Book Synopsis The Jew in American Cinema by : Patricia Erens

Download or read book The Jew in American Cinema written by Patricia Erens and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1988-08-22 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examples range from film's early days to the present, from Europe, Israel, and the United States.

American Jewish Films

American Jewish Films

Author: Lawrence J. Epstein

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2013-04-06

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 1476601844

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This is a thematic survey of American films with significant Jewish content that made an important statement about America. Both familiar and lesser known films are included. An introduction discusses why American Jews were attracted to films as audiences, performers and business people, and evaluates how films help audiences think about their lives. The book then focuses on themes and representative and important films, placing them in their cultural contexts. One of the aspects of American Jewish life brought out by the films in general is the tensions between an American and a Jewish identity and between a Jewish identity and a broader human identity. Other themes are assimilation and acculturation, interfaith relations, Israel, marriage and family relations, the role of women, Jews and American politics, and anti-Semitism including the Holocaust.


Book Synopsis American Jewish Films by : Lawrence J. Epstein

Download or read book American Jewish Films written by Lawrence J. Epstein and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2013-04-06 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a thematic survey of American films with significant Jewish content that made an important statement about America. Both familiar and lesser known films are included. An introduction discusses why American Jews were attracted to films as audiences, performers and business people, and evaluates how films help audiences think about their lives. The book then focuses on themes and representative and important films, placing them in their cultural contexts. One of the aspects of American Jewish life brought out by the films in general is the tensions between an American and a Jewish identity and between a Jewish identity and a broader human identity. Other themes are assimilation and acculturation, interfaith relations, Israel, marriage and family relations, the role of women, Jews and American politics, and anti-Semitism including the Holocaust.

Movie-Made Jews

Movie-Made Jews

Author: Helene Meyers

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2021-09-17

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1978821905

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Movie-Made Jews focuses on a rich, usable American Jewish cinematic tradition. This tradition includes fiction and documentary films that make Jews through antisemitism, Holocaust indirection, and discontent with assimilation. It prominently features the unapologetic assertion of Jewishness, queerness, and alliances across race and religion. Author Helene Meyers shows that as we go to our local theater, attend a Jewish film festival, play a DVD, watch streaming videos, Jewishness becomes part of the multicultural mosaic rather than collapsing into a generic whiteness or being represented as a life apart. This engagingly-written book demonstrates that a Jewish movie is neither just a movie nor for Jews only. With incisive analysis, Movie-Made Jews challenges the assumption that American Jewish cinema is a cinema of impoverishment and assimilation. While it’s a truism that Jews make movies, this book brings into focus the diverse ways movies make Jews.


Book Synopsis Movie-Made Jews by : Helene Meyers

Download or read book Movie-Made Jews written by Helene Meyers and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-17 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Movie-Made Jews focuses on a rich, usable American Jewish cinematic tradition. This tradition includes fiction and documentary films that make Jews through antisemitism, Holocaust indirection, and discontent with assimilation. It prominently features the unapologetic assertion of Jewishness, queerness, and alliances across race and religion. Author Helene Meyers shows that as we go to our local theater, attend a Jewish film festival, play a DVD, watch streaming videos, Jewishness becomes part of the multicultural mosaic rather than collapsing into a generic whiteness or being represented as a life apart. This engagingly-written book demonstrates that a Jewish movie is neither just a movie nor for Jews only. With incisive analysis, Movie-Made Jews challenges the assumption that American Jewish cinema is a cinema of impoverishment and assimilation. While it’s a truism that Jews make movies, this book brings into focus the diverse ways movies make Jews.

American Jewish Filmmakers

American Jewish Filmmakers

Author: David Desser

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9780252071539

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In this updated second edition, David Desser and Lester D. Friedman demonstrate how the Jewish experience gives rise to an intimately linked series of issues in the films of these and other significant Jewish directors.


Book Synopsis American Jewish Filmmakers by : David Desser

Download or read book American Jewish Filmmakers written by David Desser and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this updated second edition, David Desser and Lester D. Friedman demonstrate how the Jewish experience gives rise to an intimately linked series of issues in the films of these and other significant Jewish directors.

Theatrical Liberalism

Theatrical Liberalism

Author: Andrea Most

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2013-05-20

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0814708196

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“Makes new sense of aspects of popular culture we have all grown up with and thought we knew only too well. Most bridges religious studies and theater, political theory and American studies, high criticism and middlebrow performance. Her book will help us see better how Jews and their Jewishness did not merely ‘enter’ American popular culture, but did so much to invent it.”—Jonathan Boyarin Leonard and Tobee Kaplan Distinguished Professor of Modern Jewish Thought, University of North Carolina For centuries, Jews were one of the few European cultures without any official public theatrical tradition. Yet in the modern era, Jews were among the most important creators of popular theater and film–especially in America. Why? In Theatrical Liberalism, Andrea Most illustrates how American Jews used the theatre and other media to navigate their encounters with modern culture, politics, religion, and identity, negotiating a position for themselves within and alongside Protestant American liberalism by reimagining key aspects of traditional Judaism as theatrical. Discussing works as diverse as the Hebrew Bible, The Jazz Singer, and Death of a Salesman—among many others—Most situates American popular culture in the multiple religious traditions that informed the worldviews of its practitioners. Offering a comprehensive history of the role of Judaism in the creation of American entertainment, Theatrical Liberalism re-examines the distinction between the secular and the religious in both Jewish and American contexts, providing a new way of understanding Jewish liberalism and its place in a pluralist society. With extensive scholarship and compelling evidence, Theatrical Liberalism shows how the Jewish worldview that permeates American culture has reached far beyond the Jews who created it.


Book Synopsis Theatrical Liberalism by : Andrea Most

Download or read book Theatrical Liberalism written by Andrea Most and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2013-05-20 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Makes new sense of aspects of popular culture we have all grown up with and thought we knew only too well. Most bridges religious studies and theater, political theory and American studies, high criticism and middlebrow performance. Her book will help us see better how Jews and their Jewishness did not merely ‘enter’ American popular culture, but did so much to invent it.”—Jonathan Boyarin Leonard and Tobee Kaplan Distinguished Professor of Modern Jewish Thought, University of North Carolina For centuries, Jews were one of the few European cultures without any official public theatrical tradition. Yet in the modern era, Jews were among the most important creators of popular theater and film–especially in America. Why? In Theatrical Liberalism, Andrea Most illustrates how American Jews used the theatre and other media to navigate their encounters with modern culture, politics, religion, and identity, negotiating a position for themselves within and alongside Protestant American liberalism by reimagining key aspects of traditional Judaism as theatrical. Discussing works as diverse as the Hebrew Bible, The Jazz Singer, and Death of a Salesman—among many others—Most situates American popular culture in the multiple religious traditions that informed the worldviews of its practitioners. Offering a comprehensive history of the role of Judaism in the creation of American entertainment, Theatrical Liberalism re-examines the distinction between the secular and the religious in both Jewish and American contexts, providing a new way of understanding Jewish liberalism and its place in a pluralist society. With extensive scholarship and compelling evidence, Theatrical Liberalism shows how the Jewish worldview that permeates American culture has reached far beyond the Jews who created it.

Woody on Rye

Woody on Rye

Author: Vincent Brook

Publisher: Brandeis University Press

Published: 2013-12-03

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1611684811

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Although Woody AllenÕs films have received extensive attention from scholars and critics, no book has focused exclusively on Jewishness in his work, particularly that of the late 1990s and beyond. In this anthology, a distinguished group of contributorsÑwhose work is richly contextualized in the fields of literature, philosophy, film, theater, and comedyÑexamine the schlemiel, Allen and women, the Jewish take on the Òmorality of murder,Ó AllenÕs take on Hebrew scripture and Greek tragedy, his stage work, his cinematic treatment of food and dining, and what happens to ÒJew YorkÓ when Woody takes his films out of New York City. Considered together, these essays delineate the intellectual, artistic, and moral development of one of cinemaÕs most durable and controversial directors.


Book Synopsis Woody on Rye by : Vincent Brook

Download or read book Woody on Rye written by Vincent Brook and published by Brandeis University Press. This book was released on 2013-12-03 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although Woody AllenÕs films have received extensive attention from scholars and critics, no book has focused exclusively on Jewishness in his work, particularly that of the late 1990s and beyond. In this anthology, a distinguished group of contributorsÑwhose work is richly contextualized in the fields of literature, philosophy, film, theater, and comedyÑexamine the schlemiel, Allen and women, the Jewish take on the Òmorality of murder,Ó AllenÕs take on Hebrew scripture and Greek tragedy, his stage work, his cinematic treatment of food and dining, and what happens to ÒJew YorkÓ when Woody takes his films out of New York City. Considered together, these essays delineate the intellectual, artistic, and moral development of one of cinemaÕs most durable and controversial directors.

Visions, Images, and Dreams

Visions, Images, and Dreams

Author: Eric Arthur Goldman

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780841914377

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This is the history of the Yiddish cinema, and the people who shaped its development. The films were intended as entertainment but also acted to reinforce Jewish identity especially in the United States. The author travelled to fourteen countries, viewed dozens of films (some of them considered lost), and combed archives in Austria, Poland, Western Europe, the former Soviet Union and the United States to uncover details, facts, and background for this narrative. Our story begins with the early Yiddish silent movies, largely films made of Yiddish stage productions in Poland and Russia, and moves on to the innovative film productions in 1920s Soviet Union made with government support, and then on to the Golden Age of this genre In Poland and the United States from 1936-1940. Even after the height of its popularity before the war, Yiddish movies continued to be made in the late 1940s. This newly revised edition includes films of the past fifteen years, as there has been a renaissance of interest in Yiddish- and along with it, Yiddish cinema. Another special feature of this edition are interviews with Jacob Ben-Ami, Ira Greene, Joseph Green and Molly Picon, some of the key figures in Yiddish moviemaking. This fascinating and little-known story is accessible to students of film, Yiddish, Jewish culture, as well as to the general reader.


Book Synopsis Visions, Images, and Dreams by : Eric Arthur Goldman

Download or read book Visions, Images, and Dreams written by Eric Arthur Goldman and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the history of the Yiddish cinema, and the people who shaped its development. The films were intended as entertainment but also acted to reinforce Jewish identity especially in the United States. The author travelled to fourteen countries, viewed dozens of films (some of them considered lost), and combed archives in Austria, Poland, Western Europe, the former Soviet Union and the United States to uncover details, facts, and background for this narrative. Our story begins with the early Yiddish silent movies, largely films made of Yiddish stage productions in Poland and Russia, and moves on to the innovative film productions in 1920s Soviet Union made with government support, and then on to the Golden Age of this genre In Poland and the United States from 1936-1940. Even after the height of its popularity before the war, Yiddish movies continued to be made in the late 1940s. This newly revised edition includes films of the past fifteen years, as there has been a renaissance of interest in Yiddish- and along with it, Yiddish cinema. Another special feature of this edition are interviews with Jacob Ben-Ami, Ira Greene, Joseph Green and Molly Picon, some of the key figures in Yiddish moviemaking. This fascinating and little-known story is accessible to students of film, Yiddish, Jewish culture, as well as to the general reader.