OVER THE EDGE

January 30, 2008

s and Culture

The A to Z of Black & White

New Column Introduction

Anorew Bercen AND ZAINAB KOTADIA

ConTRIBUTORS

I would like to introduce a new column to Over the Edge: The A to Z of B&W (a column devoted to reviewing and talk- ing about old black and white movies). Like two movie critics, my wife (Zainab) and I (Andrew) will be writing the column together, Having stumbled over the old classics together, we'll rediscover famous movies, actors, and actresses from our re- cent past. Each issue we'll review a classic black and white movie and dig up interesting facts about the production, the director, and the stars.

Most of the films we’ll be discussing were made during what is called “The American Studio Years” (1930-1945); a period in which the world saw many drastic changes politically and economically. It was a time when Americans wanted to dis- tract themselves from the rest of the world. Some things have changed since then and some have not. One notable difference is the cost of going to the theatre; Thompson and Bordwell remark, “In 1933...admission at some local movie theaters might be only a dime” (Film History 233). The studio years were a time when America really watched movies. According

to Mast, during 1937, over 500 feature films were produced; _

and, during 1938, there were about 80 million movie admis-

sions, or screenplays submissions, every week (Short History of the Movies 263). It’s difficult to imagine. Although there were many bad movies made during this time, there were also many great classics. There are so many good picks that we’ll probably graduate before getting a chance to talk about them all.

Sources:

Thompson, Kristin, and David Bordwell. Film History: An Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.

Mast, Gerald. A Short History of the Movies. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1976.