On December 8, 1967 Time magazine put Bonnie and Clyde on its cover and announced, "The New Cinema: Violence Sex Art." The following decade has long been celebrated as a golden age in American film history. In this innovative study, Peter Krämer offers a systematic discussion of the biggest hits of the period (including The Graduate [1967], The Exorcist [1973] and Jaws [1975]). He relates the distinctive features of these hits to changes in the film industry, in its audiences and in American society at large.

The economics of the movie industry has been curiously neglected by scholars, especially given the material circumstances in which film has been produced, distributed and exhibited in capitalist economies and its central importance in the lives of the huge numbers attracted to it as a commodity. This book provides an economic framework for understanding developments in film history. Film is a peculiar commodity with a unique set of characteristics. The topic hence is interesting and covered with aplomb by the contributors to the volume. The book includes sections on: long-term trends in the film industry the transformation of film from a primitive commodity to a heavily branded product the operation of the studio system the end of the studio system in post-war America the role and payment of stars Hollywood’s approach to risk during the 1990s. Experts from the UK and North America have come together in these pages and the result is a readable, insightful and enlightening book that will gain many fans amongst those with an interest in the economics of film, economic historians, film historians and aficionados of the movie industry generally.

Drawing on a broad range of primary sources, from trade and government publications to interviews, Hollywood Films in North Africa and the Middle East traces the circulation of Hollywood films across the region from the early twentieth century to the present. Originally introduced by French distributors, Hollywood films have been a key component of film culture in North Africa and the Middle East. These films became a favored mode of entertainment during the first half of the century as the major US film studios built a strong distribution structure. After World War II, the changing geopolitical context of decolonization pushed US distributors out of the market. Hollywood films, however, have continued to be favored by audiences. Today, in a landscape that also includes Egyptian and Indian films, Hollywood remains a relevant force in the region’s film culture, experienced by audiences in myriad ways from the pirate markets of North Africa to state-of-the-art theatres in the United Arab Emirates.