Provocative excerpts from primary and secondary sources (some with audio glosses). Read the rationale behind these sound bites for more information.

721-730 of 734 Sound Bites. [show all]

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721) Throughout the history of American movies, blacks with uneven success pressed moviemakers to alter their conceptions of the black characters who appeared on the screen. One of the tactics that persisted throughout the period between the world wars with the production of "race movies" for the consumption of black Americans. Oftimes these movies were the products of interracial and even white companies, with a good ear and eye for the social and aesthetic concerns of blacks. (John E. O’Connor and Martin A. Jackson 40) [SoundBite #4326]

722) Race movies crew to maturity simultaneously with the growth of Northern black urban ghettos. The coincidence of visual medium of expression and growing audience contributed to the development of race movies into a distinct genre. Almost every race movie beneath its surface melodrama presented black audiences with sharply etched messages of advocacy, aspiration, group unity, and slogans against racism. (John E. O’Connor and Martin A. Jackson 40) [SoundBite #4327]

723) Confronted by the realities of militant totalitarianism in Europe, the United States had by mid-1938 begun to budge from its passive isolationist stance. Hitler's persecutions and racial discrimination graded against the nation's Christian morals and distaste for dictatorship. While President Roosevelt still faced substantial opposition in his determination to get the country more actively involved in European affairs, most Americans, even the staunchest isolationist, agreed that strong measures should be taken to preserve the Western Hemisphere as democracy's fortress. And the film industry, always restive in its marriage of convenience with the government, was anxious to make a contribution. (John E. O’Connor and Martin A. Jackson 184) [SoundBite #4328]

724) While films relate to ideology, they also relate to specific historical and social events, most obviously when the content of a film deals directly with a subject that is identifiable in its own period. (John E. O’Connor and Martin A. Jackson 204) [SoundBite #4329]

725) Societal developments can also effect changes in the genre, forcing new twists and storylines as times change. Cinematic artists often adjust traditional tales or create new plots based on recent events. (Robert Brent Toplin 11) [SoundBite #4330]

726) When media commentators and professional historians complain that a motion picture left out too many important facts or failed to give audiences a complete picture of the events, often they fail to acknowledge a fundamental structural component of cinematic history. Critics forget that dramatic film cannot deliver a comprehensive assessment of its subject. To make history understandable and exciting, filmmakers have to narrow the scope of their portrayals. Usually they dramatize only a few events, cover a narrow piece of time, and give detailed attention to the thoughts and actions of only a few key people. The subject of the movie is also rather tightly focused on one situation from the past. (Robert Brent Toplin 17) [SoundBite #4331]

727) Many decades ago, Hollywood's cinematic historians were inclined to study the lives of the elite. This tendency was not just a result of the filmmakers enthusiasm for stories about the rich, famous, and powerful; movie audiences seem particularly interested in these tales. From the 1930s to the 1950s, especially, Hollywood released abundant docudramas dealing with prominent figures from history. (Robert Brent Toplin 30) [SoundBite #4332]

728) The historical genre also favors stories that place these common folk in struggles against some terrible injustice affecting them or their family or friends. Cinematic history often portrays its heroes and Noble fights against oppression, exploitation, or prejudice. There is an uplifting quality in this kind of historical drama. Audiences sense early in these stories that the heroic characters are right in their beliefs, but people in positions of authority will not listen to them or respect their ideas. (Robert Brent Toplin 34) [SoundBite #4333]

729) When movies project images of the past through myriad, often dazzling period details, they can educate audiences in a variety of subtle ways. (Robert Brent Toplin 48) [SoundBite #4334]

730) A serious and balanced look at cinematic history requires a more complex response to movies than the simplistic "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" approach of movie reviewers on television and in popular magazines. Even good cinematic history contains a great deal of fiction and manipulation of the facts, and even poor cinematic history that bends the facts to a troublesome degree can dramatize aspects of the past impressively. (Robert Brent Toplin 61) [SoundBite #4335]