RED HOLLYWOOD
Price: $195.00 Code: 2496 |
Directed by Thom Andersen and Noel Burch
1996-2013, 120 minutes
Purchase: $195 | Classroom rental: $125
A revelatory essay film by Thom Andersen (Los Angeles Plays Itself) and film critic Noel Burch, Red Hollywood, which has been re-mastered and re-edited, examines the films made by the victims of the Hollywood Blacklist and offers a radically different perspective on a key period in the history of American cinema.
An elaboration on Andersen's 1985 written essay, also called "Red Hollywood," the documentary draws on extensive research, includes intimate interviews with former blacklisted artists such as Paul Jarrico, Ring Lardner, Jr., Alfred Levitt and Abraham Polonsky, and features clips from more than 50 films that span numerous genres and raise questions about war, race relations, class solidarity, women's labor and the studio system itself.
As described by Andersen and Burch, "The victims of the Hollywood blacklist have been canonized as martyrs, but their film work in Hollywood is still largely denigrated or ignored. Red Hollywood considers this work to demonstrate how the Communists of Hollywood were sometimes able to express their ideas in the films they wrote and directed."
“Fascinating. Generously packed with film clips and interviews. An intellectual tour through some of American cinema’s most politically idealistic moments and some of its most pessimistic.”—Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
"A significant (and entertaining) contribution to the saga of the blacklist." – J. Hoberman, Village Voice
“Socially committed filmmaking doesn't get any better than this.”– Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times
“Red Hollywood offers some invaluable clues about how we might start reconstructing our view of Hollywood movies made since the birth of talkies... A highly illuminating, groundbreaking… documentary that defies a major taboo in most mainstream writing about current movies.”—Jonathan Rosenbaum
"Highly Recommended.The overall narrative has a good pace and the variety of clips liven it up and the interviews provide good color without a pall of bitterness or anger. Production values are superb. The filmmakers' deep knowledge of film history has yielded a bounty of poignant moments from lesser-known films and these will likely lead to further research on the part of the motivated viewer. Much has been written and filmed about the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities and the Blacklist but there is no other work that so beautifully constructs a history of the era with the source materials the way this film does. On college campuses and in high schools this film should be a cherished addition for teaching about social problems of the 20th Century, the history of cinema, the McCarthy era, and the roots of the Cold War." -Christopher Lewis, American University Library, Educational Media Reviews Online
1996-2013, 120 minutes
Purchase: $195 | Classroom rental: $125
A revelatory essay film by Thom Andersen (Los Angeles Plays Itself) and film critic Noel Burch, Red Hollywood, which has been re-mastered and re-edited, examines the films made by the victims of the Hollywood Blacklist and offers a radically different perspective on a key period in the history of American cinema.
An elaboration on Andersen's 1985 written essay, also called "Red Hollywood," the documentary draws on extensive research, includes intimate interviews with former blacklisted artists such as Paul Jarrico, Ring Lardner, Jr., Alfred Levitt and Abraham Polonsky, and features clips from more than 50 films that span numerous genres and raise questions about war, race relations, class solidarity, women's labor and the studio system itself.
As described by Andersen and Burch, "The victims of the Hollywood blacklist have been canonized as martyrs, but their film work in Hollywood is still largely denigrated or ignored. Red Hollywood considers this work to demonstrate how the Communists of Hollywood were sometimes able to express their ideas in the films they wrote and directed."
Subjects & Collections
Reviews
“Fascinating. Generously packed with film clips and interviews. An intellectual tour through some of American cinema’s most politically idealistic moments and some of its most pessimistic.”—Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
"A significant (and entertaining) contribution to the saga of the blacklist." – J. Hoberman, Village Voice
“Socially committed filmmaking doesn't get any better than this.”– Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times
“Red Hollywood offers some invaluable clues about how we might start reconstructing our view of Hollywood movies made since the birth of talkies... A highly illuminating, groundbreaking… documentary that defies a major taboo in most mainstream writing about current movies.”—Jonathan Rosenbaum
"Highly Recommended.The overall narrative has a good pace and the variety of clips liven it up and the interviews provide good color without a pall of bitterness or anger. Production values are superb. The filmmakers' deep knowledge of film history has yielded a bounty of poignant moments from lesser-known films and these will likely lead to further research on the part of the motivated viewer. Much has been written and filmed about the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities and the Blacklist but there is no other work that so beautifully constructs a history of the era with the source materials the way this film does. On college campuses and in high schools this film should be a cherished addition for teaching about social problems of the 20th Century, the history of cinema, the McCarthy era, and the roots of the Cold War." -Christopher Lewis, American University Library, Educational Media Reviews OnlineTrailer
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