American history on film
Peter C. Rollins (ed), The Columbia Companion to American History on Film: How the Movies have Portrayed the American Past. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003.
ISBN: 0 231 11222 X
696pp
US$85.00 (hb)
(Review copy supplied by Columbia University Press)
Phyllis R. Klotman (Director), African Americans in Cinema: The First Half Century. Champaign, Ill: University of Illinois Press, 2003.
ISBN: 0 252 02892 9
US$24.95 (DVD)
(Review copy supplied by the University of Illinois Press)

According to Peter Rollins, editor of the Columbia Companion, many American historians, see film as “a way of introducing and dramatizing the events, ideas, and forces that have shaped history and identity”.(xii) In an age when most people, especially the young, learn more about their national past from cinema and television than they do in the classroom, it is essential that historians understand and, perhaps come to terms with, these visual secondary sources; taking not only what is valuable, and stimulating from the historical film, but also dealing with the inaccuracies, the bias and poetic licence that is inherent in history on the screen. At its best, the historical film can recreate the past in a way that no literary approach could ever hope to match. For example, even the most sensitive and imaginative author could never deal with the experience of combat in the Second World War in such a terrifying and realistic manner as does Steven Spielberg in the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan (US, 1998). At the same time, as Rollins points out, we have to remember that film (and television) history reflects the attitudes, values and prejudices of the period in which they were produced. And it is for just this reason that historical films have become “wonderful exempla for those who would seek to understand the ways Americans [or others] in the past have thought about critical events and themes in their history’.(xiv)

The Columbia companion then, is a useful introductory text to the whole subject of American history on film. The subject matter is arranged under eight broad categories: Eras, Wars, Notable People, Groups, Institutions and Movements, Places, Themes and Topics and Myths and Heroes. The categories are the sub-divided into bite size sections. So under “Groups” there are essays on Asian Americans, Jewish Americans, Women in the Twentieth Century, Children and Teenagers and so on. The essays themselves are written by experts in the field so, for example, we have Robert Fyne on World War Two, Robert B. Toplin on Slavery, Thomas Doherty on Democracy and Equality, and Michael Shull on African Americans. Essays essentially offer a brief overview of the topic, brief historiographical sketch, then examine how selected films have dealt with that topic, followed by a selective filmography and bibliography. The essays range from the competent to the stimulating, but all are easily accessible for students and general readers. Some of the filmographies do tend to be highly selective. In the list of films dealing with Asian Americans, for example, the wimpish Flower Drum Song (USA, 1961) is included but neither Come See the Paradise (US, 1990)or Louis Malles’s Alamo Bay (US, 1985)are, although the former does rate a brief dismissal in the main text. Curiously both films show just how badly Asian Americans have sometimes fared in the Land of the Free. Is this simply oversight or is it yet another dimension of the new patriotism of the right that tends to dismiss the evil within?

But in volumes like this, which encompass such a huge amount of material, it’s very easy to pick up on the quirks of particular author’s and become over-critical. But in essence, The Columbia Companion does exactly what it sets out to do – it provides a solid introduction to many of the major themes of American history on film, and students will undoubtedly find it a very useful source.

Most of the history DVDs that have come my way have been remarkably disappointing: mediocre variations of the standard documentary – clichéd narrative, superficial analysis, and limited data – a sort of Noddy in Toyland with pictures – all of which totally fails to make use of the exciting potential of the DVD format. Thus it’s good to see that the production team for African Americans in Cinema have come up with something that is fresh, bright, and original and which makes full and excellent use of digital technology.

Like the Columbia Companion, this project is primarily intended for a student audience, as a “stand-alone course on blacks in film or in courses in the humanities….”, but anyone wanting a crash course in Black Americans and cinema will undoubtedly profit from running this programme. The DVD format is really well exploited here and allows for a variety of classroom or home uses. Essentially what we have is a text book containing a number of useful essays and bibliographies, but richly illustrated with relevant film clips which relate directly to the written text, and which are easily accessible. The project is well organised and logical and takes the user through the first fifty years of blacks in the movies.

The subject matter is broadly arranged into four broad chronological periods: 1894-1914; 1915-1928; 1929-1940; 1941-1950, each with its own literary/visual introduction setting the context and exploring the main themes of the period. Each period is developed through half a dozen or so essays written by experts in the field like Charles Musser, Louis Bernard and Phyllis Klotman. These deal with central issues such as minstrelsy, segregation in the movies, Birth of a Nation/Birth of Race to papers on black musicals, Paul Robeson and Sidney Poitier. While not ground-breaking, the essays are thoroughly researched, clearly written and illustrated with posters, stills, and best of all, relevant film clips which illustrate the author’s analysis. Each essay is further accompanied by a selection of contemporary reviews, and commentaries. As a further bonus the disc also contains a data base of over 3000 relevant films with production details and plot synopsis. I found this a little difficult to use, but I think that’s my lack of skill rather than faulty technology. But the DVD does come with a useful instructor’s guide and full notes on navigating the programme.

There’s not much here that will surprise experts in the field, but it would be hard to find a better student introduction to the subject. Phyllis Klotman and her production team are to be congratulated on a first class piece of work that really demonstrates just what technology can do when applied to film history. Let’s hope Illinois University Press will develop a whole series of DVDs of this quality on the history of American Film.

Michael Paris
University of Central Lancashire.

Created on: Monday, 6 December 2004 | Last Updated: 6-Dec-04