The Last Great American Picture Show: New Hollywood Cinema in the 1970s

by Thomas Elsaesser (Editor ), Noel King (Editor), Alexander Horwath (Editor)

The French Connection, The Last Picture Show, M.A.S.H., Harold and Maude —these are only a few of the iconic films made in the United States during the 1970s. Originally considered a "lost generation," the 1970s are increasingly recognized as a crucial turning point in American filmmaking, and many films from the era have resurfaced from oblivion to become a reference for new directorial talents. The Last Great American Picture Show explores this pivotal era in American film history with a collection of essays by scholars and writers that firmly situates the decade as the time of the emergence of "New Hollywood."

Sam Peckinpah, Arthur Penn, Peter Bogdanovich, Monte Hellman, Bob Rafelson, Hal Ashy, Robert Altman, and James these legendary directors developed innovative techniques, gritty aesthetics, and a modern sensibility in American film. Here, contributors compellingly argue that the cinema of today's major directors—Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Robert Zemeckis—could not have come into existence without the groundbreaking works produced by the directors of the 1970s. A wholly engaging and long-overdue investigation of this important era in American film, The Last Great American Picture Show reveals how the films of the 1970s transformed the American social consciousness and influenced filmmaking worldwide.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, History

391 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Thomas Elsaesser was a German film historian and professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of Amsterdam.

Reviews

[David Phillips]

Excellent collection of essays on seventies movies

[Sara]

This was a grab-bag of essays on the history and criticism of American films from 1967-1975. I enjoyed the historical, informational essays much more, and am now determined to check out some of the works of Monte Hellman and Barbara Loden's Wanda. Apparently, all the brainpower I had back in college to delve through the heavy lit crit essays has left me, as those basically went in one eye and out of the other. Still, I feel a little more informed about filmmaking in the 1970s, and I'm gladder for that.

[Joe]

A mixed bag of academic essays. If you're a big fan of this era of films, there are a few gems in here that are worth seeking out.