A supplement to Literature and film: an annotated bibliography.

"A thorough reworking of a standard source. Offers approaches from the film title, author's name, and original title when it differs from the screen version. Film company or distributor, conuntry of origin, year released, and director's name are indicated, as are (where applicable) title variations, made-for-television versions, and availability on video. Indexes to musicals, television films and series, and animated features; list of studios and distributors. Most of the 6,000 films are English-language, but some major foreign releases are also included."(Balay, Guide to reference books, 11th ed, 1996; Note that this description is based on the 1993 version)

"Includes 450 topics (e.g., amnesia, butlers, football, lookalikess) and major series, with a narrative discussion of each and a list of films (selective for subjects, complete for series) by date. Primarily English-language sound films and television movies. No index. A 2nd ed. [THIS] in paperback adds about 100 thematic categories."(Balay, Guide to reference books, 11th ed, 1996)

"Essays by scholars on 18 individual genres (e.g., screwball, comedy, Western, film noir), covering development of the genre, themes, notable films, influential directors and stars, etc., and including bibliographic overview, checklist of readings, and a selected filmography. Index of names and titles."(Balay, Guide to reference books, 11th ed, 1996)

"Containing information on more than 3000 films, this encyclopedia will become a classic source of information on legitimate (i.e., nonpornographic) gay and lesbian film and video. Listing films from around the world throughout the medium's history, the book documents efforts by individuals who either openly or discreetly produced films with gay or lesbian themes or portrayed gay or lesbian characters, as well as gays and lesbians who portrayed straight characters. For each personality a brief biography is given, usually a photo, and a list of films associated with the individual. There are separate sections for directors, independent filmmakers, actors/actresses, gay icons, writers, artists, dancers, and composers. There are also listings and descriptions of films within the categories "queer" (of interest to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals), "lesbian," "gay," and "transgender" as well as a section on films with camp attraction or content. The film summaries and subject introductions are extremely well written, the book as a whole is well organized and indexed, and the wealth of information is accurate and up to date. For the film and video (all entries note whether the film has been released on video) collector (including AV librarians), this will be an important source of information; for the curious, it will be an eye-opener. Appropriate for all libraries and all readers." (Library Journal, 3/15/95, Vol. 120 Issue 5, p61)

"Includes straight people popular in gay culture. Murray's emphasis is on American and English films, although he does have selective coverage of European and Asian cinema. Films included in the book must be at least 60 minutes in length and have "a gay theme that is relatively evident." [...] Murray includes both Hollywood and underground films in his book." (Booklist, 3/1/94, Vol. 90 Issue 13, p1290)

"A celebration of women's behind-the-scenes contributions to film. Divided into 13 main sections relating to directors, producers, writers, film editors, animators, stunt women, foreign notables, etc. Sketches contain filmographies and emphasize career accomplishments (and sometimes hurdles). Select bibliography; index of names, titles, and topics." (Balay, Guide to reference books, 11th ed, 1996)

"Writer/producer/director Acker's volume capably fills a surprisingly neglected gap in the film field by profiling more than 120 women directors, writers, producers, editors, stuntpersons, etc., who worked or are working in the U.S. film industry. Coverage is from the 19th century to the present day. Each entry includes a biographical sketch, emphasizing interview quotes, and filmographies (some selective). Acker wisely avoids any critical analyses of her subjects' films, and should be commended for her accuracy. Her resource is more compact, comprehensive, and useful (while more pricey) than works such as Louise Heck-Rabi's Women Filmmakers (Scarecrow, 1984)." (Library Journal, 4/15/91, Vol. 116 Issue 7, p94)

An extensive biographical listing with critical/analytic commentary. "A welcome addition to the growing number of reference works on women in the film industry, this book is more general in scope than works confined to cinematic contributions by women during a particular era (e.g., Anthony Slide's The Silent Feminists: America's First Women Directors, CH, Jan'97) or their occupations in the industry (e.g., Women Writers: From Page to Screen, by Jill Rubinson Fenton et al., CH, Feb'91). Its breadth of scope and inclusion of essays about outstanding women filmmakers complement Ally Acker's Reel Women: Pioneers of the Cinema from 1896 to the Present (CH, Nov'91) and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster's Women Film Directors: An International Bio-critical Dictionary (CH, Apr'96). Entries include filmographies and literature by (and sometimes about) the women profiled. A list of films in which women filmmakers have had a major role has several entries and gives credits and references for further reading. Illustrations enliven the text. A chronology of women filmmakers and indexes by nationality, occupation, awards, distributors, and film titles add greatly to the value of the work. General and academic libraries." (Choice, November 1998)

""In imaging female subjectivity and addressing the spectator as female, feminist filmmakers have created films which transform and innovate cinematic codes and conventions." Smelik switches the focus of feminist discourse from spectator to filmmaker. Unwilling to revive the auteur theory, which she considers to be elitist and phallocentric, she nevertheless investigates the works of such filmmakers as Sander, Campion, Treut, and Adlon and discovers ways in which they subvert traditional cinematic subjectivity, affect, and modes of representation. Smelik's arguments are, of course, deeply rooted in the feminist theory of Lacan, Mulvey, Silverman, Kaplan, Irigaray, et al., but she also includes such figures as Eisenstein and Barthes. She does not privilege any particular theory but uses whatever works for the particular filmmaker she is dealing with. Her choice of films is as refreshing as her method: one is too used to reading about the same feminist films in book after book. Smelik's knowledge of the field is encyclopedic, and her analyses are consistently persuasive. This welcome addition to the ongoing feminist discourse is recommended for upper-division undergraduates through faculty." (Choice, February 1999)

"This fourth volume of a series formerly published semiannually (1975-79) offers wider coverage than do articles in a single periodical issue, and it addresses a general audience. After a brief section defining feminist film theory and criticism, the essays treat individual films (The Women, 1939; Sunset Boulevard, 1950; Kramer vs. Kramer, 1979; Marianne and Julianne, 1981), individual stars (Marilyn Monroe, Gloria Swanson, Marlene Dietrich, and Jane Fonda), or categories of film genres and authorship. This focus results in a gap between the stated methods and goals of feminist film theory and the subsequent essays that frame questions about women as image or author within traditions of literary analysis. Most contributors do rely on Laura Mulvey's touchstone essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (written 1975) for its psychoanalytically based conception of women's cinematic representation and objectification as the target of a specified male gaze. But the paucity of theoretical development beyond this point makes both essays and bibliography (which appear to be five to ten years old) seem somewhat dated, almost nostalgic. There are notable exceptions, including Richard Dyer's extraordinary study of Marilyn Monroe and sexuality (also published in his book Heavenly Bodies, CH, Mar '87) and Susan Leger's essay on Margeurite Duras, which embraces concerns of women and language as well as early writings of French feminist theory. Usable from lower division onward" (Choice,July 1989)

"Unlike many other film criticism collections, which concentrate on the representation of a particular group or genre, this volume collects a range of writings on a number of very different and specific topics and links them together through the rubric of gender. Pomerance (sociology, Ryerson Polytechnic Univ., Toronto) has divided the book into three main areas: gender in non-American films, gender as coded through actions, and transgressive representations of gender that are held up as "paragons or pariahs." While the range of topics makes the volume difficult to pin down conceptually, the essays are, for academic work, quite readable. This collection is unusual enough to warrant a spot in most academic libraries with collections devoted to film studies or gender issues." (Library Journal, 05/01/2001, Vol. 126 Issue 8, p88)

I will write an excellent bibliography on this film.

Pfaelzer, J. (1999). Salt of the Earth: Women, Class, and the Utopian Imagination. Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers, 16 (1): 120-31.

This is an article that deals with representations of working women and class in the film.

seems like a good introduction