The Western tradition, with its well-worn tropes, readily identifiable characters, iconic landscapes, and evocative soundtracks, is not limited to the United States.
Widely recognized in his character of the Tramp, Charlie Chaplin transcended the role of actor to become screenwriter, director, composer, producer, and finally studio head.
Although it is a somewhat underrepresented form of literature in popular sensibility, poetry finds relevance in the modern world through its appearance in cinema.
Charley Chase began his film career in early 1913 working as a comedian, writer, and director at the Al Christie studios under his real name, Charles Parrott.
After a decade of successful films that included Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock produced Marnie, an apparent artistic failure and an unquestionable commercial disappointment.
Nonfiction films about sports have been around for decades, but the previously neglected subgenre of the documentary has become increasingly popular in the last several years.
Oliver Stone has written and directed many memorable films while also developing a reputation for tackling controversial subjects, such as the Turkish prison system (Midnight Express), the Vietnam war (Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July), insider trading (Wall Street), presidential assassination (JFK), and a voyeuristic media (Natural Born Killers).
In 1977, Star Wars blazed across the screen to become one of the highest grossing and most beloved movies of all time, spawning an unprecedented merchandising phenomenon.
Over the last several decades, the boundaries of languages and national and ethnic identities have been shifting, altering the notion of borders around the world.
One of the most celebrated figures in the world of cinema, Jack Nicholson has appeared in more than fifty films, stamping each with his larger-than-life presence.
The theme of surveillance has become an increasingly common element in movies and television shows, perhaps as a response to the sense that the world is now virtually under watch.
In The Gay Male Sleuth in Print and Film (2005), scholar Drewey Wayne Gunn examined the history of gay detectives beginning with the first recognized gay novel, The Heart in Exile, which appeared in 1953.
Since the early 1980s, Jim Jarmusch has produced a handful of idiosyncratic films that have established him as one of the most imaginatively allusive directors in the history of American cinema.
In American cinema, films with multiple plots can be traced back to Grand Hotel in 1932, but the form was used only sporadically in subsequent decades.
Charlie Chaplin produced some of the greatest films of all time, including The Gold Rush, The Circus, City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator.
Widely regarded as one of cinema's most accomplished directors, David Lean helmed such classics as Brief Encounter, Great Expectations, and Oliver Twist.
Film noir was a cycle in American cinema which first came into prominence during World War II, peaked in the 1950s, and began to taper off as a definable trend by 1960.
Films that dramatize historical events and the lives of historical figures-whether they are intended to educate or to entertain-play a significant role in shaping the public's understanding of the past.
As they transition into adulthood, many American boys and young men spend a considerable amount of time engaging in physical sports, playing violent video games, and watching action movies, including war films.
British cinema has been around from the very birth of motion pictures, from black-and-white to color, from talkies to sound, and now 3D, it has been making a major contribution to world cinema.
Some say that telling the story of the Holocaust is impossible, yet, artists have told the story thousands of time since the end of World War II in novels, dramas, paintings, music, sculpture, and film.
Taiwan was able to solidly build and sustain a film industry only after locally-produced Mandarin films secured markets in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s.