Michael Slowik is an associate professor of film studies at Wesleyan University. He is the author of After the Silents: Hollywood Film Music in the Early Sound Era, 1926-1934 and numerous articles on U.S. film history.

• Introduction


• 1. Mamoulian, Art, and Cinema


• 2. Mamoulian and Early Film Sound


• 3. Mamoulian and Rhythm


• 4. Mamoulian and the Musical


• 5. Mamoulian and Color


• 6. Mamoulian and Filmmaking under Censorship


• Conclusion


• Bibliography


• Appendix 1 Completed Films Directed by Mamoulian


• Appendix 2 Plays Directed by Mamoulian


• Appendix 3 Additional Films Consulted


• Index

Defining Cinema: Rouben Mamoulian and Hollywood Film Style, 1929-1957 takes a holistic look at Mamoulian's oeuvre by examining both his stage and his screen work, and also brings together insights from his correspondence, his theories on film, and analysis of the films themselves. It presents a filmmaker whose work was innovative and exciting, who pushed hard on cinema's potential as an artform, and who in many ways helped move cinema towards the kind of entertainment that it remains today.