This book focuses on the involvement of the United States and the Vatican in the Italian film industry between 1945 and 1960. Gennari analyzes the tensions between economic (film industry), political (government) and ideological pressures.

Daniela Treveri Gennari is Field Chair and Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University.

Chapter 1: You Can Be Like Us: American Intervention in Italian Reconstruction Chapter 2: Roman Catholicism, Americanism and Americanisation: Ideology, Politics and Cultural Propaganda Chapter 3: The State, Cinema Legislation and American Interests Chapter 4: Endemic Propaganda: Catholic Production, Exhibition and Criticism Chapter 5: Dispelling the Myth: The Popularity of American and Italian Cinema in Post-War Italy and the Response of the Catholic Church Chapter 6: Gender Roles, the Church and the Allure of Modernity in American and Italian Films Conclusions