The Drunken Journalist: The Biography of a Film StereotypeScarecrow Press, 2000 - 200 pages "No other human problem," a critic once remarked, "seems to have afflicted movie newspapermen more often than drinking." Howard Good's latest book analyzes the stereotype of the hard-drinking journalist, with the goal of discovering why it exists and how it operates in films. Early chapters consider whether there is a historical basis for the stereotype of the hard-drinking journalist;while later chapters deal with films from across the decades, including the 1980s and 1990s. They identify the fate of the romantic couple as a major--if not the major--concern of silent films featuring drunken journalists; explore the many and often conflicting meanings associated with drinking in the 1930s, the so-called "golden age of newspaper films"; and discuss the influence of Alcoholics Anonymous on such newspaper films of the 1940s and 1950s as Welcome Stranger and Come Fill the Cup. The concluding chapter points out that the dominant culture has frequently marginalized subgroups--for example, Native Americans and Irish immigrants--by stereotyping them as drunks, and theorizes that the stereotype of the hard-drinking journalist signals ambivalence not only about drinking, but also about the effects of the press on American life. Written in the clear, incisive style for which Good is known, this book offers illuminating new interpretations of classic newspaper films from The Front Page to All the President's Men. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the implications of popular culture for how we think and live. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 19
Page 1
... drank with their buddies and they drank alone . They drank hurriedly , tossing back shot after shot . They drank glumly , staring for long moments into their whiskey glass with hard , flat eyes . They drank before work , during work ...
... drank with their buddies and they drank alone . They drank hurriedly , tossing back shot after shot . They drank glumly , staring for long moments into their whiskey glass with hard , flat eyes . They drank before work , during work ...
Page 17
... drank often and abundantly . " They drank on rising , during work breaks , with meals , and in the evening before the tavern fireside . They drank when the night was cold or when the day was hot . They drank at har- vests , elections ...
... drank often and abundantly . " They drank on rising , during work breaks , with meals , and in the evening before the tavern fireside . They drank when the night was cold or when the day was hot . They drank at har- vests , elections ...
Page 18
... drank to keep off chills and fevers , and as an aid to digestion.7 " All this drinking , " alcohol histo- rians Mark Edward Lender and James Kirby Martin said , “ added up . Under most modern definitions , the majority of [ colonists ] ...
... drank to keep off chills and fevers , and as an aid to digestion.7 " All this drinking , " alcohol histo- rians Mark Edward Lender and James Kirby Martin said , “ added up . Under most modern definitions , the majority of [ colonists ] ...
Common terms and phrases
actually adapted Addiction alcohol American American Film asks becomes begins believe blacks bottle called Cast Chapter characters Charles City comic correspondents critic culture cynical decade Director disease drank drinking Drug drunk drunken early editor example fact Fear fiction fifties Fire Frank Front George give going hard hard-drinking History Hollywood Howard Ibid Images James John journalism journalist kind late later least Lender less live London look March Martin mean moral movie never newspaper newspapermen night noted novel Oliver Stone once Photography picture play pointed popular present President's Press Problems Quoted reporter Review Richard Ring Lardner Robert Robert Riskin Roger role Room says scene screen Screenplay seems Shot social Society Star stereotype story Studies takes tells temperance things turned University Variety Walter Washington White writer York young