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 . " " 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 . " " 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
Absence of Malice adapted Addiction alco Alcohol Images Alcoholics Anonymous American Film Institute Ben Hecht Billy booze Bosley Crowther bottle Cast Catalog for Feature characters Charles Citizen Kane correspondents critic culture cynical Deadline Denzin Dick Director drank drinker Drinking in America Drug drunk scene drunken journalist editor Fear and Loathing Feature Films fiction Film Institute Catalog film's Frank Gaily genre George Gusfield H. L. Mencken hard-drinking journalist heavy drinking Hollywood Shot Howard Hutcheson Inherit the Wind Lender and Martin Mark Edward Lender Meet John Doe Megan Mobley movie newspaper films newspapermen newsroom night novel Photography popular President's President's Men Quoted in ibid reporter Review Richard Robert Robin Room Roger Roger Ebert role Roxie Hart Russell saloon Sam Fuller says screen Screenplay Shot by Shot Shrike social Star stereotype story Studies on Alcohol Tarnished Angels temperance Tess Walter whiskey William writer York yuppie