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 16
Page 12
... tells hard truths about Kane and his opera singer wife . Meet John Doe ( 1941 ) : Editor James Gleason has a long drunk scene with Gary Cooper in which Gleason affirms his belief in democ- racy and reveals to Cooper that he ( the John ...
... tells hard truths about Kane and his opera singer wife . Meet John Doe ( 1941 ) : Editor James Gleason has a long drunk scene with Gary Cooper in which Gleason affirms his belief in democ- racy and reveals to Cooper that he ( the John ...
Page 113
... tell them how to goose up audience ratings for the news.28 The result was yet another variation on the old theme of ... tells you . You dress like the tube , eat like the tube , raise your children like the tube . ... This is mass ...
... tell them how to goose up audience ratings for the news.28 The result was yet another variation on the old theme of ... tells you . You dress like the tube , eat like the tube , raise your children like the tube . ... This is mass ...
Page 145
... tell me , umm , if you thought that drugs and alcohol would make me a better writer . " Thompson responds by reaching ... tells an aide - de - camp , " Check the bars . " It is an order at least as old as The Front Page , where editor ...
... tell me , umm , if you thought that drugs and alcohol would make me a better writer . " Thompson responds by reaching ... tells an aide - de - camp , " Check the bars . " It is an order at least as old as The Front Page , where editor ...
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