When political and civil unrest threatened France's social order in the 1950s, French cinema provided audiences a unique form of escapism from such troubled times: a nostalgic look back to the France of the nineteenth century, with costume dramas set in the age of Napoleon and the Belle Epoque. Film critics, however, have routinely dismissed this period of French cinema, overlooking a very important period of political cultural history. French Costume Drama of the 1950s redresses this balance, exploring a diverse range of films including Guitry's Napoleon (1955), Vernay's Le Comte de Monte Cristo (1943), and Becker's Casque d'Or (1952) to expose the political cultural paradox between nostalgia for a lost past and the drive for modernization.

About the Author

Susan Hayward is chair of cinema studies and director of film studies at the University of Exeter. She is the author of numerous books on French Cinema including Les Diaboliques (2006), French National Cinema (2005), Simone Signoret: The Star as Cultural Sign (2004) and Luc Besson (1998). She is also the author of the successful Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts (2005).

Book Information
ISBN 9781841503189
Author Susan Hayward
Format Paperback
Page Count 480
Imprint Intellect Books
Publisher Intellect Books
Weight(grams) 762g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 178mm * 25mm