Archive for January 2017

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[ecrea] New Book Announcement: Showman of the Screen: Joseph E. Levine and his Revolutions in Film Promotion

Thu Jan 26 16:20:12 GMT 2017




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*Showman of the Screen:
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*Joseph E. Levine and his Revolutions in Film Promotion*
by A.T. McKenna
University Press of Kentucky, 2016
Standing five-foot-four, immaculately dressed, and foul-mouthed, Joseph E. Levine was larger than life. He rose from poverty in Boston’s West End to become one of postwar Hollywood’s most prolific independent promoters, distributors, and producers. A boisterous showman who possessed an uncanny ability to interpret and predict viewing trends, Levine was responsible for bringing American audiences movies as varied as /Godzilla: King of the Monsters!/ (1956), /The Graduate/ (1967), /Santa Claus Conquers the Martians///(1964), /The Lion in Winter/ (1968), and /A Bridge Too Far /(1977). In this first biography of the controversial pioneer/,/ A.T. McKenna traces Levine’s rise as a packager of popular culture. He explores the defiantly independent mogul’s pivotal role in many significant industry innovations from the 1950s to the 1970s—examining his use of saturation release tactics and advertising campaigns. Though he is virtually forgotten today, Levine was a major player in Hollywood’s transformation and development during the post-Studio era, and /Showman of the Screen/ sheds light on his many contributions to the film industry. In the 1950s, Levine rose to national prominence thanks to the phenomenal box-office success of /Hercules /(1958) and /Hercules Unchained /(1959)—two low-budget Italian films which he imported and distributed with an unprecedented promotional campaign. Levine was also a trailblazer in fostering and publicizing European art house cinema in the 1960s. He made Federico Fellini’s /8½ /(1963) a hit in America, feuded with Jean Luc Godard over their production of /Contempt /(1963), and campaigned aggressively for Sophia Loren to become the first actress to win an Oscar for a foreign language performance for her role in /Two Women/ (1960). Levine’s influence on the movie business was wide-ranging and profound, and can still be seen today—most obviously in blockbuster marketing and distribution techniques, but also in independent film production and art film marketing. Based on extensive archival research and interviews, this first ever biography of one of America’s greatest showmen examines his life and career, his extraordinary versatility, and his peculiar talent for film and self-promotion.
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*A.T. McKenna*is associate professor of film history at USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry. He is the coauthor of /The Man Who Got Carter: Michael Klinger, Independent Production and the British Film Industry 1960-1980/, which received the 2015 Best Book Award from the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS). He is also coeditor of /Beyond the Bottom Line: The Producer in Film and Television Studies/.
*Reviews*
“A.T. McKenna’s /Showman of the Screen: Joseph E. Levine and his Revolutions in Film Promotion /is a fast, thoroughly enjoyable and informative read that paints an honest portrayal of Levine’s good and bad characteristics from his youth right up until a month before his death.”—Robert Crane, author of /Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father's Unsolved Murder/ “This study of Levine, because it is so thorough and detailed, is likely to remain the standard account of his life.”—Andrew Spicer, author of /Sydney Box/, /Film Noir/, and /Typical Men: The Representation of Masculinity in Popular British Cinema/

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