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

*
*Showman of the Screen:
*
*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.
**
*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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