Books by Ronald Schwartz

An introduction to contemporary Latin American narrative published in the 1970s, presenting ten major writers.

Film scholar Ronald Schwartz examines the most significant representatives of the "Neo-Noir" style, beginning with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and concluding with Michael Mann's Collateral (2004). Schwartz provides in-depth analyses of over 30 of the best "Neo-Noir" films and explains the qualities and characteristics of the "new noir" style. He also explains how it differs from "Film Noir" of the forties and fifties. In this chronological guide, Schwartz examines such landmark films as The Manchurian Candidate (1962), The French Connection (1971), Taxi Driver (1976), Reservoir Dogs (1992), L.A. Confidential (1997), and Memento (2000). The book also includes an alphabetical filmography listing over 650 films that in plot, style, or subject matter reflect the diversity of the genre. This reference work will be a valuable resource for film scholars and fans who wish to explore the ever-evolving aspects of "Neo-Noir" cinema.

When it began, modern Spanish cinema was under strict censorship, forced to conform to the ideological demands of the Nationalist regime. In 1950, the New Spanish Cinema was born as a protest over General Francisco Franco's policies: a new series of directors and films began to move away from the conformist line to offer a bold brand of Spanish realism. In the 1950s and early 1960s, filmmakers such as Juan Antonio Bardem, Luis Garcia Berlanga, and Luis Bunuel expressed a liberal image of Spain to the world in such films as Muerte de un ciclista (Death of a Cyclist), Bienvenido Senor Marshall (Welcome Mr. Marshall), and Viridiana. The emergence of new directors continued into the sixties and seventies with Carlos Saura, Jose Luis Borau, Victor Erice, and others. After Franco's death in 1975, censorship was abolished and films openly explored such formerly taboo subjects as sexuality, drugs, the church, the army, and the Civil War. The Spanish cinema was no longer escapist and entertaining but, at long last, mirrored the society it depicted.While established directors like Saura, Bardem, and Berlanga continued to produce distinguished work, the "e;new wave"e; of Spanish cinema included brilliant films by the likes of Montxo Armendariz (Tasio), Fernando Trueba (First Work), Imanol Uribe (The Death of Mikel), and Pedro Almodovar (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown). In the last couple of decades, exciting works by established filmmakers and newcomers alike continue to be produced, including Alejandro Amenabar's Thesis, Jose Luis Garci's The Grandfather, and Almodovar's Talk to Her and Volver.In Great Spanish Films Since 1950, Ronald Schwartz presents a compendium of outstanding Spanish films from the pre-Francoist era through the Spanish New Wave of the 80's and 90's and into the present day. Schwartz provides background, plot, and commentaries of key films from six decades of Spanish cinema. In addition to identifying

This examniation of the cinematic style of film noir originals and their neo-noir remakes compares thirty-five films, beginning with Billy Wilder's classic Double Indemnity and concluding with Jim McBride's Breathless.

Film noir is a particularly American stylistic phenomenon (although named by French film critics) that permeated nearly every major, minor and independent Hollywood studio production from 1940 through the early 1960s. The author examines the best noir film from each studio and includes each studio''s history, a meticulous plot outline and information on the careers of each studio''s star roster. He also comments on producers, directors, screenwriters, camera men, composers, art and set directors and presents stills that represent the noir style. The book also has a discussion of independent productions and the second best film noirs of major and minor studios.