Hollywood Goes to Washington

The American political film is one of the most pervasive yet least scrutinized genres in Hollywood cinema. It has reflected and addressed major issues and tensions at the heart of American life over the last seventy-five years from the national emergency of the Great Depression in the early 1930s ("Gabriel Over the White House") and the pre-Pearl Harbor paeans to democracy ("Mr. Smith Goes to Washington") to potential threats of demagoguery and domestic fascism ("Citizen Kane"); from the Kennedy-esque pragmatism ("Advise and Consent") and conspiracy paradigms ("The Manchurian Candidate") of the Camelot era to the post-9/11 hysteria of George W. Bush's America ("Silver City"). Ranging widely across both US political and Hollywood history, Michael Coyne brings passion and originality to this incisive survey of American political films. Analyzing key works, both familiar and also previously under-appreciated, the author examines their mythology, ideology and iconography. Coyne ultimately argues that the genre's legacy is of vital cultural significance, particularly at a time when civil liberties are under attack within the United States.His book will appeal to 'politics junkies' and film enthusiasts alike.