First published in 1985, The Cinema Book was hailed as a landmark film studies text, presenting in accessible form two decades of intellectual activity on the subject. The second edition (1999) consolidated The Cinema Book's international reputation as the leading guide to film studies. This new edition has been extensively revised, expanded, and updated in response to developments in cinema and cinema studies to include brand new chapters together with original essays and case studies written by leading scholars from around the globe. It provides comprehensive coverage of seven major areas: Hollywood Cinema and Beyond; The Star System; Technologies; World Cinemas; Genre; Authorship and Cinema; and Developments in Theory. New topics include Global Hollywood; Contemporary Women Directors; African-American Cinema; Queer Theory; and Postmodernism and Film. All sections are supported by in-depth analyses of films from the earliest days to the present.

"With excellent essays, close textual analysis of films and further reading lists from some of the leading lights in the area, the book has proved an invaluable asset for those negotiating their way through the minefield of ideas and conflicting theories that make up the study of film...This weighty, yet still surprisingly succinct tome also has an excellent sense of design allowing the reader to dip in and out and pull out the relevant information as they wish...obvious must for any student of film...excellent resource." Laurence Boyce Films and Festivals

PART ONE
Hollywood cinema and beyond
PART TWO
The star system
PART THREE
Technologies
PART FOUR
World Cinemas
PART FIVE
Genre
PART SIX
Authorship and cinema
PART SEVEN
Developments in theory

PAM COOK is Professor Emerita in Film at the University of Southampton.