Barbara Wilinsky
Sure Seaters: The Emergence of Art House Cinema - Barbara Wilinsky
An engaging look at the development of the movie theaters that introduced American audiences to the masterpieces of world cinema.
By the end of the Second World War, a growing segment of the American filmgoing public was wearying of mainstream Hollywood films and began to seek out something different. In major cities and college towns across the country, art film theaters provided a venue for alternatives to the films playing in main-street movie palaces: British, foreign-language, and independent American films, as well as documentaries and revivals of Hollywood classics. A skeptical film industry dubbed such cinemas "sure seaters," convinced that patrons would have no trouble finding seats there. However, with the success of art films like Rossellini's Open City and Mackendrick's Tight Little Island, the meaning of the term "sure seater" changed and, by the end of the 1940s, reflected the frequency with which art house cinemas filled all their seats.
In Sure Seaters, Barbara Wilinsky explores the success of art film theaters in light of changes within both Hollywood and American society in the immediate postwar era. After defining what an "art film" was in this period, she looks at the rise of art house cinemas, their prewar predecessors, and the traditional film distribution system dominated by the Hollywood studios. She next looks at the appeal that art film theaters had for a certain audience, the efforts made by cinema owners to create an appropriately intellectual and exclusive environment, the role of film critics and censors, the expectations and attitudes of art house filmgoers, and the experience of attending art film theaters in the 1940s. By examining the development of the theaters that introduced such challenging, personal, and artistic films as The Bicycle Thief and The Red Shoes to American audiences, Wilinsky offers a more complete understanding of postwar popular culture and the often complicated relationship between art cinema and the commercial film industry that ultimately shaped both and resulted in today's vibrant film culture.
"Sure Seaters takes us into the alternative to the mainstream movie palaces and their double features. British, foreign-language, and independent American films, as well as documentaries and revivals of Hollywood classics, again saw the light of day in these magical caverns. Superb photos depicting some of the theaters and advertisements are thoughtfully included. Sure Seaters is informative, nostalgic, and a nice read for anyone interested in the cinematic medium." Brooklyn Spectator
"Ms. Wilinsky knows her stuff and if you are interested in film, film history, and the history of art movies in America, this is your book." RALPH
Barbara Wilinsky is assistant professor in the Department
of Media Arts at the University of Arizona.
--http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/W/wilinsky_cinema.html [Jan 2006]
Sure Seaters: The Emergence of Art House Cinema - Barbara Wilinsky
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The Production Code crackdown on American movies in the mid-1930s and the propaganda films made during World War II imposed a blandness on American films. Immediately after the war, international movie production geared up, using fresh talent and handling mature themes with a frankness previously unknown to American audiences. The postwar era became the golden age of art-house cinemas (named "sure seaters" in the patronizing belief that seats would be available for all shows). This brief, scholarly book looks at art-house cinemas, how they operated outside the traditional distribution system, and the pivotal role of film censors and critics. This should be an exciting subject, but it doesn't come across here. Wilinsky (media arts, Univ. of Arizona) fails to convey the excitement of attending these theaters and discovering the works of Luis Bunuel, Jean Renoir, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, and other directors. Newsletters, program notes, and oral histories of those "present at the creation" would have added life to this book. Strictly an optional purchase for large academic film collections
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