My Account Wish List
Advanced Search
Print - Close Window
www.greenwood.com/catalog/GPS%2f.aspx
All Greenwood Products
Parody as Film Genre Never Give a Saga an Even Break
(Click to Enlarge)
Wes D. Gehring
ISBN: 0-313-26186-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-26186-2
248 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 9/30/1999
List Price: $115.00 (UK Sterling Price: £79.95)
Availability: Print on demand
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Parody is the least appreciated of all film comedy genres and receives little serious attention, even among film fans. This study elevates parody to mainstream significance. A historical overview places the genre in context, and a number of basic parody components, which better define the genre and celebrate its value, are examined. Parody is differentiated from satire, and the two parody types, traditional and reaffirmation, are explained. Chapters study the most spoofed genre in American parody history, the Western; pantheon members of American Film Comedy such as The Marx Brothers, W. C. Fields, Mae West, and Laurel and Hardy; pivotal parody artists, Bob Hope and Woody Allen; Mel Brooks, whose name is often synonymous with parody; and finally, parody in the 1990s. Films discussed include Destry Rides Again (1939), The Road to Utopia (1945), My Favorite Brunette (1947), The Paleface (1948), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) and Scream (1996).

This examination of parody will appeal to scholars and students of American film and film comedy, as well as those interested in the specific comedians discussed and the Western genre. Gehring's work will also find a place in American pop culture studies and sociological studies of the period from the 1920s to the 1990s. The book is carefully documented and includes a selected bibliography and filmography.
Table of Contents:
  • Illustrations
    Foreword by Scott R. Olson
    Preface
    Parody Overview
    Everyone's Going West
    The Pre-Brooks King of Parody: Bob Hope...And Disciple Woody Allen
    Mel Brooks
    Two For The Road
    Epilogue
    Appendix: Selected Filmography
    Selected Bibliography
    Index
About the Author: WES D. GEHRING is Professor of Film at Ball State University and Associate Media Editor at USA Today magazine. He is the author of a dozen books, including Screwball Comedy: A Genre of Madcap Romance (Greenwood, 1986), Personality Comedians as Genre (Greenwood, 1997), American Dark Comedy (Greenwood, 1996), Populism and the Capra Legacy (Greenwood, 1995), and Handbook of American Film Genres (Greenwood, 1988) He has also written biographies of W. C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, The Marx Brothers, and Laurel and Hardy.
LCC Class: 791
All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999-2009 ABC-CLIO
130 Cremona Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93117 805-968-1911