Cinema and Community: Progressivism, Exhibition, and Film Culture in Chicago, 1907‐1917MoyaLuckett. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2014.

Abstract

Cinema and Community: Progressivism, Exhibition, and Film Culture in Chicago, 1907-1917 Moya Luckett. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2014.Luckett's extensive research offers a nuanced exploration of early twentieth-century film exhibition in Chicago for film scholars and historians. Using Progres sivism as a lens for her examination, film exhibition and moviegoers are situated in the larger context of political and cultural life in Chicago. Luckett illustrates a transitional period of exhibition in Chicago theaters, looking at movie houses beyond the downtown picture palaces and considers theories of movie spectators hip, the affects of feature film on moral uplift, and the role of celebrity culture in identity construction. She explores neighborhood movie houses as community builders, identifies the impetus for film censorship, the subculture of black cinema, and explains the role of film exhibition during World War I.The introduction establishes the Progressive response to modernity's disruptions as a framework for this study. Luckett emphasizes concerns over industrialization and business accountability, the city's population of impoverished and immigrant citizens, and the need for surveillance of all of these constituencies to preserve cultural and moral standards. Movie attendance became a public expression of recreation and community, requiring observation and regulation by those promoting Progressive social and political goals and controls.In Chapter 1, Luckett examines theories of spectators hip during this period, noting that as the popularity of the movies grew, fears of cinema's influence also grew. Crowd theory of the time, transposed to movie spectator ship, was adapted and adopted by clergy, civic leaders, and the new practitioners of sociology and social work leading to increased regulation of film exhibitors.Chapter 2 turns from moviegoers to moviemakers to understand how Progressive attitudes affected the film industry, especially feature films designed to elevate the cultural status of movies. It was at this time that the business model of booking films as programs, rather than selling single movies, increased. To add to the respectability quotient of narrative films, these were often exhibited in legitimate theaters.Celebrity and self-examination anchor Chapter 3, mapping the rise of the film star and fan magazines as an exploration of individuality measured against social and cultural values. With women's roles shifting from the home to a work force presence and with work life often less than ideal, movies provided both respite and new role models at a time when young women were self-consciously creating public identities. …