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Innis Library, University of Toronto

Reference Sources at UofT:

Film Genres

General

• Altman, Rick. Film/genre. 1999.
  PN 1995 .A3 1999 INNC, ROBA, VUPT
• Dixon, Wheeler Winston, ed. Film genre 2000: new critical essays. 2000.
  PN 1995 .F45787 2000X ROBA
• Gehring, Wes, ed. Handbook of American Film Genres. 1988.
  PN 1993.5 .U6H335 1988 ROBA, VUPR
  A collection of 19 substantive essays on major American film genres. Each essay includes valuable selected filmography. Although somewhat dated, this is still a valuable basic reference work.
• Lopez, Daniel. Films by Genre: 775 categories, styles, trends, and movements defined, with a filmography for each. 1993.
  PN 1998 .L63 1993 ROBA, VUPR, SMCR

Comedy

• Byrge, Duane and Robert Milton Miller. The Screwball Comedy Films: a history and filmography, 1934-1942. 1991.
  PN 1995.9 .C55B97 1991 ROBA, VUPR
• Siegel, Scott and Barbara. American film comedy. 1994.
  PN 1995.9 .C55S48 1994 INNR, VUPR
  Brief career outline and commentary on "every major Hollywood figure . . . in the field of comedy", including supporting players. Explains "comic film terms, comedy subgenres (like musical comedy)"; describes "specialty studio histories"; and examines careers of "landmark comedians. . . ." Includes filmographies, selected bibliography and index.
• Langman, Larry. Encyclopedia of American film comedy. 1987.
  PN 1995.9 .C55L34 1987 ROBA
• Miller, Blair. American Silent Film Comedies: an illustrated encyclopedia of persons, studios, and terminology. 1995.
  PN 1995 .9 C55M53 1995 ROBA, VUPR

Film Noir

• Hardy, Phil, ed. The BFI Companion to Crime. 1997.
  PN 1995.9 .D4B23 1997 ROBA, INNR, VUPR
  Surveys and classifies the main types and examples of crime fiction in the cinema. . . ." [A] history of a genre . . . consisting of a psychological and social dimension."
• Kaplan, Ann E., ed. Women in film noir.
  PN 1995.9 .W6W66 1998 INNC, NEWC, VUPT
• Langman, Larry and Daniel Finn. A Guide to American crime films of the thirties. 1995.
  PN 1995.9 .G3L36 1995X ROBA
  This and the following title describe "how previous decades influenced the present crime films both in theme and content, and how these dramas generally reflect our culture, our laws, and our shifting attitudes toward crime and criminals."
• ---. A Guide to American crime films of the forties and fifties. 1995.
  PN 1995.9 .D4L35 1995X ROBA
• Meyer, David N. A Girl and a Gun: the complete guide to film noir on video. 1998.
  PN 1995.9 .F54M48 1998 INNR
• Silver, Alain and Elizabeth Ward, eds. Film Noir. 3rd ed. 1992.
  PN 1993.5 .U6F5 1992 INNR, VUPR
  PN 1995.9 .F54F55 1992 SMCR
  "An encyclopedic reference to the American film style." Includes selected bibliography and index.
• Silver, Alain and James Ursini, eds. Film Noir Reader
  PN 1995.9 .F54F57 1996 INNC, VUPT, ROBA
• ---. Film Noir Reader 2
  PN 1995.9 .F54F572 1999 INNC
• Stephens, Michael L. Film Noir: a comprehensive, illustrated reference to movies, terms, and persons. 1995.
  PN 1995.9 .F54S74 1995 VUPRPN 1995.9 .F54S84 1995 GENR
• ---. Gangster Films: a comprehensive, illustrated reference to people, films and terms. 1996.
  PN 1995.9 .G3S84 1996 ROBA, VUPR

Horror

• Hardy, Phil, ed. Horror (The Aurum Film Encyclopedia). 1996.
  PN 1995.9 .H6H37 1996 INNR
  International in scope, this comprehensive and authoritative volume contains critical entries, including plot synopses, on nearly 2,000 horror films from 1896 on. Includes title index and many film stills.
• Kinnard, Roy. Horror in Silent Films: a filmography, 1896-1929. 1995.
  PN 1995.9 .H6K46 1995 ROBA, VUPR
• Maxford, Howard. The A-Z of Horror Films. 1996.
  PN 1995.9 .H6M3245 1996 ROBA, VUPR
• Newman, Kim, ed. The BFI Companion to Horror. 1996.
  PN 1995.9 .H6B55 1996 ROBA, VUPR
  "Includes entries on actors, creative personnel, authors, historical figures, major themes, television series, radio shows, cliches, recurrent characters, sub-genres, properties, ephemera, and much else."

The Western

• Buscombe, Edward, ed. The BFI Companion to the Western. 1988.
  PN 1995.9 .W4B45 1988 INNR, ROBA, VUPR
  Includes essays on the history of the Western, a "dictionary of people, places, events & ideas that shaped it," guide to the films & filmmakers, including TV westerns.
• Cameron, Ian and Douglas Pye, eds. The Book of Westerns. 1996.
  (Also called: The Movie Book of the Western - PN 1995.9 .W4M68 1996 ROBA
  PN 1995.9 .W4B66 1996 INNR
  Thirty articles, almost all original, of critical writing on the Western.
• Garfield, Brian. Western Films: a complete guide. 1988.
  PN 1995.9 .W4G3 INNR, ROBA
  [A] "critical encyclopedia of all 'A' Western features shown in the United States since the advent of the talkies." Includes credits, information, commentary.
• Hardy, Phil, ed. The Western. (The Aurum Film Encyclopedia). 2nd ed. 1995. (U.S. edition titled: The Overlook Film Encyclopedia)
  PN 1995.9 .W4H37 1995 INNR PN 1995.9 .W4O8 1994 VUPR
  " . . . contains some 1,800 entries . . . devoted to individual films. Each entry comprises cast, credits (director, producer, writer, cinematographer), a brief synopsis, and informed comment on the film." Includes cross-references and index. Excludes silent films.
• Kitses, Jim and Gregg Rickman, eds. The Western Reader. 1998.
  PN 1995.9 .W4W39 1998 INNC
  Essays, commentary, and reviews on the "history, mythology, and landscape" of Western movies. The final section "reflects on how the themes and the very premises of the Western film have changed in recent years."
• Nachbar, John G. Western Films: an annotated critical bibliography. 1975.
  Z 5784 .M9N33 1975 GENR
• --- et al. Western Films 2: an annotated critical bibliography from 1974 to 1987. 1988.
  Z 5784 .M9N332 1988 GENR
  Western Films and Western Films 2 are similar in organization, offering critical annotations to reference sources, criticism, history, individuals, performers, directors, theories, and comparative studies. The volumes include author and subject indices. In the ten years since its last edition, many more westerns have been made, and much more scholarship on the western has been published. The time has come for another edition of this unique work.

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Last updated: July 16, 2001.