Teenagers and Teenpics: The Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950s

From Publishers Weekly
This is a book especially aimed at film students and buffs, but it will appeal also to a wider audience. The facts are well-researched and heavily footnoted, but in spite of these scholarly trappings, Doherty manages to present a fascinating view of Hollywood's decision-making process and the evolution of "teenpics." It was the sheer numbers of the baby boomers that made adolescents an obvious target for the movie industry during the "economic desperation" of the television-tuned 1950s. Blackboard Jungle and Rebel Without a Cause were two of the most significant early teenpics. One introduced rock music and the other James Dean"It wasn't Dean's sex appeal that made him the movies' first authentic cult figure since Rudolph Valentino. It was his stance, his representative power as a teenager." Together the films spawned the "delinquent" movie. Whether art imitates life or vice versa, juvenile delinquency became an obsession in America and a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee investigation ended in harsh comments about teenpics, especially Blackboard Jungle , but the days when politics dictated movie content were over. Discussions on horror and "clean" teenpics and a filmography are included as well. Doherty is an assistant professor of humanities at Boston University. Photos not seen by PW. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Teenagers and Teenpics tells the story of two signature developments in the 1950s: the decline of the classical Hollywood cinema and the emergence of that strange new creature, the American teenager. Hollywood's discovery of the teenage moviegoer initiated a progressive "juvenilization" of film content that is today the operative reality of the American motion picture industry. The juvenilization of the American movies is best revealed in the development of the 1950s "teenpic," a picture targeted at teenagers even to the exclusion of their elders. In a wry and readable style, Doherty defines and interprets the various teenpic film types: rock 'n' roll pictures, j.d. films, horror and sci-fi weirdies, and clean teenpics. Individual films are examined both in light of their impact on the motion picture industry and in terms of their important role in validating the emerging teenage subculture. Also included in this edition is an expanded treatment of teenpics since the 1950s, especially the teenpics produced during the age of AIDS.

From the Publisher
The classic book on teenagers and their films, thoroughly revised and expanded

About the Author
Thomas Doherty is Associate Professor of American Studies and Chair of the Film Studies Program at Brandeis University. He is the author of two previous books, including Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934, which was a New York Times Notable Book for 1999.


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Author Biography: Thomas Doherty is Associate Professor of American Studies and Chair of the Film Studies Program at Brandeis University. He is the author of two previous books, including Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934, which was a New York Times Notable Book for 1999.


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