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ENG 380 Course Research Guide

This is a guide to the library and research materials you may find useful to accomplish the objectives of ENG 380--Film, Media and History with Dr. Mike Aronson, Winter 2009.

Background & Definitions

Film Information (plot synopses, cast & crew)

  • American Film Institute Catalog
    A source for information about all American feature films produced between 1893-1971. Includes production credits, plot summaries, and cross-indexing of themes and genres. Especially useful for the bibliographies that accompany each entry. 
  • Chronicle of the Cinema | KNIGHT REF PN 1993.5 .A1 C5 1995
    A year-by-year account of feature film productions. Great for contextual information, movie posters, and publicity photos.
  • Internet Movie Database
    Provides plot summaries, cast & crew information, and citizen reviews on more than 60,000 films.

Biographical Information

Film Industry Information

  • Encyclopedia of Exhibition | PN1993 .E539
    Especially useful for its statistics section, which includes historical data about movie theaters, film revenues, and movie audiences.
  • Film Daily Yearbook of Motion Pictures | PN1993.3 .F5
    An annual compilation of films released, statistics about theaters, industry information, studio financial information, and much more. UO has 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1945, 1960, 1961.
  • International Motion Picture Almanac | PN 1993.3 .I55
    An annual compendium of information about the film industry, including statistics, distribution circuits, theaters, sales and revenue, and much more. UO has 1937-present). See also The Motion Picture Almanac (1929-1936)
  • The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry | KNIGHT REF PN1993 .5 .U6 S539 1998
    Brief but substantive entries on all aspects of the American film industry. Especially useful for the bibliographies of suggested reading for many entries.
  • The Numbers
    Provides current and historical business information about the film industry. The database includes 10,000 movies and about 500,000 separate pieces of information.
  • WorldWide Box Office, 1899-2001
    Provides information about worldwide movie ticket sales. Be sure to check out their sources page for additional data.

Social/Political/Historical Context

  • American Popular Culture Through History series
    • 1920s | KNIGHT REF E169 .1 .D796 2004
    • 1930s | KNIGHT REF E169 .1 .Y59 2002
    • 1940s | KNIGHT REF E169 .1 .S559 2004
    • 1950s | KNIGHT REF E169 .12 .Y69 2004
    • 1960s | KNIGHT REF E169 .12 .R53 2003
  • The Columbia Chronicles of American Life, 1910-1992 | KNIGHT REF E169 .1 .G664 1995
  • Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890-1982)
    An index to articles in general-interest, news, and opinion magazines such as Time and Newsweek. Especially useful for film reviews, celebrity profiles and interviews, and film publicity masquerading as news.

Film Criticism

Film Reviews

Books & Films Not Available at UO

  • Summit Catalog
    Summit is a Northwest consortium of libraries that doubles our collection. You can borrow books not owned by the UO Library by selecting the Request Item option. 
  • WorldCat 
    Provides access to library catalogs from around the world. To obtain materials you find, use the interlibrary loan form.
Maintained by: Elizabeth Peterson, emp@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 01/07/2009