The Battle of the Sexes in French Cinema, 1930-1956

"The Battle of the Sexes in French Cinema, 1930-1956 makes an incontrovertible case for a social history of French cinema, bringing to light a whole world of films, and a period in French film history, overlooked by formalist critics. Noel Burch and Genevieve Sellier's analyses of character, gender, and ideology are trenchant, and there is an analytic surprise on every page of this fascinating book. Required reading!" - Alice Kaplan, author of Dreaming in French "This flawless translation of La Drole de guerre des sexes is a boon to cinema studies. Noel Burch and Genevieve Sellier rightly argue that attention to the New Wave and auteur theory obfuscated much of the great film made in France during the years prior to the war, during the Occupation, and after the Liberation. Their book will rejuvenate historical and ideological study of classical French cinema in the Anglophone world. Anyone interested in French film history and theory will find it invaluable." - Tom Conley, author of An Errant Eye: Poetry and Topography in Early Modern France