New Books

Among the ideas being discussed for COVA-78 are sessions on: The Popularization of Anthropology; Missionar)' Cinema: Reflexive Visual Ethnography: Location Sound and Music Recording ; and Narrowcasting: Cable Television Programs. The Director of the Conference invites participation in three categories: 1)MOTION PICTURE FILM. 2)2) STILL PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITS and 3)3) VIDEOTAPE. For further information, contact Jay Ruby, Director, COVA-78, Department of Anthropology. Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa., 19122. (215) 787-7601 or 787-7775. SAVICOM NEWSLETTER ANNOUNCED The Society for the Anthropology of Visual Communication plans to reinstitute its Newsletter this fall. It will appear three times per year (Fall-Winter-Spring). The Newsletter will contain notes, news, and brief articles on all aspects of visual communication announcements of new films, the publications ofbooks, monographs, and filmographies, research opportunities, funding sources, festivals, conferences, gallery openings, museum exhibits, examples of innovative teaching ofvisual communication, and Society announcements. Persons wishing to submit items should send them to: Jay Ruby, 447 East Mount Airy Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa., 19119. ALL SAVICOM members will receive the Newsletter free of charge and in addition to the Society's periodical, STUDIES. Persons wishing to subscribe to the Newsletter alone (that is, receive the Newsletter without joining the Society) may do so by sending a check for $3.00 (one year's subscription to the Newsletter) made out to: SAVICOM, c/o Sol Worth. The Center for Visual Communication, Annenberg School ofCommunication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa., 19174. NEW BOOKS Charles J. Maland. American Visions: The Films of Chaplin. Ford, and Welles. 1936-1941. New York: Arno Press, 1977. 459 pp. $27.00 In this Arno Press publication of a 1975 University of Michigan dissertation, Maland points "a cultural variant of the auteur theory." The author continues : "By looking at a representative auteur's background, one can get an idea of the cultural forces that molded his vision of the world. By looking at his strategic responses to social and historical changes as expressed in his films, one can get a better sense of a whole generation's felt life and cultural dilemmas. The recurring patterns in his own popular films give us an indication of an entire culture's felt needs." For its detailed analysis of the works of these four directors and its perspective on the late thirties, this book is an important one, well worth its rather expensive price tag. Paul C. Spehr. The Movies Begin. Newark: The Newark Museum. 1977. 191 pp. $13.95- (plus mailing charge). This polished paperback volume concentrates on the careers of diverse luminaries from Thomas A. Edison to Pearl White-people who made N.J. a center of the motion picture business in the first two decades of the twentieth century. It is especially interesting for its pictures (many depicting the studios at Fort Lee or location shots on the Palisades) and for its attempt to catalog both the companies and the personalities engaged in this early phase of the 45 industry. Bill Ferris. Judy Peiser. eds. American Folklore Films & Videotapes: An Index. Memphis: Center for Southern Folklore. 1976. 338 pp. $15.00 A most valuable guide to materials, especially for historians who adopt a broader American Studies approach. Subject index includes such categories as westward expansion; the immigrant experience; Black, Mexican and Norwegian minorities (to name just a few), folk tales, and "occupational lore "(e.g. railroad workers, fishermen and the sea, and soldiers and the military). Unexpected finds included are films on the Japanese ethnic minority in New Jersey, and another entitled Americana. The Rural Telephone. Unexpected omissions include Nanook of the North, missing from a list of 27 films about Eskimo life. Includes reference to all of the fine films produced by the Center for Southern Folklore. 46 ...