This dissertation investigates the evolving market structure of the American motion picture industry between 1963 and 1980. Essentially, the analysis begins with the Paramount litigation and concentrates its focus on domestic exhibition, tracing its changing relationship to the rest of the system that is the American film business. Production, distribution and foreign exhibition, along with America's theatre owners, are all seen as forming their own separate tiers, exhibiting needs and patterns of business behavior distinct from one another. Simultaneously, these separate tiers are also conceptualized as being cogs that coordinate in an even larger system, the American motion picture industry. This within and between tier unit of analysis, then, serves as the basis on which this inquiry is organized. Briefly, the Paramount Decision is analyzed as having fragmented the tier of domestic exhibition, while leaving the power and status of both American production and distribution essentially intact. Because of slow compliance with the consent decrees, the true effects of the Paramount Decision on the overall structure of the American film business were not substantially felt until 1957. Following six successive years of industry-wide losses, the market finally started to bottom-out in 1962. Along with bottoming-out, a new and modern structure for the American motion picture industry in general, and domestic exhibition in particular, began to take hold during 1962-1963. Traditionally, film industry historians have detailed two specific points, since 1957, where the economy of the American film industry plummeted to critical lows, 1962-1963 and 1968-1972. This study identifies 1962-1963 as the period when domestic exhibition stabilized and began evolving into the structural configuration it displays today. The latter years are when the same process began for America's major distributors. This dissertation also examines the relationship between domestic exhibition and America's major distributors. Most times this relationship is an adversarial one, as the reallocation of profits and losses between the two tiers fluctuates sharply during the 1960s and 1970s. Within tier friction is also evident between domestic theatre owners themselves, as each exhibitor scrambles for parity in a climate of competition, not cooperation. What results is a market dominated by size and influence, where the industry is controlled by the major distributors, while the tier of exhibition is overshadowed by a handful of major theatre circuits. The major American film distributors have formed a mature oligopoly that has stood in one form or another since the 1930s. Today, this same patterning is evident in the tier of exhibition as well. The four major theatre circuits, General Cinema, United Artists Theatres, Plitt and American Multi-Cinema, along with a dozen or so mini-major theatre chains have developed a hold on the domestic retailing of movies comparable to the grip exhibited by their counterparts in distribution. This oligopolistic posturing, combined with the rapid development of subscription television, video-cassettes and video-discs, all contribute to altering what movie-going means to Americans today. This dissertation ends with some thoughts about the future of domestic exhibition in the 1980s, and how technological as well as economic contingencies continue to mold the structure of the American film business, expanding its scope into television and video while adding additional tiers to the motion picture industry's original four: production, distribution, domestic and foreign exhibition.

Titicut Follies, a documentary made at Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Bridgewater by Frederick Wiseman and John Marshall, is the only American film whose use has court-approved restrictions for reasons other than obscenity. A decree of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts limits its exhibition to individuals in various professional categories. This study traces how--and speculates on why--Titicut Follies came to occupy this sui generis status and, in doing so, comments on the general conundrum of conflicting rights among documentary filmmakers, subjects, and audiences. This study expands the criticism of Wiseman's work through a rhetorical analysis of his first film, develops the case study as a method of doing documentary film history, examines direct cinema as a film form with particular ethical burdens, and adds a full review of a unique legal decision to film censorship history. Each chapter, although chronological, is organized around a central dilemma. No chapter involves ethical dilemmas as named topic; every chapter concerns ethical problems. Chapter Two deals with the procedural dilemmas that confronted the non-sponsored filmmaker in 1965-66. The "politics of asking" and the myth of informed consent are analyzed. Chapter Three focuses on the construction of the film in 1966-67 and concentrates on the artistic dilemmas that result from working in the essentially paradoxical form of "reality fiction." Legal dilemmas are the central topics of Chapter Four, which emphasizes the especially active 1967-69 period, but also covers appeals for a review of Commonwealth v. Wiseman. Also discussed is the rush to judgment by legislature, press, and other publics during 1967-69. Chapter Five concerns the bureaucratic dilemmas of restrictive exhibition that have existed since 1969. The last chapter reviews the documentary dilemmas discussed and speculates on their inevitability. To understand the biography of Titicut Follies, one must understand the Zeitgeist of late 1960s America and, therefore, a chronology has been constructed. Included as "background" are events that significantly contributed to the (dis)spirit of the time and key events in the lives of major participants in the controversy. All "foreground" entries relate directly to the career of the film itself.

This study is an examination of structural principles, character archetypes and important cycles in contemporary film satire. The comic theories of Sigmund Freud and Henri Bergson are utilized to establish a theoretical foundation for interpreting comic films. Particular attention is placed on the role of displaced heroic figures and protagonists in affecting satiric social commentary. Character archetypes under consideration include adolescent rebels, aliens, and young upwardly-mobile urban dwellers. Primary discussions are limited to exemplary English language films produced between 1967 and 1988. The study concludes that a new and important film cycle has become dominant in the 1980s, and that this film cycle has yielded a new comic genre. It is proposed and argued that this new genre, labeled the "culture-clash comedy," is a reflection of both localized and international concerns over disintegrating traditional cultural identities.

No description available.

Decentralization--that situation where expansion of a city's periphery is more rapid than growth of the center city's population--is credited with the relocation of business activities located across the urban landscape over the twentieth century. It is the contention of this study that the same phenomenon has also had a strong influence on cinema location. This analysis examines the evolution of motion picture theater location in selected United States urban areas with regard to four variables recognized as indicative of population decentralization--city size, city age, regional location, and retail activity--during four time periods--1910, 1930, 1960 and 1980. Cities examined were Albuquerque, New Mexico; Boston, Massachusetts; Hartford, Connecticut; Phoenix, Arizona; Providence, Rhode Island; San Diego, California; and Akron, Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio. Pearson's Correlation Coefficients were computed to assess relationships between the independent variables size, age, region and retailing, and the dependent variable, cinema location. A large number of statistically significant (P = .05) correlations were found for three--size, age and retailing. Only region seems to have been infrequently related with theaters in the test cities. What the study shows is that motion picture theaters, generally, have not escaped the tendency toward decentralization. Further, suburbanization of film theaters appears most pronounced in larger and older frostbelt cities, except in 1980, when many younger (often sunbelt) communities displayed patterns characteristic of older ones. By 1980, movie theaters commonly were found between 3 and 15 miles from the principal city center. The exact distribution varied considerably by urban area, however. Finally, retail activity of CBD, city and SMSA seem to have had a marked relationship with city and downtown cinema locations, mostly in 1960 and to a degree in 1980. Of all nine cities studied, only Boston showed renewed promise for downtown theater location in 1980, possibly the result of historical and regional differences Boston enjoys over the others. This suggests that as cities grow larger and older, their downtowns may again be revived as centers for social and cultural activity. This may also mean the revitalization of the downtown as an attractive location for film exhibition.

Obesity is a national epidemic with approximately 66% of American adults overweight or obese, and more than 30% of Mississippians having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. Only 23% of adults eat the daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables and 75% have sedentary lifestyles. Diet and exercise play pivotal roles in preventing chronic diseases. Mississippi In Motion (MIM) is a research based, peer-reviewed curriculum for a 12-week community program designed to promote healthy eating and physical activity, encourage social support, and build self-efficacy. Program objectives are for participants to consume 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables, engage in 30 minutes of physical activity daily, and attend weekly educational sessions. Individuals form teams for social support, participate in a health fair and complete pre- and post-evaluations. MIM has been implemented on two university campuses with students, staff and faculty completing the program (n=283). A six month follow-up survey was sent to the 283 participants with 96 returned (34% response rate). Data were collected from pre-evaluations, post-evaluations and follow-up surveys, in addition to anthropometric data. SPSS was used for statistical analysis. In 12 weeks, body weight decreased from 83.52 kg±20.96 SD to 81.92 kg±20.61 SD (p<.001) and BMI decreased from 29.40 kg/m2±6.79 SD to 28.84 kg/m2±6.69 SD (p<.001). Physical activity levels increased as well as fruit, vegetable, and water intakes (p<.001). Independent t-tests determined that six months after program completion, individuals (n=96) continued to consume fruits and vegetables similar to amounts reported in the post-evaluations; however, participants had not maintained physical activity behaviors when compared to post-evaluations. These results indicate MIM was successful with improving eating habits that continued six months after participants completed the program but should emphasize physical activity maintenance. Seventy-eight percent reported they were willing to participate in MIM again if offered on campus. Universities are in a unique situation to develop long-term strategies to promote healthy eating and physical activity behaviors among students, faculty and staff. Mississippi leads the nation in obesity and MIM is having a positive impact on improving health status in Mississippi.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Also available in print.

Thesis (MFA)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2008. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo Lipfert. God's Army is a DVD accompanying the thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 20-22).

Thesis (M.A.)--San Jose State University, 2006. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-81).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.