Last updated: November 7, 2000

PN 1995 .F465
Film Review Annual.  Annual volumes reprint in their entirety reviews of major films from selected newspapers, general circulation periodicals, and film magazines. Volumes begin with 1981.  Very useful.

PN 1993.5 .M3
Magill's Cinema Annual.  Covers 1982 (when the original 21 volume Magill's Survey of Cinema ends) to present. Each annual volume includes essays on the films, lists of awards, and obituaries.

PN  1993.45 .M3
Magill's Survey of Cinema.  Twenty-one volumes covering significant English language, foreign language, and silent films.  Each entry includes credits, cast and a two-to-three page essay.  An excellent resource.

PN  1995 .N4
New York Times Film Review 1913-1980.  Eleven volumes plus an index; reviews are arranged chronologically.

Periodicals:  (Check catalog  for holdings--some volumes may be in storage)

Journal and Newspaper Citations:

AI 3 .R48
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.  Film is listed under  Moving Pictures  until 1977; after 1977 see  Motion Pictures.

Micro Fiche X 186 (Indexes in Microforms Center)1981--July 1998
Newsbank Review of the Arts:  Film and Television Index. Indexes selected articles from over 450 U.S. newspapers reproduced on microfiche.  For current references connect to Newsbank Newsfile Collection (see search tips below).

Electronic Resources:

*Arts and Humanities Citation Index (1980 to present). For film reviews:  choose Full Search; select  Arts and Humanities Citation Index, all years [or years relating to the film], General Search; Click on  Set limits and sort option--limit document type to film review.  Type words from the title of the film in  topic. Click on search.

Lexis-Nexis Universe.  Choose News then Arts and Sports.  Type the movie title in the Keyword box. Narrow your search with additional terms if necessary. For source materials choose Book, movie, music and play reviews. Limit by date (will go back about 10 years).

Newsbank Newsfile Collection. (1991-present) Choose Customized search.  Type your keywords in the first box. Pull down the menu to the right of the box to select which part of the reference you want to search. All Text is the broadest; Headline/Title is the most specific. (Use additional boxes as necessary). Alternately, for film reviews, click in the box on the third line (under browsable fields--topics) and type in your movie title, the word AND (in caps) and the phrase film reviews, then click on search. Example:  shakespeare in love AND film reviews.

*Newspaper Abstracts1989-Present
For article references, type your search in the Keyword or phrase box (use quotations around movie titles if they include incidental words like of, with, by, etc.). Limit by date.  For reviews, limit article type to review.

*Periodical Abstracts.  For article references, type your search in the Keyword or phrase box (use quotations around movie titles if they include incidental words like of, with, by, etc.). Limit by date.  Leave article type as [Any Type].

*These databases are now available remotely to current students, faculty and staff.
 

General Film References:

PN 1998.A57
American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films, 1911-1920 and 1921-1930, 1931-1940, 1941-1950, and 1961-1970.  Arranged alphabetically with information on production companies, copyright dates, release dates, production credits, and a description of film contents.

PN  1993.45 .A75
Armour, Robert  Film:  A Reference Guide  (1980). Some-what dated but still useful.  Chapter Three on Film Criticism has sections on theorists, critics and analysts, and reviewers. (See also Armour's chapter on film in the Handbook  of American Popular Culture, Vol. 1, edited by M. Thomas Inge).

PN1997.8.A76
Armstrong, Richard B. and Mary Williams Armstrong.  The Movie List Book:  A Reference Guide to Film Themes, Settings, and Series (1990).  Over 450 entries; fascinating and informative lists.

Z 5784 .M9A87
Austin, Bruce.  The Film Audience:  An International Bibliography of Research.  Annotated entries on over twelve hundred articles relevant to movie audiences. Includes a subject and title index.

PN 1993.45  .B48
Bergan, Ronald and Robyn Karney.  The Holt Foreign Film Guide (1988).  Over 2,000 entries on significant foreign language films with production credits and brief summaries.

Z 5784 .M9B64
Bowles, Stephen, ed. Index to Critical Film Reviews, 3 vols (1975).  Dated but very useful for older films. Volumes 1 and  2 list 20,000 reviews of British and American films; Volume 3 lists 6,000 reviews of books about film.

PN   1998 .C65
A Cast of Thousands (1992).  3 vols.  Lists the casts with actor and character names for over 10,000 films from 1912 to 1991.

PN 2285  .C58
Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television.  28 vols. Excellent biographical entries on "performers, directors, writers, producers, designers, managers, choreographers,  technicians, composers, executives, dancers, and critics in the United States and Great Britain."  The most recent volume was published in 1993.

PN 1998 .A2A585 1984 (v. 26) and PN 1998 .A2A586 1986 (v. 44)
Dictionary of Literary Biography.  Volumes 26 and 44 are on American screenwriters.  An excellent source of  information on over 120 writers.

Z  5784 .M9D9
Dyment, Alan.  Literature of the Film:  Books on Cinema 1936-70.  Now quite dated but useful because the 1,300 entries are annotated.

Z 5784 .M9E44
Ellis, Jack, Chas. Derry, Sharon Kern.  The Film Book Bibliography 1940-1975 (1979).  With over 5,400 entries, this book is far more comprehensive than Dyment's Literature of the Film.  Includes monographs and unpublished dissertations with some annotations.

Z 5784 .M9E563
Enser, A.G.S.  Filmed Books and Plays (1987).  Covers 1928 to 1986; arranged both by film title and author.

Z 5784 .M9F5
Fielding, Raymond. A Bibliography of Theses and Dissertations on the Subject of Film:  1916-1979.  A slim volume listing over 1,400 entries arranged alphabetically by author and indexed by 53 subject areas.

Z  5784 .M9F44
The Film Index, 3 vols.  First published in 1941, this 1988 reprint is still a useful landmark bibliography  compiled by the Writers Program of the Work Projects Administration.  Very detailed annotations.  The volumes cover Film as Art, Film as Industry, and Film in Society.

Z 5784 .M9F535
Fisher, Kim.  On the Screen:  A Film, Television, and Video Research Guide (1986).  Very useful.  Contains over 730 entries including databases with lengthy annotations.

PN 1993.5 .G7G5
Gifford, Denis.  The British Film Catalogue, 1895-1970.  Very comprehensive with credits and casts of over 14,000 films arranged chronologically.  See also Quinlan.

PN  1993.45 .H3
Halliwell, Leslie. Filmgoer's Companion, 9th ed. (1988).  An indispensable book for quick answers to uncomplicated questions.  Lists filmographies and many subject entries.  For individual films, see Halliwell's Film Guide.

PN 1993.45 .H35
Halliwell, Leslie. Halliwell's Film Guide, 8th ed.  (1991).  Alphabetical listing of credits for over 17,000 films.

Z 5784 .M9F513
Hanson, Patricia King and Stephen Hanson.  Film Review Index.  Arranged alphabetically by film title, the entries list major periodicals, Hollywood trade papers, and important film books. The two volumes cover 1882-1985.

PN 1993.5 .A1I45
The Illustrated History of the Cinema (1986).  Lavishly produced with a substantial text and an international  perspective.

PN 1997.8 .I58
International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, 3rd ed. (1996) 4 vols.  Entries include a biography, filmography, bibliography, and short essay.

PN 1993.3 .I55
International Motion Picture Almanac.  An annual compendium of statistics, awards, polls, actors, and films by a leading trade publisher.  The library has volumes covering 1990 to the present.

PN  1993.45 .K34
Katz, Ephraim.  The Film Encyclopedia (1979). More than 7,000 entries on motion pictures of the world.  Subjects are presented in alphabetical order with frequent cross references.

PN  1993.45 .K66
Konigsberg, Ira.  The Complete Film Dictionary (1987).  Practical and technical film terms as well as terminology covering the business end of film production.  Over 3,500 entries.  (Does not include televisions terms.)

Z  5784 .M9K68
Kowalski, Rosemary. Women and Film (1976).  Over 2,300 entries on images of women and women as performers, filmmakers, and critics. Dated but full of useful references.

PN  1998 .L24
Langman, Larry.  A Guide to American Screenwriters 1929-1982 (1984). Lists writing credits in the sound era. Vol. 1 is arranged by screenwriter; Vol. 2 by film title.

Z  5784 .M9L28
Langman, Larry.  Writers on the American Screen (1986). Especially useful for studying literature to film adaptations.  Indexed by film title and by original author (not screenwriter).  See also Enser.

PN  1993 .M4334
Motion Picture Guide.  An incredibly comprehensive and indispensable list of nearly all feature films ever produced.  The first nine volumes cover sound films from 1927 to 1984.  Volume 10 covers silent features from 1910 to 1936.  Volume 11 carries filmographies for 180,000 individuals.  Films released since 1984 are covered in volumes issued annually.

PN 1993.45 .N4
New York Times Encyclopedia of Film (1869-1979).  A 13-volume work that reprints articles and essays on film rather than reviews.

PN 1993.45 .O9
Oxford Companion to Film.  Entries are mostly proper names (films, actors, directors, cinematographers, etc.). For technical terms see Konigsberg's The Complete Film Dictionary.

ML 400 .P295
Parish, James R. and Michael Pitts.  Hollywood Songsters: A Biographical Dictionary (1991).  Detailed entries on more than 100 performers who have achieved success both as singers and as film stars.  Arranged alphabetically from June Allyson to Mae West.

PN 2285 .P333
Parish, James R. and Don Stanke.  Hollywood Baby Boomers: A Biographical Dictionary (1992).  Detailed biographical entries on 80 current film stars such as Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

PN 1993.5 .G7Q56
Quinlan, David.  British Sound Films:  The Studio Years, 1928-1959  (1984).  Organized by decade with film credits and annotations. Also lists short films. See also Gifford.

Z  5784 .M9R423
Rehrauer, George. Macmillan Film Bibliography:  A Critical Guide to the Literature of the Motion Picture, 2 vols.  (1982).  Two thick volumes with excellent annotations.  Volume 1 lists reviews; Volume 2 is a subject and author index.

Z 5784 .M9R66
Ross, Harris. Film as Literature, Literature as Film: An Introduction to and Bibliography of Film's Relationship to Literature (1987).  The entries are divided into 17 chapters, e.g. William Shakespeare and Film, and Literary Figures of Classical Literature.  The 57 page introduction is useful.

PN  1993.45 .C5
Roud, Richard.  Cinema:  a Critical Dictionary--the Major Filmmakers, 2 vols. (1980).  This book covers directors and some subject headings such as American Avant-Garde, American Screenwriters, Dance In Film. A few performers such as W.C. Fields and Garbo are included.  Roud's 20 pp. introduction is well worth reading.  See also Thomson.

Z  5784 .M9S34
Schuster, Mel.  Motion Picture Directors:  A Bibliography of Magazine and Periodical Articles 1900-1972.  Focuses on over 2,300 directors and animators.  The entries are biographical or career oriented.  No reviews of individual works are included.

Z  5784 .M9S35
Schuster, Mel.  Motion Picture Performers:  A  Bibliography of Magazine and Periodical Articles, 1906-1969.  Supplement 1 (1970-74).  Alphabetical listings covering over 5,500 actors and actresses.

Ref. PN 1993.92 .S53 1993
Shale, Richard.  The Academy Awards Index:  The Complete Categorical and Chronological Record (1993).  Indexes the Oscars by category, year, and individual name or film title.  Includes an introductory essay on the history of  the Academy and a lengthy annotated bibliography.

PN 1993.5 .U6S539
Slide, Anthony.  American Film Industry:  A Historical Dictionary (1986).  Includes information on American producing and releasing companies, technical innovations in films, film series, industry terms, studios, genres, and organizations.

PN  1993.45 .S57
Slide, Anthony.  International Film Industry:  A Historical Dictionary (1989).  Similar in format to Slide's American Film Industry, this volume covers world cinema.

Z  5784 .M9I485
Slide, Anthony.  International Film, TV, and Radio Journals.  (1985).  Critical and/or historical entries for more than 200 periodicals.

PN  1993.45 .S75
Steinberg, Cobbett. Film Facts (1980).  A fascinating potpourri of facts on the marketplace, stars, studios, festivals, and awards.  Includes the text of the Production Code and the Catholic Legion of Decency pledge.  A companion volume is Steinberg's TV Facts.

PN  1998 .A2T55
Thomson, David. A Biographical Dictionary of Film (1981). Similar to Roud's Cinema:  A Critical Dictionary with nearly 900 entries on directors, producers, actors, and actresses.  Both works should be checked.

PN  1583 .V35
Variety Obituaries.  12 volumes.  Death notices from 1905 to 1986 reprinted from one of Hollywood's leading trade papers.

PN 1583 .W482
Who's Who in Entertainment, 2nd ed. 1992-93.  Brief biographies of entertainers.  See also Variety's Who's Who in Show Business.

PN 1998.2 .W67
World Film Directors (1987).  2 vols.  Lengthy entries on approximately 400 of the world's best known directors.

Last updated: November 7, 2000