The quirky world of nudist films is revealed. Cinema au Naturel brings to life many long-forgotten films such as Elysia: Valley of the Nude, The Monster of Camp Sunshine, and Take Off Your Clothes and Live! In his account of the history of nudist film, Mark Storey, introduces readers to the best and the worst of these cinematic portrayals of clothes-free life.

Six American one-act plays dealing with nudity, body image, and naturism. One play dates from 1930, the other five from the early 21st century. Edited and introduced by Mark Storey, and illustrated with nine photos, the book contains: Barely Proper, by Tom Cushing Nude on the Beach, by Martin E. Williams & Johnna Adams Love the Body Positive, by Johnna Adams Sisters at the Beach, by Rik Panero Just a Little More Blue, by Tom Swimm Nude in the Dark, by Johnna Adams

From the inception of the science fiction film, writers, directors, producers, and actors have understood that the genre lends itself to a level of social commentary not available in other formats. Viewers find it easier to accept explorations of such issues as domestic violence, war, xenophobia, faith, identity, racism, and other difficult topics when the protagonists exist in future times or other worlds that are only vaguely similar to our own. The 22 original essays in this collection examine how the issues in particular science fiction films--from 1930's High Treason to 1999's The Iron Giant--reflect and comment on the prevailing issues of their time. The 16 writers (including such noted contributors as Ted Okuda, Gary Don Rhodes, Bryan Senn, John Soister and Ken Weiss) provide insight on how the genre's wistful daydreaming, forthcoming wonders, and nightmarish scenarios are often grounded in the grimmer realities of the human condition. Films covered include It Came from Outer Space, Godzilla, The 27th Day, Alien and Starship Troopers, plus television's The Adventures of Superman, the Flash Gordon serials, and vintage space cartoons by Fleischer.

If Jamaica were an actor she would have appeared in more than one hundred and forty-one films. The list of movies where the name Jamaica plays a prominent part is probably closer to two hundred. This book chronicles over one hundred years of international film making in Jamaica from 1910, and provides many previously unpublished details of locations, actors and directors. As such, Jamaica, the Land of Film provides a comprehensive history which will be of great interest to all cinema aficionados and fans of Caribbean history.

The Sounds of Early Cinema is devoted exclusively to a little-known, yet absolutely crucial phenomenon: the ubiquitous presence of sound in early cinema. "Silent cinema" may rarely have been silent, but the sheer diversity of sound(s) and sound/image relations characterizing the first 20 years of moving picture exhibition can still astonish us. Whether instrumental, vocal, or mechanical, sound ranged from the improvised to the pre-arranged (as in scripts, scores, and cue sheets). The practice of mixing sounds with images differed widely, depending on the venue (the nickelodeon in Chicago versus the summer Chautauqua in rural Iowa, the music hall in London or Paris versus the newest palace cinema in New York City) as well as on the historical moment (a single venue might change radically, and many times, from 1906 to 1910). Contributors include Richard Abel, Rick Altman, Edouard Arnoldy, Mats Björkin, Stephen Bottomore, Marta Braun, Jean Châteauvert, Ian Christie, Richard Crangle, Helen Day-Mayer, John Fullerton, Jane Gaines, André Gaudreault, Tom Gunning, François Jost, Charlie Keil, Jeff Klenotic, Germain Lacasse, Neil Lerner, Patrick Loughney, David Mayer, Domi-nique Nasta, Bernard Perron, Jacques Polet, Lauren Rabinovitz, Isabelle Raynauld, Herbert Reynolds, Gregory A. Waller, and Rashit M. Yangirov.