Scholarly Articles (Yale Library Film Studies)

Film criticism -- scholarly analyses of particular films, directors, actors, etc. -- can be found in journal articles and in books (including collections and anthologies).

Magazine and journal articles can be found by searching in periodical indexes. Periodical indexes can be located in Orbis by using the following Library of Congress Subject Heading:

motion pictures--periodicals--indexes

Another type of film criticism are the reviews in magazines and newspapers. For more information, see Film Reviews.

Once you've identified an article in a journal, if you need help finding the journal itself, see Locating Journals and Magazines in Yale Library.

You can save yourself considerable work by looking at existing bibliographies, which list books and articles on a particular subject (up to a certain date).

A Selected List of Periodical Indexes

Really IMPORTANT Indexes are marked with

Academic Search Premier: Use Academic Search Premier to search for articles in thousands of different scholarly journals and general interest magazines. Coverage extends back to the mid-1980s, and in many cases the full text of the article is available.
American Film Institute Catalog
SML Reference PN1998 +A43: Online catalog of every American film from 1893 to 1972. Searchable by keywords; film titles; cast, crew, and character names; subject; genre and more. Most records include extensive plot summaries and comprehensive filmographic information, plus citations to reviews and articles. See also Film Indexes Online below.
Art Abstracts and Art Index Retrospective (via WilsonWeb)
SML Reference Z5937 +A78 (LC)
Art & Architecture Reference Z5937 A78 (LC)
British Art Reference Z5937 A78 (LC): More than 250 key international, English-language arts publications. Includes periodicals, yearbooks, museum bulletins, competition and award notices, exhibition listings, interviews, film reviews, and more. The print volumes begin in 1929. The online versions include indexing from September 1984 to the present. Art Abstracts includes abstracts of articles from Spring 1994.
Art on Screen
SML CD-ROM Reference Center: The Art on Screen Database, developed by the Program for Art on Film, is an international index to moving image productions on the visual arts. Subjects covered include: fine arts (painting, sculpture, drawing), architecture, archaeology, photography, decorative arts, design, costume, crafts, folk arts, and related topics such as aesthetics and creativity.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index (via Web of Science)
SML, Reference. Z5937 +A795 (LC): The database covers 1980 to the present, and the print volumes go back to 1975. This is the only online index that has much coverage of the Film Studies literature. An international interdisciplinary index to the literature of the arts and humanities, indexing the contents of about 6,100 journals, covering about 1,000 fully and about 5,100 selectively. Those selectively covered are titles in the sciences and social sciences indexed by Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index, from which articles of possible interest in the arts and humanities are drawn. Published in three parts:
* Citation Index (through which you can find what later articles have cited earlier books or articles)
* Source Index (an author index)
* Permuterm Subject Index (which offers keyword access to the titles of articles)
The Critical Index: A Bibliography of Articles on Film in English, 1946-1973, Arranged By Names and Topics. Gerlach, John C. (New York: Teacher's College Press, 1974)
SML, Reference Z5784 M9 G47 (LC)
CCL Reference
FIAF International FilmArchive Database
Continues: International Index to Film Periodicals. 1972- (New York: Bowker, 1973-)
SML, Reference Z5784 M9 +I58 (LC): Indexes 65-80 international periodicals of "aesthetic or critical value." The paper version has separate volume of subject headings for this index. The online version also includes a number of specialized bibliographies (silents, Latin American cinema), and information about film archives and collections.
Film & History Index: A 26-year index of Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies.
Film Index International (Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1994-98): Film Index International covers all genres of film, from the first silent movies and art-house classics to recent sci-fi blockbusters. Content is very current and is updated twice yearly. FII offers Quick or Precision Search options for background on over 115,000 films from over 170 countries, including 57,000 personalities, 500,000 periodical articles on film and filmmakers, U.S. and international film award winners, and over one million cast and credit references. See also Film Indexes Online above.
Film Indexes Online (Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1994-98): Film Indexes Online is a portal that allows one to simultaneously search both the American Film Institute Catalog and Film Index International. For descriptions of these databases, please see their entries on this page.
Film and Television Literature Index: FTLI takes over where the Film Literature Index ends. See below for further information.
Film Literature Index 1976-2001
SML, Reference Z5784 M9 F55 (LC): 1973- (Albany, NY: Filmdex, 1974-): One of the most important indexes for research in Film Studies. It indexes over 300 international film periodicals. Film title, personal name, and subject indexes are included. The print edition covers film criticism from 1974 to 2004; the online database only covers 1976-2001, and it has been succeeded by FLTI (above). Film Literature Index also includes critical articles on television and video (section two of the print version). For earlier scholarship, consult the Retrospective Index to Film Periodicals, below.
Humanities Full Text (via WilsonWeb): Humanities Full Text is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts articles from 400 English-language periodicals in the fields of archaeology and classical studies, art, dance, drama, film, folklore, gender studies, history, journalism and communications, language and literature, literary and political criticism, music and performing arts, philosophy, and religion and theology. Periodical coverage includes some of the best-known scholarly journals and numerous lesser-known but important specialized magazines.
International Index to the Performing Arts: IIPA draws its current content from more than 130 international periodicals and also indexes articles and obituaries appearing in The New York Times and The Washington Post. IIPA covers nearly all aspects of the world of performing arts, including film, theater, and opera. Most IIPA records in the current file (1998 forward) contain an abstract. An increasing number have full text.
MLA Bibliography (New York: Modern Language Association of American, 1921- ): SML Reference, Index Case 7, Row 14 [Z7006 M63 (LC)]
The MLA Bibliography indexes critical materials on literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore. The database provides access to citations from over 4,000 journals and series published worldwide, as well as books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies. The database covers the entire print version from 1926 to the present. The MLA Bibliography continues the Modern Language Association Annual Bibliography. For earlier volumes, check Orbis under "Modern Language Association."
The New Film Index: A Bibliography of Magazine Articles in English, 1930-1970. MacCann, Richard D. (New York: Dutton, 1975)
SML, Reference Z5784 M9 M29 (LC)
Retrospective Index to Film Periodicals, 1930-1971. Batty, Linda. (New York: Bowker, 1975)
SML, Reference Z5784 M9 B39 (LC): Historical index of film scholarship predates the Film Literature Index, above. Indexes 14 English-language film periodicals, as well as articles from the Village Voice.
WilsonWeb: A collection of periodical indexes. Select Art Index, Humanities Abstracts, Readers' Guide Abstracts, and Essay and General Literature to find film criticism and reviews of films. Type [name of film] Motion Picture to find articles about particular films. For example: Fargo Motion Picture or Midnight Garden Good Evil Motion Picture Review. (Hints: you need to omit all stopwords when searching in Wilson Web and add the word review if you want to limit your search to reviews only)

Finding Scholarly Articles on Film History and Criticism

A Selected List of Periodical Indexes