Film Genres and Themes
On This Page:
- Selected Subject Headings for Searching Orbis
- Topical Movies
- Selected Web Sites and Reference Resources
Selected Subject Headings for Searching Orbis
| The following are sample headings for books
about and examples of films of various genres or
types. | |||
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Topical Movies
Sometimes catalogers assign subject headings to fiction films that focus on a particular topic, issue or theme. Catalogers aren't required to do this, but when they do, they use the form [Topic]--Drama (which covers movies, plays and TV shows: limit with the keyword VIDEORECORDING). (NB: subjects in this form are also used for research about films and plays on that topic.)
Occasionally catalogers bend the rules a bit by using a subject heading ending with the phrase in motion pictures -- which is meant for factual or critical works (including documentaries) -- for feature films.
Here are a few examples of subject headings for movies on particular topics.
- African Americans--Drama
- Musicians--Drama
- Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948--Drama
- Labor unions--United States--Drama
- Revenge--Drama
- United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Drama
- African Americans in motion pictures [improper]
See also: Social and Other Aspects of Cinema
Selected Web Sites and Reference Resources
A selection of critical Web sites devoted to particular genres, directors, and reviews. For additional web sites, please see: Web Directories and Other Internet Sites
General Genre Resource
Media
Resources Center Filmography Search, University of North Carolina
Google
Movie Genre portal
Yahoo
Movie Genre portal
Encyclopedia of film themes, settings and series. Armstrong, Richard B., and Mary Willems Armstrong. (Jefferson, N.C.; London: McFarland, 2001.) SML Reference PN1997.8 +A75 2001
Action
Action
Web website dedicated to directors John Woo and Tsui Hark.
American
American Memory:
Historical Collections for the National Digital Library (Library
of Congress) Extensive and searchable online collections on different
historical genres of American Motion Pictures. Includes titles
such as: "Before and After the Great Earthquake and Fire:
Early Films of San Francisco, 1897-1916", "Theodore
Roosevelt: His Life and Times on Film", "America at
Work, America at Leisure: Motion Pictures from 1894-1915",
"The Spanish-American War in Motion Pictures" and more.
Asian American
AsianAmericanFilm.com
Asian and Asian American films and filmmakers.
Avant-Garde
Film
Avant-Garde
 |
| From the Crawford Collection, Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives. |
B-Movies
B-Fest.com
B-movie.com
Cult Films
Shock Cinema
A guide for fans of bizarre and cult films and videos. Each issue
has movie reviews and original poster art.
Documentary Films
Documentary Film Website Portals: Yahoo
- Google
Film Noir
Film
Noir Filmography
Film Noir Website Portals: Yahoo
-
Google
Filmsite:
Film Noir
Horror
A-Z of horror films. Howard Maxford. SML,
Reference PN1995.9 H6 M3245X 1997
Hammer Graveyard
This website is dedicated to the Horror films of Hammer Studios,
Ltd.
Horror Film Website Portals: Yahoo
- Google
Martial Arts
Alive
and Kicking: The Kung Fu Film is a Legend (Bright Lights Film
Journal Article)
Monster
Jones, Stephen.The Essential Monster Movie Guide. (New
York: Billboard Books, 2000, c1999) SML Stacks, PN1995.9 M6
J66X 1999
Science Fiction & Fantasy
2019: Off-World
(Comprehensive Blade Runner resource guide)
Encyclopedia of science fiction movies. C.J. Henderson.
SML, Reference PN1995.9 S26 H38X 2001+
Science
Fiction Cinema Resources (UC Berkeley Film Studies)
Science Fiction Film Website Portals: Yahoo
- Google
Silent Film
Silent Era: The Silent Film
Website reviews and listings of historical collections of
silent era film
SilentFilm.co.uk
Silent
Film Bookshelf This site reprints original documents from
the silent film era.
Silent
Movies Includes Silent Ladies & Gents, Slapstick, Arbucklemania,
and more.
silent-movies.org
The Silents Majority
On-line Journal of Silent Film
The
Silent Western academic site, "Early Movie Myths of the
American West"
War
Brassey's guide to war films. Alun Evans. SML,
Reference PN1995.9 W3 E78 2000+
Western
Encyclopedia of westerns. Herb Fagen. SML, Reference
PN1995.9.W4 F27 2003+
The
Silent Western
Western Film Website Portals: Yahoo
- Google
The Ultimate Movie Thesaurus. Case, Christopher. (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1996.) SML, Reference PN1998 C323X 1996
