ABSTRACT

Celluloid Mushroom Clouds is a historical account of how the movie industry responded to specific economic and political forces over the postwar years. Joyce Evans investigates the transformation of the imagery associated with atomic technology found in Hollywood films produced and distributed between 1947 and 1964. Incorporating qualitative and quantitative research methods, over 90 are analyzed in terms of their historical context and the context of film production and distribution.

chapter |19 pages

Introduction

Hollywood and the Atomic Bomb

chapter 1|23 pages

Hollywood After the Bomb, 1946–1953

chapter 2|16 pages

MGM and the Cold War

Above and Beyond (1952)

chapter 3|11 pages

Experimentation with Atomic Themes

chapter 4|18 pages

Hollywood Science Fiction, 1954–1959

chapter 5|23 pages

Radiation-Produced Monsters

Them! (1954)

chapter 6|17 pages

Alien Invaders and Atomic Espionage

chapter 7|7 pages

Postnuclear Scenarios

chapter 8|14 pages

The Nuclear Future, 1960–1964

chapter 9|14 pages

Questioning Authority