| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 109.4

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 109.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Robert Brent Toplin. Reel History: In Defense of Hollywood. (CultureAmerica.) Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. 2002. Pp. viii, 232. Cloth $35.00, paper $17.95.
Robert Brent Toplin's appraisal of Hollywood historical films provokes questions about interdisciplinary dialogue. Who are his implied readers? Should a historian investigating film be better informed about screen studies? By discussing the genre conventions of what he labels "cinematic history," Toplin begins by providing a useful summary, but it enlightens only those uninformed about the work of Thomas Schatz, Robert Rosenstone, and others. Although his tone is at times defensive, Toplin does make a credible argument in favor of genre films like James Cameron's Titanic (1997) that may not be wholly accurate but dramatize history for large audiences. Ang Lee's Ride with the Devil (1999), however, is cited as a noble experiment that violated conventions structuring film spectatorship and thus failed at the box office. Straightforward in his approach, Toplin makes a case for period films but fails to explain why they often lapse into kitsch or camp and are instantly parodied. Audience reception is difficult to gauge in a postmodern age of rapid recycling.	1
Bestowing awards named after Herodotus and Mel Brooks, Toplin praises Saving Private Ryan (1998) and The Longest Day (1962) for representing history, criticizes Amistad (1997), Mississippi Burning (1988), and The Hurricane (1999) for distorting history, and devalues Santa Fe Trail (1940) and They Died with Their Boots On (1942) for mangling history. Also elevated to his pantheon are televised dramas like Eleanor and Franklin (1976), The Execution of Private Slovik (1974), and Denmark Vesey's Rebellion (1982). As "the principal creator" of the last, Toplin writes insightfully about its production in the most interesting chapter of the book. So far, so good.	. . .

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