| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 33.2

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| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 33.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

The Big Tomorrow: Hollywood and the Politics of the American Way. By Lary May. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. xv + 348 pp. Illustrations, charts, notes, index. $32.50; £20.50.)

In The Big Tomorrow, Lary May argues that Hollywood filmmakers of the thirties through the fifties did not promote "a uniform narrative" glorifying "white racism, liberal individualism, and futuristic dreams of consumerism," as some critics have argued. This premise is far from groundbreaking: basic film textbooks note the prevalence of social consciousness films that critiqued bigotry in the forties and early fifties, and documentaries on the McCarthy era discuss how blacklisting stifled respected liberal writers and sentiments. That said, this book is absolutely worth reading for May's deft overview of American film culture through the fifties, particularly the impact of immigrants and other "non-elites" such as Will Rogers, and for his insightful analysis of individual films. In addition, statistics May compiled from plot summaries in The Motion Picture Herald clarify many ways film changed from the teens through the fifties. . . .

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