EXITS AND ENTRANCES: Interviews with Seven Who Reshaped African-American Images in Movies

Frank Manchel
New Academia Publishing, 2013
562 Pages, 39 photos
ISBN 978-0-9886376-3-4 Paperback
ISBN 978-0-9886376-4-1 Hardcover
Price: $32.00 Paperback
$44.00 Hardcover

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About the Author

Frank Manchel is Professor Emeritus of English and Film Studies at the University  of Vermont and the author of many books and articles on film history, including the monumental 4-volume work Film Study: An Analytical Bibliography. He was Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences between 1977 and 1989. He has also held numerous national offices in his profession, including serving as a member of the George Foster Peabody Board for seven years, during which time he presided as chairperson from 1987 to 1989. Among the many honors he has received, Dr. Manchel was recognized by UVM as a University Scholar in the Social Sciences and the Humanities and awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters by Burlington College. In 2006, Film and History recognized him as one of the pioneers in film history.

About the book

This is Vol. 2 of The Interviews, a sequel to Every Step a Struggle. While Vol. 1 recalled the performers who fought to give black artists a voice and a presence, this new ground-breaking book focuses on the personalities who replaced the pioneers and refused to abide by Jim Crow traditions. Presented against a detailed background of the revolutionary post-World War II era up to the mid-1970s, the individual views of Mae Mercer, Brock Peters, Jim Brown, Ivan Dixon, James Whitmore, William Marshall and Ruby Dee in heretofore unpublished conversations from the past reveal just how tumultuous and extraordinary the technological, political, and social changes were for the artists and the film industry. Using extensive documentation, hundreds of films, and fascinating private recollections, Dr. Manchel puts a human face both on popular culture and race relations.

Praise

“A worthy successor to Every Step a Struggle, Exits and Entrances combines superb historical research and astute analytical insights with the inimitable voices of the next generation of African-American artists. This book ensures that the contributions to American cinema of these determined and courageous rebels will never be forgotten. The film studies community owes a debt of gratitude to
Manchel for this, the finest achievement of his illustrious career. This book should be required reading for everyone interested the politics of race in America, film studies, and African-American studies. It belongs in every research library.”
―Denise Youngblood, University of Vermont, author of Cinematic Cold War

“Using the method of oral history and the mature thinking of a senior scholar, Exits and Entrances enhances our understanding of the difficult slog to create a truthful, “round” image of African-Americans in U.S. commercial films. This collection is a gold mine of information for future research and should be in all libraries which value film research.”
―Peter C. Rollins, Emeritus EIC, Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal