> Is there a history of film reviewing in the U.S.?  I'm especially
> interested in film reviewing meant for the most general "market"--
> i.e., not industry publications or "fan" publications.  When did
> reviews start appearing (especially regularly) in newspapers and
> general interest magazines?  [snip]
>
> Arthur Knight
> American Studies & English
> The College of William & Mary
 
Arthur--
 
I plowed through quite a few old newspapers for my forthcoming book on
John Barrymore, and my sense of the matter is that the mainstream press
began offering movie reviews on a regular basis around 1912 or
thereabouts -- a time that coincided with the emergence of the feature
film.  Papers such as the NY Times, NY Tribune, NY World, Minneapolis
Journal, Boston Globe, Chicago Daily News, etc., all appeared to pick up on
this idea at about this time.  In many cases, the movie reviewers
followed the lead of their drama peers by publishing their critiques the
day after the movie opened.  (I found this to be particularly true of the NY
reviewers.)
 
Hope this information helps.
 
--Marty Norden
 
 =============================================================================
     Martin F. Norden
     Dept. of Communication                    [log in to unmask]
     University of Massachusetts/Amherst       tel: 413 545-0598, 545-1311
     Amherst, MA  01003     USA                fax: 413 545-6399
                        "Round up the usual suspects."
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