There is a book on the "adventure" film as a genre, and it suggests that people might be surprised that it covers Buster Keaton's _The General_, even though it's as much an adventure and war film as it is a comedy. If this is something you're interested in, I can check it up at the library, because I don't know what it's called, but I could pick it off the shelf. Scott On Tue, 9 Jun 1998, Brian Taves wrote: > > Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 18:18:49 +0100 > > From: Ingvald Bergsagel <[log in to unmask]> > > Subject: Action as genre > > > > Does anyone know of genre-studies done on action-films? I've found plenty > > on western, noir, gangster, sci-fi, adventure and other related genres, in > > addition to (naturaly) writings on screen-violence mentioning classic > > action-flicks, but nobody seems to have analysed action as a genre. > > I think the reason is, as I suggest in my book on the historical adventure > genre, because "action" itself is not a genre. The types you've mentioned > above are genres, whereas action is a style uniting them. The word action > itself does not imply a specific type of story or formula, but rather a > way of treating a story and an emphasis on certain types of elements. > Action is a male-oriented approach dependent on physical movement, > violence, and suspense, with often perfunctory motivation and romance. > Action tends to shift sentiment, character, dialogue, and family to the > background. In action films a hero succeeds by facing death, courageously > overcoming dangers and adversaries. Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Shane, > the Thief of Bagdad, Luke Skywalker, and Robin Hood are, I would argue, > all action heroes--but each belongs to a separate genre (mystery, > espionage, western, fantasy, science fiction, historical adventure, > respectively). > > > Brian Taves > Motion Picture/Broadcasting/Recorded Sound Division > Library of Congress > 101 Independence Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20540-4692 > Telephone: 202-707-9930; 202-707-2371 (fax) > Email: [log in to unmask] > > > Disclaimer--All opinions expressed are my own. > > ---- > Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite > http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite > ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite