David Desser is the director of cinema studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and former editor of Cinema Journal. He is the author of The Samurai Films of Akira Kurosawa and Eros Plus Massacre.Lester D. Friedman is a member of the Radio/TV/Film department at Northwestern University. He is the author of The Jewish Image in American Film and Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde,"  and the editor of Unspeakable Images: Ethnicity and the American Cinema.

"[A] fascinating and challenging study, one that sheds light not only on the changing character of the American Jew, but on the changing nature of American society and the films that reflect it."--Australian Jewish News"There is much here for the serious film buff to relish."--Jerusalem Post Magazine

• Contents Preface to the Second Edition 1. Traditions of American Jewish Art 2. Woody Allen: The Schlemiel as Modern Philosopher 3. Mel Brooks: "Farts Will Be Heard" 4. Sidney Lumet: The Memory of Guilt 5. Paul Mazursky: The Price of Freedom 6. Too Much at Home in America? Filmography References Index Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Jewish motion picture producers and directors United States, Jews in the motion picture industry, Jews in motion pictures