Early Puerto Rican Cinema and Nation Building

Well-written and vigorously researched, this book will be of much value to scholars of the history of cinema, Puerto Rican history, sociology, and political science. It sheds new light on important aspects of Puerto Rico's early transition from a Spanish to a U.S. colony. -- Margherita Tortora * Yale University * "Highly recommended." * Choice * "The book makes a substantial contribution to the study of early Puerto Rican cinema and culture. Serving as a counterweight to traditional national histories of early cinema, it would make a great addition to syllabi in global film courses as well." * Hispanic American Historical Review * "Garca-Crespo's professional, methodical approach is particularly to be emphasized....[A]n in-depth history of the film's beginnings in Puerto Rico." * Rezensionen Medienwissenschaft * "This book brings into conversation a wide array of disciplines, methodologies, and fields of study, a quality that makes Early Puerto Rican Cinema an excellent choice for both undergraduate and graduate courses. Garca-Crespo offers a significant contribution not only to the field of Puerto Rican studies but also to media, culture, and Caribbean studies. The monograph is an excellent companion to previous works." * Centro Journal * Wellwritten and vigorously researched, this book will be of much value to scholars of the history of cinema, Puerto Rican history, sociology, and political science. It sheds new light on important aspects of Puerto Rico's early transition from a Spanish to a U.S. colony. -- Margherita Tortora * Yale University * "Highly recommended." * Choice * "The book makes a substantial contribution to the study of early Puerto Rican cinema and culture. Serving as a counterweight to traditional national histories of early cinema, it would make a great addition to syllabi in global film courses as well." * Hispanic American Historical Review * "Garca-Crespo's professional, methodical approach is particularly to be emphasized....[A]n in-depth history of the film's beginnings in Puerto Rico." * Rezensionen Medienwissenschaft * "This book brings into conversation a wide array of disciplines, methodologies, and fields of study, a quality that makes Early Puerto Rican Cinema an excellent choice for both undergraduate and graduate courses. Garca-Crespo offers a significant contribution not only to the field of Puerto Rican studies but also to media, culture, and Caribbean studies. The monograph is an excellent companion to previous works." * Centro Journal *

NAIDA GARCA-CRESPO is an assistant professor of English at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

INTRODUCTION Established Frames and Images of Puerto Rican Cinema Conceptions of the Puerto Rican Nation An Alternative Approach to the Study of Puerto Rican National Cinema This Studys Framework CHAPTER ONE- Contexts for a National Cinema: Cultural, Political, and Economic Movements in Puerto Rico 1860-1952 Late Spanish Colonialism through 1898 Circumstances and Consequences of the U.S. Invasion Initial U.S. Congressional Rule and the Formation of Puerto Rican Identity Puerto Rican Conceptions of the Nation from 1930 Onward CHAPTER TWO- Cinema Comes to Puerto Rico: Historical Uncertainties and Ambiguous Identities (1897-1909) Film Exhibition in Turn-of-the-Century Puerto Rico Rumors of War Footage Representing U.S. Colonial Puerto Rico CHAPTER THREE- Stateless Nationhood, Transnationalism and the Difficulties of Assigning Nationality: Rafael Colorado in Puerto Rican Historiography (1912-1916) Rafael Colorado, Film Exhibition, and the Transnational Circulation of Cultural Subjects Rafael Colorado as Cinematic Producer: Negotiating the Local and the Global Citizenship in a Stateless Nation: Constructing the Puerto Rican Subject CHAPTER FOUR- In the Company of the Elites: The Discourses and Practices of the Tropical Film Company (1916-1917) Inconsistencies in the Received Histories of the Tropical Film Company The Educational/Cultural Project of the Tropical Film Company The Tropical Film Companys Commercial Aims The End of the Beginning: The Tropical Film Companys Demise and Legacy CHAPTER FIVE- Perilous Paradise: American Assignment and Appropriation of Puerto Ricanness (1917-1925) From Big Stick to Good Neighbor: Puerto Rico as Test Site for American Foreign Policy Fictional Puerto Rico and Colonial Angst Puerto Ricos Commercial Production Model U.S. Cinema Falls in Love with the Tropics The MacManus/Path Productions Famous Player-Lasky/Paramount Comes to the Island Beyond Fiction: Other Aspects of the Puerto Rican Film Industry in the 1920s CHAPTER SIX- Making the Nation Profitable: Industry-Centered Transnational Approaches to Filmmaking (1923-1940) The Film Enthusiast: The Career of Juan E. Vigui Cajas Romance tropical: Re-making the Dream The Film Impresario: The Career of Rafael Ramos Cobin Mis dos amores: The Union of Hollywood and Latin America Los hijos mandan: The Separation of Hollywood and Latin America The End of an Era: The Local Government as Producer CONCLUSION- Early Puerto Rican Cinema and Stateless Nation Building Finding the National in the Transnational ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX