Includes index.

Includes filmography: p. 221-227.

Introduction : the American political film -- 1. Meet the candidate : the political campaign film -- 2. Inside politics : the process of government in American political film -- 3. Communism, anticommunism, and the blacklist : McCarthyism and American film -- 4. Science fiction and nuclear fear : the Cold war in American film -- 5. As seen on television : politics and the media in American film -- 6. Working on the chain gang : labor and class in American film -- 7. Apocalypse then : the Vietnam war in American film -- 8. United States vs. the World : American film and warfare after the Cold war -- Conclusion : Political film in the twenty-first century

This is a rather straightforward thematic review of the American political film, those that deal with the practice of politics or explicitly address political issues. Generally focusing on post-World War II productions, Booker (English, U. of Arkansas) reviews the way that mainstream American releases have dealt with politics in their storylines and themes, offering only the most basic of critical commentary. The thematic chapters are devoted to political campaigns, the process of government, communism and McCarthyism, nuclear fear and the Cold war, politics and the media, labor and class, the Vietnam War, and war in the post-Cold War era. Annotation #169;2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)