The British cinema book /

This volume collects impressive short essays, which seem to be British film scholars' specialty. Most of the pieces in this third edition (1st ed., CH, Nov'98, 36-1486) are holdovers from the previous editions and stand up well. That said, though Murphy claims that the book is "thoroughly updated," many of the topical essays--on British comedy, black representation, gay representation, the avant-garde, and urban representation, to name a few--needed to be brought up to date. Most of the material about the past decade is to be found in the final two chapters. They make clear how prolific and varied current British filmmaking is, thanks in large measure to state funding of one sort or another. A welcome new feature is case studies of key films in three-quarter-page boxes; though one might disagree with some choices, the films are invariably well presented. Many of the interesting films discussed are not available in the US, even on DVD. This makes one realize how the US is cut off from many of the innovative films being made throughout the world. A solid replacement (funds permitting) for the previous editions. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. W. A. Vincent Michigan State University