Primary Sources
At Miller Library:
- Variety Film Reviews 1907-1984REF PN1993 .V36 Miller Library Reading Room
- Film Review Index Volume 1: 1882-1949REF Z5784.M9 F513 1986
Miller Library Main Floor, Outside Librarians' Offices
Colby Libraries E-Resources:
- Hollywood, Censorship, and the Motion Picture Production Code 1927-1968 This link opens in a new window
- PAO - Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new window
- Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 This link opens in a new window
- Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
- Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective: 1907-1984 This link opens in a new window
On the Web:
Reference / Background Information
- AFI Catalog (American Film Institute) This link opens in a new window Reliable source for cast, credits, production, and bibliographic information.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Cinema and Media Studies This link opens in a new window Topic articles include American Cinema, 1939-1975, Film Noir, Masculinity in Film, Melodrama, War Films, Women and Film, plus articles on individual filmmakers, actors and movies.
Boom and Bust (1997) by
The 10-volume, illustrated series considers the film industry from its early roots in the 19th century through the 1980s. It examines the development of film and the film industry, analyzing both the genres, themes and technology that defined each decade and the political and economic background that gave rise to them. Each volume focuses on a separate decade, providing a narrative on the evolution of both the business and the art of film in America. Each volume is heavily illustrated and ends with several indexes, notes, a bibliography and a variety of appendixes of top-grossing films, stars and Oscar winners, and more.
Call Number: PN1993.5.U6 H55 1990 Colby Miller 1st Floor Bookstacks 3 (S3)ISBN: 0684191512
Photo: Lobby card (Internet Archive) DVD PN1995.9.F54 M87 2004 Colby Miller DVDs
Searching Tips
KEYWORD SEARCH
- Experiment with synonyms and related terms.
- Use an asterisk to stand in for letter variations. movie* = movie, movies
- Use quotation marks to "glue together" a phrase. "motion pictures"
- If you need to indicate that your search is film related, use synonyms in parentheses separated by OR to cover multiple terms.
("motion picture" OR "motion pictures" OR film* OR movie*)
SUBJECT SEARCH
Find one good item? Look at its item record to see if there are Subject Headings or Descriptors. These links group similar materials together and can yield more efficient searching. Different databases, however, can use different terms.
SAMPLE SUBJECT HEADINGS IN CBBCAT
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Motion pictures and the war
- Nineteen forties
- Melodrama in motion pictures
- Women in motion pictures
- Masculinity in motion pictures
- Film noir -- United States
Significant people involved in making a film (directors, actors, writers) can also be Subject Headings (last name, first name).
SAMPLE PERSON SEARCH
Keyword search: "Howard Hawks" or "Hawks, Howard"
Finds all records with these exact word combinations. Results can be very broad.
Subject search: Hawks, Howard (last name, first name)
Finds items about Howard Hawks and his works.
Author search: Hawks, Howard (last name, first name)
Finds items by Howard Hawks (or works he helped create)
CITATION TRACKING
Ordering Physical Books and DVDs
To order Bates, Bowdoin or Colby physical items for Miller Library Pick Up:
Enter your name and bar code number (omit beginning and ending letters) from your Student ID or Library Card.
You will be notified by email when your request arrives.
Portable DVD drives can be checked out from the Miller Service desk. For more info, email libraries@colby.edu
Other Library Guides
Library Research Guides:
* American Studies
* Art
* Cinema Studies
* Citation Help
* Newspapers
* Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Scholarly Articles
Find scholarly articles about 1940s films in these databases:
- Performing Arts Periodicals Database (formerly IIPA) This link opens in a new window IIPA Full Text contains all of IIPA plus the full text of current articles from over 100 journals.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window Includes scholarly articles and books. JSTOR is full-text searchable, and interlinked by citations and references. All articles download to PDF. However, the most recent years of a journal are often not included.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window Access to journal articles, books, dissertations, working papers, proceedings, and bibliographies published worldwide, with some links to full text. Coverage: 1926 - present. Produced by the Modern Language Association of America.
- Project MUSE This link opens in a new window Humanities and social sciences content (full-text, links or citations) of journal articles, chapters, books, websites, archives, or data sets.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window A multidisciplinary database providing full-text access to scholarly and popular journals in broad areas of academic study, as well as indexing and abstracts of additional titles unavailable in full text. Coverage: 1990-present.
You can often check a box that limits your search to peer-reviewed or academic journals.
Scholarly/Academic Journals
- report original research in a specific discipline
- use in-text citations and bibliographies
- typically contain peer-reviewed articles
Find Books, E-books & Films
Search our library catalog.
For remote learning, look for a small circular red E in the icons to the left of your results . This is how CBBcat designates online resources.
Or use the drop-downs on the CBBcat search page for a more precise search.
