This work examines a selection of film series representative of three periods in American film history - silent cinema, Classic Hollywood cinema, and the post - Classic or New Hollywood cinema - as well as the place of the film series in other national cinemas, including those of France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and India. It offers an expanded definition of the industry practice of producing film series and examines the series themselves from a variety of cultural and critical perspectives, broadening the dialogue on the film series within the discipline of popular film studies.In the initial chapter the editor analyzes the series form, providing a point of departure for the discussions to follow. Part One examines early cinema, outlining the events and situations after 1907 that allowed early filmmakers to begin creating series based on and reproduced from the complex narratives of popular fiction. Part Two explores the cultural implications of Classic Hollywood cinema series, including Tarzan, Nancy Drew, and Maisie. Chapters in Part Three analyze James Bond and Star Wars, two of the most widely recognized series in post-Classic or New Hollywood cinema. Part Four examines mid-century European film series, including Germany’s Fridericus and France’s Angelique and Caroline. The final part presents studies of other international film series, including the postwar Japanese series Godzilla and Torasan, the popular
Better Tomorrow
series from Hong Kong, and several Hindi series from postcolonial India.