American Film in the Crisis of Confidence: Hollywood Malaise, 1976-1983 examines how Hollywood films depict and respond to what U.S. President Jimmy Carter deemed a national “crisis of confidence” in the late 1970s, and what Carter's political opponents referred to as “the Malaise.” Over the course of five thematic chapters-as well as an introduction and conclusion-John McCombe explores how a wide range of films from various genres reflect cultural anxieties central to Carter's “crisis of confidence,” including those surrounding depleted energy resources, calls for fiscal austerity, the “broken” American family, and the decreasing visibility of people of color in popular culture. Scholars of film studies, cultural studies, American studies, and history will find this book of particular interest.

John McCombe is professor and chair of the English Department at the University of Dayton.