Welcome to the Classic Film and Television homepage. It is designed and written by Michael E. Grost, a film enthusiast who lives near Detroit, Michigan, USA.
This is an educational site containing reviews and articles about films and television, and articles on their writers, directors and photographers. It has much about Visual Style. I am an auteurist, and usually try to relate a film creator's work to his or her total career as an artist. My critical approaches, and the directors chosen to study, reflect the work of auteurist pioneers who came before me, especially the great Andrew Sarris. All the articles in this site are written by me. Estimated size: 4100 pages / 1,640,000 words.
BREAKING NEWS: The new book The Films of Joseph H. Lewis is edited by Gary D. Rhodes. The publisher has a web site for the book. I wrote one of the fourteen articles!
Please mail your comments to me at mike@mikegrost.com. (Clicking here will bring up mail.) I am eager to hear what you think. (Unfortunately, I know nothing about where to find out of print videos.) You can also visit my web sites Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection, Classic Comic Books and A History of American Art, and my personal home page.
I write mysteries myself. Detective short stories by me are available (for free) on my mystery fiction page. Most are set in the silent film era, and will be enjoyable for film lovers. One mystery is a fictional tale about Louis Feuillade. Please click to get a free E-book in EPUB or Kindle format with many short stories. (If the download link does not work, please e-mail me at mike@mikegrost.com and I will send you the stories.)
Book-length articles on directors:
Articles on Directors. Those that begin with auteur checklists of subjects and Visual Style techniques, are marked with an *. The lists are a powerful way to learn a lot about a director, in a hurry:
Film Lists:
Television:
Portals: Links to Articles on This Site:
Film Links, to other web sites:
Reference sites:
Resources, for free:
Courses, textbooks, training materials for free:
(C)Copyright 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 by Michael E. Grost. Reproduction and distribution are permissible for non-profit purposes only, but no changes are to be made to this document without the author's written consent.
