The Constant Viewer II: Excerpts from an Imaginary Cinema Diary

This is volume two of a three-volume series that spans the history of cinema as seen through the eyes of a single movie-goer. This volume begins with Tod Browning's "Dracula" in 1931 and ends with "Rocky" in 1976, with more than 270 films, cartoons and topics, including musicals, horror and SF, crime and counterculture—with special attention to the wealth of international cinema that Americans were exposed to after World War II.


As with volumes one and three, this second volume of "The Constant Viewer" is not so much a history of film as it is a living record of movie-going. The Viewer's tastes are broad—some might say indiscriminate: He's as interested in '60s grindhouse movies as he is the masterpieces of Ozu and John Ford, the emergence of the French New Wave, the explosion of drive-in B pictures, and the first hints of a new phenomenon: the summer blockbuster.


With each diary entry, the Constant Viewer presents his immediate impressions as he goes to the movies, an act he finds irresistible and deeply personal. Incorporating experiences from his own life and the world around him, the diarist provides a compelling document of the pleasures of movie-viewing.


To help you join the Constant Viewer in his cinematic journey, all the movies in volume two are available on DVD or as streaming video. And to make it easier to find individual films in the diary, you'll find an alphabetical list of movies and topics that link to the entry itself; simply tap on the title.