Lafayette College Library

Guide to searching for films by type (gangster films, musicals, screwball comedies, etc.).

The following list includes major genre headings used for films in the Lafayette Library Catalog. Click on the links below for descriptions, related headings, examples, and links to titles in the library catalog. Genre descriptions have been adapted from the Library of Congress' Moving Image Genre-Form Guide, which also includes a more expansive discussion of the topic.

Action and Adventure films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for adventure films.

Description:
Fictional works which usually feature a courageous, altruistic or patriotic hero willing to fight for his beliefs, who becomes involved in a struggle against evil forces.

Two major variants of the genre are included under this heading. Adventure films are set in an exotic location or different historical period, from the middle ages through the 19th century. They typically dramatize the exploits of actual historical figures or incidents, including kings and battles, rebellion, piracy and the Spanish Main, travel, exploration, and the creation of empires. Larger ideological issues are mythicized and conflicts personalized over historical accuracy.

Action films portray a resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds or an evil villain. They usually feature the hero in a series of chases in various modes of transportation, with victory or resolution attained after strenuous physical feats.

Related terms:
Martial arts
Spy
Suspense

Examples:
Captain Blood (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Beau Geste (1939)
The African Queen (1951)
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Billy Jack (1971)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Die Hard (1988)
Braveheart (1995)

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Biographical films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for biographical films.

Description:
Films, either fictional or non-fictional, dramatizing the life (or portion thereof) of an actual historical figure.

Examples:
Young Mister Lincoln (1939)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Patton (1970)
Reds (1981)
Amadeus (1984)
Schindler's List (1993)

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Black comedy films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for black comedy films.

Description:
Fictional work which treats serious and often tragic subjects, such as illness, war, or death, in a comic fashion.

Use for:
Dark comedy

Examples:
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
Stalag 17 (1953)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
M*A*S*H (1970)
Eating Raoul (1982)
Fargo (1996)

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Buddy films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for buddy films.

Description:
Fictional work focusing primarily on the camaraderie between two individuals, usually two men or two women. Often their relationship develops as they are thrown together while traveling or as professional partners. Although perhaps starting out as strangers, or even enemies, a bond usually comes to exist between the pair as they become friends or at least allies.

Examples:
Gunga Din (1939)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Thelma and Louise (1991)

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Caper films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for caper films.

Description:
Fictional work concentrating on the planning and eventual execution of a single major crime, such as a robbery of a bank vault or museum, requiring meticulous preparation and perfect organization and timing. The task is usually undertaken by a diverse gang to bring together the skills and specializations required, and they often have uneasy personal relations. Suspense derives from the question of whether or how the plans will succeed or fail (by accident or a factor overlooked), what will become of the loot, and whether some or all of the criminals will escape.

Examples:
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Rififi (1955)
Topkaki (1964)
How to Steal a Million (1966)
The Sting (1973)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
The Usual Suspects (1995)

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Children's films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for children's films.

Description:
Work whose view of the world or narrative presentation indicate they are aimed predominantly at a young, preteen audience. Frequently children, or older individuals or animals, presented in a child-like manner, are the primary protagonists, with adults either absent or relatively remote or menacing secondary characters.

Examples:
Heidi (1937)
National Velvet (1944)
Mary Poppins (1964)
Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Babe (1995)

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Comedy films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for comedy films.

Description:
Work in which the overall intent is to amuse, although the humor may have a serious, even pessimistic side. Although many works in different genres may contain humorous moments, a work is considered to be a comedy when the intent and the expression of the plot itself is humorous or when the tone of the entire work is overwhelmingly comic. Use more specific genre headings when possible.

Related terms:
Black comedy
Parody
Screwball comedy

Examples:
The Gold Rush (1925)
Duck Soup (1933)
The Bank Dick (1940)
Born Yesterday (1950)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Graduate (1967)
Annie Hall (1977)
Tootsie (1982)

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Crime films

Search Lafayette Library Catalog for crime films.

Description:
Fictional work depicting a narrative descent into the underworld of syndicates, criminals, and their lawless activities, such as the drug trade, or bootlegging during the Prohibition era. The plot turns on such questions as how a criminal will be caught or who stole the object of value. Use more specific genre headings when possible.

Related terms:
Caper
Detective & mystery
Film noir
Gangster
Police
Suspense

Examples:
M (1931)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Badlands (1973)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Pulp Fiction (1994)

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Detective and mystery films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for detective & mystery films.

Description:
Fictional work in which a detective (sometimes merely an endangered individual forced to "detect" for his own self-protection) attempts to solve a crime, usually a murder or theft. The detective may be an amateur, a private investigator, or a plainclothes member of a police force. Emphasis is placed on the search for clues and rationative power of the detective, rather than the efforts of police or lawbreakers.

Two major variants of the genre are included under this heading. In the whodunit, suspense derives from the narrative's puzzle-like structure, with a group of suspects, whose testimony and motives must all be investigated until, in the surprising conclusion, the intelligent detective perceives the flawed alibi or other clue betraying the culprit's identity.

In the hard-boiled detective film, crime becomes a dark metaphor that is symptomatic of what is wrong with society, rather than simply a single aberration from the norm. The hard-boiled detective film is also usually classified under film noir.

Related terms:
Caper
Film noir
Gangster
Police
Suspense

Examples:
The Thin Man (1934)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Big Sleep (1946)
And Then There Were None (1945)
Out of the Past (1947)
Kiss Me Deadly (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
Klute (1971)
Chinatown (1974)

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Disaster films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for disaster films.

Description:
Fictional or fact-based work depicting a large-scale natural or man-made calamity, such as an airplane crash or a wreck at sea, that isolates a group of people in imminent danger. They must devise at least part of their method of escape (sometimes outside assistance awaits) with only minimal materials at hand. Principle source of tension is in the question of how the extraordinary measures necessary for a rescue will be implemented and which of the varied and often self-destructive characters will have the inner resources to endure the ordeal.

Examples:
San Francisco (1936)
Airport (1970)
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Titanic (1997)

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Documentary films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for documentary films. For documentaries originally broadcast on television, search by genre using the phrase documentary television programs.

Description:
Nonfiction work defined by documentary pioneer John Grierson as the creative treatment of actuality. Grounded in some aspect of real life, documentaries may vary from a very deliberate account of facts to an extremely interpretive rendering of a subject, advocating a particular viewpoint on a political, social, or historical issue. In documentaries, actuality should still be dominant over the creative treatment, which, while often staged for the camera, should not go so far as to be dramatized for emotional impact and belong to such genres as historical films or propaganda. Documentaries may include re-enactments, such as showing the movements of armies, or brief scenes of individuals and dialogue, but do not include films that merely use a realistic technique in telling a fictional story. Note: Many documentaries added to our collection before 2003 have not yet been cataloged with this genre heading.

Examples:
Night Mail (1936)
Salesman (1969)
Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976)
Brooklyn Bridge (1981)
Roger and Me (1989)

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Educational videos

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for educational films.

Description:
Largely nontheatrical work intended for teaching and related informational purposes. Educational work includes classroom films and videos, historical recreations and dramatizations primarily intended to educate rather than entertain, and video or television broadcasting courses; they may be sponsored as well. Note: Many educational films added to our collection before 2003 have not yet been cataloged with this genre heading.

Use for:
Industrial
Instructional
Social guidance
Training

Examples:
The Future of Life
Gilbane Gold: A Case Study in Engineering Ethics

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Erotic films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for erotic films.

Description:
Sexually oriented material that is not of an explicit nature.

Examples:
The Last Tango in Paris (1972)

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Ethnographic films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for ethnographic films.

Description:
Nonfiction work documenting specific cultures or types of peoples, including field footage by cultural anthropologists or researchers and edited, analytical work seeking to understand the beliefs, customs, and social systems of various cultures or ethnic groups.

Examples:
Nanook of the North (1922)
Trance & Dance in Bali (1952)
The Holy Ghost People (1967)
The Wedding Camels (1976)
Naked Spaces: Living is Round (1985)

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Experimental films

Search Lafayette Library Catalog for experimental films.

Description:
Work that seeks to expand traditional form, structure, and content, usually subjective in approach. Largely non-commercial, experimental work is often made by a single filmmaker or a small group.

Examples:
Autumn Fire (1930)
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Mothlight (1963)
Lives of Performers (1972)

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Family in film

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for films about families.

Description:
Fictional work depicting inter-family relations between spouses, parents, offspring, siblings, and in-laws, relating how the family endures or dissolves through such emotions as love, jealousy, rivalry, and hatred.

Related terms:
Melodrama

Examples:
The Good Earth (1937)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
East of Eden (1955)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
American Beauty (1999)

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Fantasy films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for fantasy films.

Description:
Fictional work where events trespass physical laws and the bounds of human possibility, mixing the otherwise separate worlds of the natural and the supernatural. The hero often undergoes mystical experiences, and must call on powerful, extra-human forces outside themselves to prevail, such as a genie, and use such tools as a flying carpet, a magic sword or spell, or ancient religious relics. Often set in bizarre or imaginary lands, like Shangri-La or Brigadoon, among lost races, with monstrous creatures representing the divine or the diabolical, utilizing Greek mythology or Arabian Nights-type narratives.

If the primary intent is to frighten the audience in the use of the supernatural use horror. If the narrative relies on advanced technology, even if presented in a fantastic manner, use science fiction.

Related terms:
Adventure
Horror
Science Fiction

Examples:
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Superman (1978)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Being John Malkovich (1999)

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Film noir

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for examples of film noir.

Description:
Fictional work using the crime formula, but in which crime becomes a dark metaphor that is symptomatic of what is wrong with society, rather than simply a single aberration from the norm. The film noir world is one of disillusionment and full of pervasive evil, guilt, fear, and paranoia. The protagonists are frequently anti-heroic hardboiled detectives, and are surrounded by corrupt characters that may include a femme fatale. Narratives are frequently convoluted and characterized by the use of flashbacks, voice-over narration, and echoed by visual devices reminiscent of German expressionism, such as shadows, low key lighting, and oblique, unbalanced compositions. Identifying the culprit proves less significant than revelations that justify the hero's cynical perspective. Film noir was primarily made in a cycle during the 1940s and into the 1950s, but includes work made in previous and subsequent years that invoke the feel and mood of classical film noir.

Related terms:
Caper
Crime
Detective & mystery
Gangster
Police
Suspense

Examples:
Double Indemnity (1944)
Laura (1944)
The Killers (1946)
Notorious (1946)
D.O.A. (1949)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Body Heat (1981)
Red Rock West (1992)
Memento (2000)

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Gangster films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for gangster films.

Description:
Fictional work telling a crime story concentrating on the lawbreaker, utilizing his point of view, often portraying and glorifying his rise and fall. The criminal may be either an individual or part of a gang; their rivalry with other criminals is as significant to them as their concern about police apprehension. Gangsters are often excessively ambitious, materialistic, street-wise, and immoral, and suffer from megalomania and various complexes that help lead to their destruction; they fail to understand that they are living an inversion of the dream of wealth and success, and are doomed to failure.

Related terms:
Caper
Crime
Detective & mystery
Film noir
Police
Suspense

Examples:
Little Caesar (1930)
Public Enemy (1931)
Scarface (1932)
Key Largo (1948)
White Heat (1949)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The Godfather (1972)
Mean Streets (1973)
Goodfellas (1990)

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Historical films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for historical films.

Description:
Fictionalized work set in a certain specified time in the past. The reliance is on the trappings of a period setting (costume, decor, locale) to lend verisimilitude, rather than accurately reproducing the complexity of historical individuals or incidents.Films may be completely fictionalized except for the setting, or portray imaginary characters interacting with real people or events as a background. Less common is the dramatization of a specific actual event, imagining dialogue and other aspects of the actions of real individuals. Accuracy is usually sacrificed to the personalizing or mythicizing of complex political forces, and actual chronology is telescoped and often transposed. Use more specific genre headings when possible.

Use for:
Costume drama
Period piece

Related terms:
Adventure
Biographical
History, Ancient
Musical
Prehistoric peoples
War

Examples:
David Copperfield (1935)
The Heiress (1949)
American Graffiti (1973)
A Room With a View (1986)
Matewan (1987)
The English Patient (1996)

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Historical films, Ancient

Search Lafayette Library Catalog for films set in the ancient world.

Description:
Fictional work usually set during Roman times, or occasionally during another early civilization, such as that of Greece or Egypt. Most often the work emphasizes the opulence, cruelty, and decadence of ancient political and cultural life.

Examples:
Ben-Hur (1959)
Spartacus (1960)
Cleopatra (1963)
Gladiator (2000)

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Horror films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for horror films.

Description:
Fictional work portraying the dark side of life, the unknown, the forbidden, and the supernatural, with the primary aim of frightening the viewer in an entertaining, cathartic manner. Frequently, haunted houses, ghosts, werewolves, zombies, vampires, or the diabolical are depicted. The menace may also come through the horrific impact of nature or science gone wrong, such as a monster deliberately or accidentally created by advanced technology, or from earth under attack by extraterrestrial beings; in such cases use horror in conjunction with science fiction. The "monster" figure may not be one that properly inspires dread, but is simply perceived in that way by those around them.

Related terms:
Fantasy
Science fiction

Examples:
Nosferatu (1922)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Cat People (1942)
House of Wax (1953)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
Psycho (1960)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The Exorcist (1973)
Jaws (1975)
Halloween (1978)
Poltergeist (1982)
Scream (1996)

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Journalism films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for journalism films.

Description:
Fictional work centered around the world of reporters and news, with deadlines, breaking stories, competition among their colleagues, feuding with their editor, and yellow journalism and questions of journalistic ethics. Such work is typically involved with such activities as searching for a "scoop," exposing crime and corruption, and obsessively pursuing a story, often to the point of destroying a person's reputation. Includes stories of journalists in the print, newsreel, and broadcast mediums.

Examples:
His Girl Friday (1940)
The Big Carnival (1951)
Network (1976)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
Broadcast News (1987)

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Jungle films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for jungle films.

Description:
Fictional work set in the jungles of South America, Africa, or Asia, relating the adventures of humans against ferocious wild animals, the discovery of lost cities, Westerners against threatening natives, or the competition between rival tribes in an untamed setting.

Related terms:
Adventure

Examples:
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
King Kong (1933)
Mogambo (1953)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
The Emerald Forest (1985)

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Legal films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog legal films.

Description:
Fictional work in which the capacity of the legal system to find the guilty and acquit the innocent is measured through the interaction of lawyers, prosecutors, clients, witnesses, and judges, largely in a courtroom setting. The law may prove capable of rendering justice, or it may prove to be a flawed system open to abuse and susceptible to perpetuating a miscarriage of justice.

Used for:
Courtroom
Legal

Examples:
Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
12 Angry Men (1957)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
The Last Wave (1977)
My Cousin Vinny (1992)

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Martial arts films

Search Lafayette Library Catalog for martial arts films.

Description:
Fictional work designed to showcase the hero's athletic agility and ability to turn his or her body into a weapon. This skill has been achieved through his dedication to, and personification of, Oriental teachings about physical and mental discipline, allowing the hero to execute fast, fluid, but spare movements that knock out or kill numerous adversaries and result in triumph over formidable odds. The hero's adversaries range from criminals to supernatural beings. The emphasis on the actual choreographed movement dominates the narrative, which can be set in historical to modern times, in the East or the West.

Related terms:
Adventure

Examples:
Enter the Dragon (1973)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

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Melodrama films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for melodrama films.

Description:
Fictional work emphasizing emotional vicissitudes and tragic occurrences, traditionally presented in an overwrought manner. The plot usually concerns victimized or suffering protagonists and a mixture of difficulties among lovers, family, friends, or the community. The story typically encompasses both familial and romantic themes.

Related terms:
Family in film
Romance
Women in film

Examples:
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Stella Dallas (1937)
Kings Row (1942)
Letter from an Unkown Woman (1948)
Picnic (1956)
Written on the Wind (1956)
Love Story (1970)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Pleasantville (1998)

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Musical films

Search for musical films in the Lafayette Library Catalog.

Description:
Predominantly theatrical fiction work whose plot is structured around segments featuring combinations of music, song, and dance, including such various types as backstage, comedy, rock, and musical biographies. Musicals are often set in the past and feature romance as a major plot element.

Related terms:
Historical
Operas
Rock films
Romance

Examples:
42nd Street (1933)
Swing Time (1936)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
On the Town (1949)
Singin' In The Rain (1952)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
West Side Story (1961)
The Sound of Music (1965)
Cabaret (1972)
Nashville (1975)
New York, New York (1977)
Grease (1978)

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Operas

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for operas.

Description:
Nonfiction or fiction work featuring opera, opera singers, or opera composers.

Use for:
Operetta

Examples:
La Bohème
Don Giovanni

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Parody films

Search Lafayette Library Catalog for parody films.

Description:
Nonfiction or fictional work which aims to humorously imitate another film, program, or story, or another genre's formula.

Examples:
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Take the Money and Run (1969)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

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Police films

Search Lafayette Library Catalog for police films.

Description:
Fictional work portraying the activities and personalities of official law enforcement officers and agencies (from municipal police to F.B.I. to G-men) in tracking criminals. Police stories offer many of the same elements as the crime and mystery genres, but with an added concentration on the procedures of police work and characterizations of police officers. Narratives are often concerned with their excessive devotion to their work and police procedure as they cope with office routine, bureaucracy, and the death of fellow officers in the line of duty. Unlike detectives, policemen fear discovering that they will turn corrupt or are beginning to share traits in common with their criminal adversaries, by also adopting illegal tactics, although for the purpose of apprehending criminals.

Related terms:
Caper
Crime
Detective & mystery
Film noir
Gangster
Suspense

Examples:
The Big Heat (1953)
The FBI Story (1959)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Dirty Harry (1971)
The French Connection (1971)
The Untouchables (1987)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Minority Report (2002)

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Political films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for political films.

Description:
Fictional work centering on the political milieu, often of candidates, elections, and elective or appointive office. Some of the protagonists may be corrupt or dictatorial.

Examples:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
All the King's Men (1949)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Candidate (1972)
The American President (1995)

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Prehistorical films

Search Lafayette Library Catalog for prehistorical films.

Description:
Fictional work taking place in the distant past, before civilization or recorded history, and concentrating on showing living creatures long since extinct. Despite sometimes conflating the chronology of evolution, events are treated as factual, not fantasy (that is, without supernatural or magical elements). Plots frequently show cavemen fighting rival tribes as well as dinosaurs or early giant mammals. Alternatively, modern humans find prehistoric life, still surviving in an isolated "lost world" in one of the Earth's remote regions; they must then learn to survive amidst these conditions and escape.

Related terms:
Science fiction

Examples:
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
One Million Years B.C. (1966)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1993)

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Prison films

Search Lafayette Library Catalog for prison films.

Description:
Fictional work set primarily behind bars, where life becomes strictly regimented, impacting the lives of guards and wardens as well as prisoners. Nonetheless, methods of evading control and supervision are found, and motifs include attempts to escape, prove innocence, or await the death penalty. With the primary characters all criminals, one is bound to assume heroic status, if only because of differences from fellow criminals.

Examples:
The Big House (1930)
The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
Papillon (1973)
Midnight Express (1978)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

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Propaganda films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for propaganda films.

Description:
Fiction or nonfiction work designed primarily to instill or reinforce a specific ideological belief or set of beliefs in the viewer, presented either as a documentary or as a fictional story. Propaganda may be produced by all parts of the political spectrum, and should not be interpreted pejoratively.

Examples:
October: Ten Days That Shook the World (1927)
Triumph of the Will (1934)
Reefer Madness (1936)
Why We Fight (1943-45)

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Religious films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for religious films.

Description:
Fictional work designed to demonstrate the positive (and, less often, negative) power of spirituality and redemption through religious faith. Typical strains are dramatizations of the life of Christ or adaptations of Biblical stories, frequently emphasizing miracles, the beginning of Christianity, and conflicts with nonbelievers.

Related terms:
Biographical
Historical
History, ancient—drama

Examples:
Going My Way (1944)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
The Mission (1986)
Kundun (1997)

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Road films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for road films.

Description:
Fictional work in which travel or a journey, often of a picaresque or outlaw nature, and sought as a way to find freedom or escape, forms the central narrative structure.

Examples:
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
The Road to Rio (1947)
Easy Rider (1969)
The Sure Thing (1985)
Thelma and Louise (1991)

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Romance films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for romance films.

Description:
Fictional work focusing on an affectionate relationship between two people, whether in courtship or marriage, and set in modern or historical times. The lovers often face obstacles of family, occupation, money, or social class that may imperil their permanent union. There are also the difficulties of day-to-day compatibility, temptation, and infidelity. The plot climaxes either on overcoming, or failing to overcome, these difficulties.Unlike the conventional appearance of romantic subplots in many genres, romances concentrate on the love story as the main conflict. Use more specific genre headings when possible.

Related terms:
Musical

Examples:
The Sheik (1921)
City Lights (1931)
Casablanca (1942)
Roman Holiday (1953)
The Apartment (1960)
The Way We Were (1973)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)

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Samurai films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for samurai films.

Description:

Related terms:
Adventure
Historical
Martial arts

Examples:
Genroku chushingura / 47 Ronin (1941)
Shichinin no samurai / The Seven Samurai (1954)
Seppuku / Harakiri (1962)
Dai-bosatsu tôge / Sword of Doom (1966)
Ran (1985)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

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Science fiction films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for science fiction films.

Description:
Fictional work that relies on some type(s) of advanced technology, scientific development, or encounter with alien life, to make the narrative possible. Stories frequently have a prophetic nature, forecasting how technological changes may impact society in the years to come. The likely future is often seen as dehumanized, dystopian, or post-apocalyptic. May be set on both Earth or in outer space, and (most often) in the future, although sometimes set in the present or past. Horror may overlap with science fiction when advanced technology or alien life prove malevolent and terrifying.

Examples:
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Thing (1951)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Godzilla (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
2001 - A Space Odyssey (1968)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Star Wars (1977)
Alien (1979)
Blade Runner (1982)
E.T. (1982)
The Terminator (1984)

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Screwball comedy films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for screwball comdedy films.

Description:
Fictional work in which the plot normally focuses on a comic battle of the sexes between a generally passive or weak male and an eccentric (and often well-to-do) female. They are caught up in a romantic pursuit or patching up a marriage, with romantic love triumphing in the end. The heroine is often the only one aware of romance until the male's resistance is overcome. The characters behave in a wacky manner and the dialogue is fast paced and witty.

Examples:
It Happened One Night (1934)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
The Awful Truth (1937)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Lady Eve (1941)
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Adam's Rib (1949)
What's Up Doc (1972)
All of Me (1984)

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Show business films

Search Lafayette Library Catalog for show business films.

Description:
Fictional work dramatizing the world of performance, both on stage and on screen. The creative and artistic process is depicted, often going behind the scenes of the show, frequently dwelling on an individual tormented artist or the travails of a group producing their project.

Used for:
Backstage
Show business

Examples:
42nd Street (1933)
All About Eve (1950)
A Star is Born (1954)
The Producers (1968)
My Favorite Year (1982)
Get Shorty (1995)

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Social problem films

Search for social problem films in the Lafayette Library Catalog.

Description:
Fictional work dramatizing a specific societal ill, or a contemporary topic in the political arena, from alcoholism and drug addiction to racial and religious intolerance, to draw attention to the issue and take advantage of topical interest in a subject.

Examples:
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Lost Weekend (1946)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Coming Home (1978)
Philadelphia (1993)

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Sports films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for sports films.

Description:
Fictional work concentrating on how an individual athlete or team, through strength, training, agility, and/or tactics, compete in the often corrupt world of sports. Plots usually relate the victory of an underdog or the fall (and sometimes return) of the champion. Usually the world of a single sport is dramatized, such as baseball, basketball, boxing, football, horseracing, bullfighting, or automobile racing.

Examples:
Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Pat and Mike (1952)
The Hustler (1961)
Raging Bull (1980)
Bull Durham (1988)
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

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Spy films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for spy films.

Description:
Fictional work depicting spies and secret agents seeking to uncover or maintain secrets from each other. Living a masquerade, spies are usually cynical, amoral, deceitful, alienated, and ready to betray another person or cause, although these are often seen as merely the means to achieve a patriotic goal.

Use for: Espionage

Related terms: Adventure

Examples:
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
Notorious (1946)
North by Northwest (1959)
Dr. No (1962)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
The Spanish Prisoner (1997)

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Suspense films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for suspense films.

Description:
Fictional work frequently related to the crime genre in that the subject is usually some aspect of criminal activity, but with the emphasis away from a detective, gangster, caper, or even the crime itself. Instead, the narrative concentrates on suspense as an individual or group is placed in a dangerous situation whose outcome hinges on sudden reversals of fate. Frequent themes are political conspiracy, terrorism, innocents on the run, romantic triangles leading to murder, and individuals suffering from psychosis.

Use for:
Thriller

Related terms:
Adventure
Caper
Crime
Detective & mystery
Film noir
Gangster
Police
Spy

Examples:
Rebecca (1940)
The Third Man (1949)
Diabolique (1955)
Charade (1963)
The Conversation (1974)

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War films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for war films.

Description:
Fictional work portraying military conflicts. Includes not only portrayals of combat, but stories set in POW camps, accounts of the homefront, and depictions of the difficulties of demobilization and the veteran returning to civilian life. The genre includes depictions of the primary fronts during the war, as well as the battles on the geographical margins of the conflict. The genre ranges from work enthusiastically dramatizing the war effort, with harsh portrayals of the enemy, to denunciations of war.

Related terms:
Historical

Examples:
The Big Parade (1925)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Grand Illusion (1937)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
The Bridge Over the River Kwai (1957)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Platoon (1986)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
The Thin Red Line (1998)

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Western films

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for western films.

Description:
Fictional work set in the period of American westward expansion. In the name of civilization, the wilderness is conquered and nature subordinated. Key thematic oppositions are between civilization and nature, law and anarchy, settler and nomad, and the new arrivals and the Native American. The hero is a person of integrity and principle, who tames the land, stands alone, faces danger, and is the fastest draw. Although usually set in the western United States from 1865-1900, settings in the Western may extend back to the era of America's colonial period, or as far geographically as Mexico, and into the first half of the 20th century.

Related terms:
Historical

Examples:
Stagecoach (1939)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Red River (1948)
High Noon (1952)
Rancho Notorious (1952)
Shane (1953)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
The Searchers (1956)
Rio Bravo (1959)
Ride the High Country (1962)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
Unforgiven (1992)

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Women in film

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog films about women.

Description:
Fictional work usually concentrating on a woman and the challenges unique to the position of her gender in society. As a result, common situations are finding love, making a career, and/or raising a family. The protagonist is often faced by various romantic possibilities, or the belief that she has chosen the wrong profession or that she should sacrifice a career or health for her family. Frequently, these polar opposites demonstrate the limited possibilities and social roles open to women at a given historical moment. However, because the genre is centered on a woman's needs, not those of a man, the genre has often been a vehicle to examine the achievements of strong women characters who overcome stereotyped gender roles. Because male characters are often marginalized, the women's genre has often been aimed primarily at the female segment of the audience.

Use for:
Fallen woman

Related terms:
Melodrama

Examples:
Stella Dallas (1937)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
The Country Girl (1954)
Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
Tess (1979)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
The Hours (2002)

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Youth in film

Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for films about youth.

Description:
Fictional work portraying aspects of the trajectory through adolescence, including high school years, peer pressure, first love, beach parties, and initial attempts at adulthood, along with strains in the relationship with family. Teenage years are usually emphasized, although younger characters may also be included in a mix of ages, or the work may cover the transition from pre-teen to teenager, depicting a coming-of-age. A frequent emphasis is on a school setting including these ages.

Use for:
Coming-of-age
Teen

Examples:
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Splendor in the Grass (1961)
Breaking Away (1979)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Clueless (1995)

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