Tom Rice (film historian)

Last updated
Tom Rice
Born
Thomas William Templeman Rice

(1979-10-11) 11 October 1979 (age 44)
NationalityEnglish
Occupation(s)Film studies scholar, film historian, educator, author, researcher
Known forThe studies of films made by the Ku Klux Klan, and British Empire's Colonial Film Unit; and the depiction of the far-right in media

Thomas William Templeman Rice (born 11 October 1979), [1] is a British film studies scholar, film historian, educator, [2] author, and researcher. He is a senior lecturer on film studies at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. [3] Rice has written numerous articles [4] and two books, one book is about Ku Klux Klan films, and the other book is about the British Empire's Colonial Film Unit. [5]

Contents

Work

Rice's book White Robes, Silver Screens: Movies and the Making of the Ku Klux Klan (2015) describes the organization's nativist pro-Protestant agenda and its attacks on Jews, Catholics, and "foreign influences" including Charlie Chaplin and his wife Pola Negri. The Klan's development in the 1920s included media campaigns in radio, print, and filmmaking. [6] [7] He also discusses the struggles one faces in depicting the Klan (and/or the far right) in media due its regalia. [8] [7] In 2015, his book White Robes, Silver Screens was awarded an honorable mention in the Forward Indies in the category of performing arts and music (nonfiction) by the Forward Reviews. [9]

In his book Films for the Colonies: Cinema and the Preservation of the British Empire (2019), he explores the films establishment, their purposes, operations, evolution, and legacy. [10]

Publications

Books

Articles and chapters

Related Research Articles

<i>The Birth of a Nation</i> 1915 film by D. W. Griffith

The Birth of a Nation, originally called The Clansman, is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play The Clansman. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay with Frank E. Woods and produced the film with Harry Aitken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ku Klux Klan</span> American white supremacist terrorist hate group

The Ku Klux Klan, commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan is the name of several historical and current American white supremacist, far-right terrorist organizations and hate groups. It was “the first organized terror movement in American history.” Their primary targets are African Americans, Hispanics, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Italian Americans, Irish Americans, and Catholics, as well as immigrants, leftists, homosexuals, Muslims, atheists, and abortion providers.

<i>The Leopards Spots</i> First novel of Thomas Dixons Ku Klux Klan trilogy

The Leopard's Spots: A Romance of the White Man's Burden—1865–1900 is the first novel of Thomas Dixon's Reconstruction trilogy, and was followed by The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan (1905), and The Traitor: A Story of the Fall of the Invisible Empire (1907). In the novel, published in 1902, Dixon offers an account of Reconstruction in which he portrays a Reconstruction leader, Northern carpetbaggers, and emancipated slaves as the villains; Ku Klux Klan members are anti-heroes. While the playbills and program for The Birth of a Nation claimed The Leopard's Spots as a source in addition to The Clansman, recent scholars do not accept this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross burning</span> Antiquated practice now associated with the Ku Klux Klan

In modern times, cross burning or cross lighting is a practice which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was practiced long before the Klan's inception. Since the early 20th century, the Klan burned crosses on hillsides as a way to intimidate and threaten black Americans and other marginalized groups.

The National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP) is a white supremacist organization established in 1979 by former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke, deriving its name from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It is considered a racist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Joseph Simmons</span> Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (1880–1945)

William Joseph Simmons was an American preacher and fraternal organizer who founded and led the second Ku Klux Klan from Thanksgiving evening 1915 until being ousted in 1922 by Hiram Wesley Evans.

<i>The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan</i> Book by Thomas Dixon

The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan is a novel published in 1905, the second work in the Ku Klux Klan trilogy by Thomas Dixon Jr.. Chronicling the American Civil War and Reconstruction era from a pro-Confederate perspective, it presents the Ku Klux Klan heroically. The novel was adapted as a play and a film, first by the author as a highly successful play entitled The Clansman (1905), and a decade later by D. W. Griffith in the 1915 movie The Birth of a Nation.

This is a partial list of notable historical figures in U.S. national politics who were members of the Ku Klux Klan before taking office. Membership of the Klan is secret. Political opponents sometimes allege that a person was a member of the Klan, or was supported at the polls by Klan members.

Ku Klux Klan auxiliaries are organized groups that supplement, but do not directly integrate with the Ku Klux Klan. These auxiliaries include: Women of the Ku Klux Klan, The Jr. Ku Klux Klan, The Tri-K Girls, the American Crusaders, The Royal Riders of the Red Robe, The Ku Klux balla, and the Klan's Colored Man auxiliary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Ku Klux Klan in New Jersey</span>

The Ku Klux Klan has had a history in the U.S. state of New Jersey since the early part of the 1920s. The Klan was active in the areas of Trenton and Camden and it also had a presence in several of the state's northern counties in the 1920s. It had the most members in Monmouth County, and operated a resort in Wall Township.

<i>The Traitor</i> (Dixon novel) 1907 novel by Thomas Dixon Jr

The Traitor: A Story of the Fall of the Invisible Empire is a 1907 novel by Thomas Dixon Jr. It is the third part in a trilogy about the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction. The two previous installments were The Leopard's Spots, published in 1902, and The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan, published in 1905.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ku Klux Klan in Canada</span> Canadian extension of American white supremacist group

The Ku Klux Klan is an organization that expanded operations into Canada, based on the second Ku Klux Klan established in the United States in 1915. It operated as a fraternity, with chapters established in parts of Canada throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. The first registered provincial chapter was registered in Toronto in 1925 by two Americans and a Canadian. The organization was most successful in Saskatchewan, where it briefly influenced political activity and whose membership included a member of Parliament, Walter Davy Cowan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy MacLean</span> American professor of history (born 1959)

Nancy K. MacLean is an American historian. She is the William H. Chafe Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University. MacLean's research focuses on race, gender, labor history and social movements in 20th-century U.S. history, with particular attention to the U.S. South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Film Unit</span> British film production organisation

The Colonial Film Unit (C.F.U) was a propaganda and educational film production organization of the British government. It produced films for various British colonies including British Guiana and Nigeria. The Jamaica Film Unit was a division for films produced in Jamaica. The Colonial Film Unit was established in 1939 and produced 200 films before being shut down in 1955. It was part of Britain's Ministry of Information. It produced a magazine titled Colonial Cinema. Training filmmakers was also an important part of the unit's activities.

Thomas R. Cripps was an emeritus professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore who wrote and lectured about the history of African American cinema.

<i>The White Caps</i> 1905 American silent drama film

The White Caps is a 1905 American silent drama film, directed by Wallace McCutcheon and Edwin S. Porter showing how a man abusing his wife is punished by a group of white-hooded men. It is one of the first American films exposing conjugal violence against women and showing the action of vigilante groups.

The Traitor Within is a 1923 film promoting the Ku Klux Klan. The Toll of Justice was another Klan film made the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynchings of Mer Rouge, Louisiana</span>

Filmore Watt Daniels [sic] and Thomas F. Richards [sic] were lynched near Mer Rouge, Morehouse Parish, Louisiana by black robed Ku Klux Klan members on August 24, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary they were the 47th and 48th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States. There were five lynchings in the state of Louisiana and of the 61 lynchings they were 2 of 6 white victims.

References

  1. "Rice, Tom, 1979-". LC Name Authority File (LCNAF). The Library of Congress.
  2. "Chariots of Fire legacy keeps on running in St Andrews". BBC News. 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  3. Ellis, Emma Grey. "The Alt-Right Hates 'Rogue One,' Because Of Course It Does". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2023-04-06. says Tim Rice, a film studies lecturer at St. Andrews University and author of White Robes...
  4. "Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire - University of St Andrews". risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk.
  5. 1 2 Burns, James (2021). "Films for the Colonies: Cinema and the Preservation of the British Empire by Tom Rice". JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies. 60 (3): 196–199. doi:10.1353/cj.2021.0037. ISSN   2578-4919. S2CID   236644190.
  6. Nelson, Michael Curtis (January 19, 2016). "Night Riders and Matinee Movies: The Relationship Between the KKK and American Film". PopMatters.
  7. 1 2 Teague, Matthew (2015-12-26). "Ku Klux Klan's place in history hinges on the power of the spectacle". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  8. 1 2 Tillet, Salamishah (2018-08-02). "Spike Lee Takes on the Klan". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  9. ""White Robes, Silver Screens" is a 2015 Foreword INDIES Winner". Foreword Reviews. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  10. 1 2 Bloom, Peter J. (June 13, 2020). "Films for the Colonies: Cinema and the preservation of the British Empire by Tom Rice (review)". Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History. 21 (1). doi: 10.1353/cch.2020.0007 . S2CID   218953466 via Project MUSE.
  11. Harcourt, Felix (October 2016). "Harcourt on Rice, 'White Robes, Silver Screens: Movies and the Making of the Ku Klux Klan'". H-Net Reviews. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  12. Frymus, Agata (October 2016). "White robes, silver screens: movies and the making of the Ku Klux Klan". Early Popular Visual Culture. 14 (4): 422–424. doi:10.1080/17460654.2016.1208395. ISSN   1746-0654. S2CID   193659557.
  13. Stamler, Hannah M. (August 2020). "Review: Tom Rice, Films for the Colonies: Cinema and the Preservation of the British Empire". Journal of Visual Culture. 19 (2): 312–315. doi:10.1177/1470412920936574. ISSN   1470-4129. S2CID   221299058.
  14. Barker, Thomas (2021-03-31). "Films for the Colonies: Cinema and the Preservation of the British Empire". Journal of Religion & Film. 25 (1). doi: 10.32873/uno.dc.jrf.25.1.005 . ISSN   1092-1311. S2CID   238955997.