John Belton (academic)
John Belton is an American film scholar and academic specializing in film history, theory, and technology. He is known for his work on widescreen cinema, genre theory, and the history of film technology.
Belton received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He has held teaching positions at several universities, including Rutgers University, where he is currently a professor.
His publications include:
- Widescreen Cinema (Harvard University Press, 1992) - A significant work exploring the history, aesthetics, and ideological implications of widescreen film formats.
- American Cinema/American Culture (McGraw-Hill, later published by Wiley-Blackwell; several editions) - A widely used textbook offering a comprehensive overview of American cinema from its beginnings to the present day, examining its cultural and historical contexts.
- Movies and Mass Culture (Rutgers University Press, 1996) - A collection of essays analyzing the relationship between film and popular culture.
- Painting by the Numbers: Fordism and Hollywood Cinema (Indiana University Press, 1995) - Examines the application of Fordist principles of mass production to the Hollywood studio system.
Belton's scholarship is characterized by its interdisciplinary approach, combining historical research, textual analysis, and theoretical insights to provide a comprehensive understanding of film as both an art form and a cultural product. He has also contributed significantly to the study of genre theory and the development of film studies as an academic discipline.