Of the total history of the cinema one third belongs to the years since the war. The Contemporary Cinema thus ranges from neo-realism to the new wave, from On the Town to five years of South Pacific, from the Gainsborough Lady to This Sporting Life, and the directors include not only Antonioni, Truffaut, and Anderson, but also Renoir, Bunuel, and de Sica, not only Ford, Hitchcock, and Hawks, but also Kubrick, Ray, and Cassavetes.

In a sustained, imaginative survey of the post-war scene, Penelope Houston. the editor of Sight and Sound, shows how the cinema has adjusted itself to meet a new audience, which approaches films more critically than before, but in doing so encourages new talent. At the same time she makes clear the industrial problems (in particular, the fight to co-exist with TV) which are inseparable from the business of film-making. The book is illustrated with over 30 plates, and a check-list of films provides a guide to more than one hundred directors.

"It does extremely well what its meant to do, provide a quick glimpse of what has happened globally to film since the last, or Second, World War. I cannot think of a belter short survey of world cinema at present." – Andrew Sinclair in the Spectator

"An extremely readable and much-needed assessment of films and their makers since the war." – Eric Shorter in the Daily Telegraph