LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
The Fuller Biographical Legend
Fuller as Storyteller
Movement and Conflict
CHAPTER ONE: THE LIPPERT YEARS, 1948-1950
The Marketplace for Low Budget Films
Early Experiments: I Shot Jesse James, The Baron of Arizona
Establishing a Voice: The Steel Helmet
CHAPTER TWO: THE FOX YEARS, 1951-1956
The Trade-offs of Studio Filmmaking
Return to War: Fixed Bayonets • Complete Independence: Park Row
Brutality: Pickup on South Street
Classical Style: Hell and High Water, House of Bamboo
CHAPTER THREE: THE GLOBE YEARS, 1956-1961
The Challenges of Independence
No Holds Barred: Run of the Arrow, China Gate, Forty Guns, Verboten!
Sensational Style: Crimson Kimono, Underworld USA
CHAPTER FOUR: THE FREELANCE YEARS, 1961-1965 Return to War: Merrill's Marauders
Adult Exploitation: Shock Corridor, The Naked Kiss
Fuller Goes to Vietnam: The Rifle
CHAPTER FIVE: THE FINAL BATTLES, 1966-1989
Critical Recognition, Professional Frustration
Loose Ends: Shark!, Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street
A Personal Journey: The Big Red One
Inciting Controversy: White Dog
In Exile: Thieves After Dark, Street of No Return
CONCLUSION
Filmography
Bibliography
Notes
Index

First comprehensive study of this American original

A cigar-chomping storyteller who signaled "Action!" by shooting a gun, Samuel Fuller has been lionized as one of the most distinctive writer/directors ever to emerge from Hollywood. In such films as The Steel Helmet, Pickup on South Street, Shock Corridor, and The Big Red One, Fuller gleefully challenged classical and generic norms—and often standards of good taste—in an effort to shock and arouse audiences. Tackling war, crime, race, and sexuality with a candor rare for any period, Fuller's maverick vision was tested by Hollywood's transition from the studio system to independent filmmaking. Now, in the first full account of all of the director's audaciously original work, author Lisa Dombrowski brings his career into new relief. The Films of Samuel Fuller features close analysis of Fuller's pictures and draws on previously untapped production and regulatory files, script notes, and interviews to explore how artistic, economic, and industrial factors impacted Fuller's career choices and shaped the expression of his personal aesthetic. Fans of Fuller and American cinema will welcome this in-depth study of a provocative director who embodied both the unique opportunities and challenges of postwar filmmaking.

Lisa Dombrowski is an associate professor of film studies at Wesleyan University. She is the author of The Films of Samuel Fuller: If You Die, I'll Kill You! and the editor Kazan Revisited.