Gerald Mast (May 13, 1940 – September 1, 1988) was an author, film historian, and member of the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
faculty. He was a contributor to the modern discipline of
film studies
Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various film theory, theoretical, history of film, historical, and film criticism, critical approaches to film, cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media stud ...
and film history.
Life and career
Mast was born in Los Angeles in 1940;
his family included his mother, Bessie, and Linda, his sister.
He attended the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, where he received his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in English.
He taught at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
,
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...
, and the
Richmond College of the
City University of New York
The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...
, before joining the faculty of his alma mater in 1978.
He chaired the Department of English Language and Literature,
and his donation of 300
film print
A release print is a copy of a film that is provided to a movie theater for exhibition.
Definitions
Release prints are not to be confused with other types of prints used in the photochemical post-production process:
* Rush prints, or dailies, ...
s established the university's Film Studies Center and Film Archive.
The
university press
A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. They are often an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by scholars in the field. They pro ...
published several of his books on the history and critical analysis of film.
His works were influential in the development of the academic study of film history, including the application of the
Chicago School of literary criticism to
film analysis,
and several of his books, including ''A Short History of the Movies'' and ''Film Theory and Criticism'', have been widely incorporated into university
film studies
Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various film theory, theoretical, history of film, historical, and film criticism, critical approaches to film, cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media stud ...
programs.
Criticism
Mast faced some criticism for his opposition to Hollywood auteurism by some of his peers.
Death and legacy
On September 1, 1988, Mast, age 48, died at
Bernard Mitchell Hospital from complications of
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
. At a time when public figures in the arts often remained unwilling to be associated with the disease,
Mast requested that his obituaries include his cause of death.
In a retrospective in ''
Cinema Journal
The ''Journal of Cinema and Media Studies'' (formerly ''Cinema Journal'' and ''The Journal of the Society of Cinematologists'') is the official academic journal of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (formerly the Society for Cinema Studies ...
'', Tag Gallagher compared him to French film critic
Jean Mitry
Jean-René Pierre Goetgheluck Le Rouge Tillard des Acres de Presfontaines, whose pseudonym was Jean Mitry (; 7 November 1904 – 18 January 1988), was a French Film theory, film theorist, Film criticism, critic and Filmmaking, filmmaker, a co-fo ...
, and described him as America's "film-scholar laureate".
Mast's partner, actor Peter Burnell, best known for his role as Dr. Mike Powers on the NBC daytime soap opera ''
The Doctors'', preceded him in death. Burnell was diagnosed with AIDS, and died by suicide by hanging on Jan. 5th, 1987 in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 44.
Selected works
*''A Short History of the Movies'' (1971)
*''The Comic Mind: Comedy and the Movies'' (1973)
*''Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings'' (1974)
*''Film/Cinema/Movie: A Theory of Experience'' (1977)
*''The Movies in Our Midst: Documents in the Cultural History of Film in America'' (1982)
*''Howard Hawks, Storyteller'' (1982)
*''Can't Help Singin': The American Musical on Stage and Screen'' (1987)
*''Bringing Up Baby: Howard Hawks Director" ed. (1989)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mast, Gerald
1940 births
1988 deaths
20th-century American historians
American film historians
American male non-fiction writers
Film theorists
University of Chicago alumni
University of Chicago faculty
AIDS-related deaths in Illinois
New York University faculty
Oberlin College faculty
College of Staten Island faculty