André Bazin (1918-58) is credited with almost single-handedly establishing the study of film as an accepted intellectual pursuit. Bazin can also be considered the principal instigator of the equally influential auteur theory: the idea that, since film is an art form, the director of a movie must be perceived as the chief creator of its unique cinematic style.Volume 1 of The Catholic Critic: André Bazin on Hollywood Movies, 1945-1958 contains, for the first time in English, much of Bazin’s penetrating writing on American cinema: on directors such as Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, Edward Dmytryk, Nicholas Ray, John Huston, and George Stevens; and on films such as The Great Dictator, On the Waterfront, Blackboard Jungle, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, and Touch of Evil.Volume 1 of André Bazin on Hollywood Movies, 1945-1958 also features a sizable scholarly apparatus, including a Bazin bibliography, credits of the films discussed as well as filmographies of their directors, and an extensive index. This collection thus represents a major contribution to the still growing academic discipline of cinema studies, as well as a testament to the continuing influence of one of the world’s pre-eminent critical thinkers.