http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=SemidocumentarySemidocumentary - Revision history2026-05-06T00:28:26ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.1http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Semidocumentary&diff=1660487&oldid=previmported>GreenC bot: Rescued 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#tcm.com2025-04-12T02:23:08Z<p>Rescued 1 archive link. <a href="/wiki143/index.php?title=User:GreenC/WaybackMedic_2.5&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="User:GreenC/WaybackMedic 2.5 (page does not exist)">Wayback Medic 2.5</a> per <a href="/wiki143/index.php?title=WP:URLREQ&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="WP:URLREQ (page does not exist)">WP:URLREQ#tcm.com</a></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Form of storytelling}}<br />
A '''semidocumentary''' is a form of book, film, or television program presenting a fictional story that incorporates many factual details or actual events, or which is presented in a manner similar to a [[documentary film|documentary]]. <br />
<br />
==Characteristics==<br />
Stylistically, it has certain similarities to [[Italian Neorealism]], such as the use of location shooting and employing non-actors in secondary roles. However, the viewer is not intended to mistake a semidocumentary for a real documentary; the fictional elements are too prominent.<ref name=Trompe>{{cite book |first1=Philippe |last1=Romanski |first2=Aïssatou |last2=Sy-Wonyu |title=Trompe (-)l'oeil: Imitation & Falsification |page=343 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7pbJHd6i9nwC&pg=PA343 |publisher=University of Le Havre Press |year=2002 |isbn=2877753344 |series=Publications de l'Université de Rouen |volume=324}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Background==<br />
One of the first films of this kind was [[Henry Hathaway]]'s ''[[The House on 92nd Street]]'' (1945).<ref>[http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/30-overlooked-noir-films-that-are-worth-watching/ 30 Overlooked Noir Films That Are Worth Watching — Taste of Cinema]</ref><br />
<br />
In the late 1940s, semidocumentary films were often associated with [[film noir]] [[thrillers]], sharing a commitment to on-location shooting, gritty realism, and understated performances. <br />
<br />
==Decline==<br />
In the 1960s and 1970s, the semidocumentary style declined in feature films. The standard documentary had blurred the difference between itself and fiction so much that there was viewer confusion regarding what they were seeing.<ref name=Trompe/><br />
<br />
==Notable semidocumentary examples==<br />
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}<br />
*''[[The House on 92nd Street]]'' (1945)<ref name=Trompe/><ref>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17831/vice-squad#articles-reviews?articleId=408970 Vice Squad (1953) - Turner Classic Movies]</ref><ref>[https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/48614 DVD Talk review of Kiss Me Deadly: The Criterion Collection]</ref><br />
*''[[The Killers (1946 film)|The Killers]]'' (1946)<ref name=Trompe/><br />
*''[[13 Rue Madeleine]]'' (1946)<ref name=Trompe/><ref>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17831/vice-squad#articles-reviews?articleId=408970 Vice Squad (1953) - Turner Classic Movies]</ref><br />
*''[[T-Men]]'' (1947)<br />
*''[[Boomerang (1947 film)|Boomerang]]'' (1947)<ref name=Trompe/><br />
*''[[Brute Force (1947 film)|Brute Force]]'' (1947)<ref name=Trompe/><br />
*''[[Kiss of Death (1947 movie)|Kiss of Death]]'' (1947)<ref name=Trompe/><br />
*''[[The Naked City]]'' (1948)<ref name=Trompe/><ref>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17831/vice-squad#articles-reviews?articleId=408970 Vice Squad (1953) - Turner Classic Movies]</ref><br />
*''[[Call Northside 777]]'' (1948)<br />
*''[[Canon City (film)|Canon City]]'' (1948)<br />
*''[[He Walked by Night]]'' (1948)<br />
*''[[The Street with No Name]]'' (1948)<br />
*''[[Bodyguard (1948 film)|Bodyguard]]'' (1948)<br />
*''[[The Asphalt Jungle]]'' (1950)<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/film-noir-best-movies-double-indemnity-shadow-doubt-killing-a8816426.html 20 best film noirs: From Double Indemnity to Shadow of a Doubt|The Independent]</ref><br />
*''[[Armored Car Robbery]]'' (1950)<br />
*''[[Mystery Street]]'' (1950)<br />
*''[[Night and the City]]'' (1950)<ref>[http://mikegrost.com/semidoc.htm Film Noir: The Semi-Documentaries - by Michael E. Grost]</ref><br />
*''[[Highway 301 (film)|Highway 301]]'' (1950)<br />
*''[[Panic in the Streets (1950 movie)|Panic in the Streets]]'' (1950)<br />
*''[[Side Street (1950 film)|Side Street]]'' (1950)<br />
*''[[The Racket (1951 movie)|The Racket]]'' (1951)<br />
*''[[On Dangerous Ground]]'' (1952)<br />
*''[[Walk East on Beacon]]'' (1952)<br />
*''[[The Hitch-Hiker]]'' (1953)<br />
*''[[Dragnet (1954 film)|Dragnet]]'' (1954)<br />
*''[[The Phenix City Story]]'' (1955)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/movies/414187/The-Phenix-City-Story/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128125904/http://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/movies/414187/The-Phenix-City-Story/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 28, 2018 |title=The Phenix City Story |last=McGee |first=Scott |work=WatchTCM |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |accessdate=2021-02-22 |quote=Part semi-documentary, part social problem film, part film noir, Phil Karlson's The Phenix City Story (1955) is a one-of-a-kind window into a sordid and fascinating period in American crime history. }}</ref><br />
*''[[Man on a String]]'' (1960)<br />
*''[[The Cool World (film)|The Cool World]]'' (1963)<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/descriptions-and-essays/ Brief Descriptions and Expanded Essays of National Film Registry Titles|Library of Congress]</ref><br />
*''[[The Insect Woman]]'' (1963)<ref>[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17564905.2017.1289297 Butterflies, beetles, and postwar Japan: semi-documentary in the 1960s: Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema: Vol.9, No 1]</ref><br />
*''[[A Hard Day's Night (film)|A Hard Day's Night]]'' (1964)<ref>[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-a-hard-days-night-1964 A Hard Day's Night movie review (1964)|Roger Ebert]</ref><br />
*''[[The Endless Summer]]'' (1966)<ref>[https://www.filmsite.org/60sintro4.html Film History of the 1960s]</ref><br />
*''[[The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (film)|The St. Valentine's Day Massacre]]'' (1967)<ref>[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-st-valentine-s-day-massacre-1967 The St. Valentine's Day Massacre review (1967)|Roger Ebert]</ref><br />
*''[[Night Flight from Moscow]]'' (1973)<br />
{{div col end}}<br />
<br />
==Notable directors associated with semidocumentary==<br />
*[[Richard Fleischer]]<ref name=Trompe/><br />
*[[Louis de Rochemont]]<ref name=Trompe/><br />
*[[Gordon Douglas (director)|Gordon Douglas]]<ref>[https://screenanarchy.com/2009/12/noir-city-8-lust-larceny.html NOIR CITY 8: LUST & LARCENY! - ScreenAnarchy]</ref><br />
*[[Henry Hathaway]]<ref>[https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-new-york-noirs 10 great New York noirs|BFI]</ref><br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
*[[Docudrama]]<br />
*[[Film gris]]<br />
*[[Cinema verite]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{Film genres}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Non-fiction genres]]<br />
[[Category:Film genres]]<br />
[[Category:Documentary film genres]]<br />
[[Category:1940s in film]]<br />
[[Category:1950s in film]]<br />
[[Category:1960s in film]]<br />
[[Category:Film noir]]</div>imported>GreenC bot