The Phantom Empire

Weaving observations on more than 600 mostly pre-1980 films into an incantatory second-person narrative, O'Brien ( Dream Time: Chapters from the Sixties ) posits a world of shared spectatorship shaped by the silver screen. His assumption of collective cognition may not always convince, but his insights often hit home. He muses on the resonant power of titles, from the dangerous single word ( Notorious ) to ``choreographic frivolity'' ( Everybody Does It ). O'Brien suggests cinema taught generations how techno-industrial society--the police, the government, the Mafia--really worked. He muses on Fritz Lang's invention of the art of directing, and how the best directors practiced ``the art of omission.'' He entertainingly assays the ``ultra-refined tawdriness'' of Hollywood's ``cheap twin,'' the Italian movie machine. While O'Brien looks at several genres, including horror films, he largely ignores comedies. Also, he chooses not to ponder how the ``movie century'' will fare in the age of television. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Oct.)