Description
Collector's Note – Why This Issue Matters
The October 1967 issue of American Cinematographer featuring coverage of The St. Valentine's Day Massacre arrives at a fascinating and transitional moment in Hollywood filmmaking history. Roger Corman's The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was released in 1967 as one of the more technically ambitious productions of his career — a period gangster film set in 1929 Chicago, depicting the infamous mob massacre ordered by Al Capone. Unlike many of Corman's lower-budget independent productions, this film was made for 20th Century Fox with a comparatively substantial budget, and its cinematography by Milton Krasner reflected the kind of professional studio craft that made it a legitimate subject for American Cinematographer's technically minded readership. Coverage in this publication signaled that the film was being taken seriously as a cinematographic achievement, not merely as genre entertainment.
October 1967 sits at one of the most consequential thresholds in American cinema history. The Hollywood studio system that had defined filmmaking for four decades was in terminal decline, and the New Hollywood movement that would produce Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, and Easy Rider was just beginning to emerge. Bonnie and Clyde — which would transform American crime cinema and directly influence how gangster films were made for the next decade — was released in August 1967, just two months before this issue's publication. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre belongs to the transitional moment between the old Hollywood gangster tradition and the rawer, more violent approach that Bonnie and Clyde was inaugurating. An American Cinematographer feature on its production in October 1967 documents that transition from the perspective of the technical professionals who were navigating it. For collectors focused on American Cinematographer's coverage of 1960s Hollywood production, this issue occupies a precise and interesting position within the magazine's historical run.
The broader context of October 1967 American filmmaking makes this issue valuable beyond its specific cover subject. The magazine's editorial content would have reflected the full range of production activity in a Hollywood that was simultaneously producing its last generation of traditional studio films and its first wave of New Hollywood experiments. For collectors building archives of American film culture in 1967, this issue of American Cinematographer provides the technical and behind-the-scenes perspective that general interest film publications could not offer — the view from inside the industry at a moment of significant creative and industrial change.
About the Publication
American Cinematographer was founded in 1920 and is the official publication of the American Society of Cinematographers, making it the longest-running and most authoritative trade publication devoted to the art and craft of cinematography in the United States. Its readership consisted primarily of working film and television professionals — directors of photography, camera operators, gaffers, and technical crew — alongside serious students of filmmaking and collectors of cinema history. Its editorial format combined in-depth production features on specific films with technical articles on camera equipment, lighting, and photographic technique, as well as profiles of significant cinematographers. Its coverage from the 1960s documents Hollywood filmmaking from the inside, providing primary technical documentation of productions that film historians study from every other angle.
Key Highlights Inside
- Production coverage of The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) — Roger Corman's period gangster film for 20th Century Fox, documented from the cinematographic and technical production perspective that was American Cinematographer's editorial specialty.
- Behind-the-scenes photography and technical analysis of the film's production approach, providing primary documentation of how a major 1967 Hollywood gangster film was actually made at the craft level.
- Broader production and technical content typical of an October 1967 American Cinematographer issue, reflecting the full range of Hollywood and television production activity during one of the most transitional periods in American cinema history.
Note: Specific interior articles beyond the cover production feature are unconfirmed for this issue. The above reflects what is verifiable from the cover subject matter, publication format, and historical context of the date.
Condition & Rarity
Graded Good, with minor wear throughout and a label on the back cover — a condition profile consistent with a trade publication that was actively read and used by working film professionals before entering collector circulation. The back-cover label is notably less impactful on collector valuation than a front-cover label would be, as it does not compromise the cover presentation or any editorial content. Minor wear throughout is expected for a nearly sixty-year-old trade magazine printed for professional rather than archival use. A protective plastic sleeve provides appropriate ongoing preservation for a publication of this age and paper stock. American Cinematographer issues from the late 1960s attract collectors across film history, cinematography archives, and Hollywood production history communities — the magazine's combination of technical depth and primary production documentation makes it a resource that general film publications cannot replicate.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
Late 1960s American Cinematographer issues covering the Hollywood transition era are a focused and historically rich collecting category, and production coverage of films from this pivotal period provides a perspective on cinema history that is available nowhere else. The full American Cinematographer collection at OriginalMagazines.com is the best place to explore available issues across the magazine's remarkable century-long run of film production documentation. For collectors building a broader archive of American film culture from this extraordinary year, the complete 1967 magazine archive offers a wide range of titles from one of the most consequential years in the history of American cinema.