There are hundreds of biographies of filmstars and dozens of scholarly works on acting in general. But what about the ephemeral yet indelible moments when, for a brief scene or even just a single shot, an actor’s performance triggers a visceral response in the viewer?  Moment of Action delves into the mysteries of screen performance, revealing both the acting techniques and the technical apparatuses that coalesce in an instant of cinematic alchemy to create movie gold. Considering a range of acting styles while examining films as varied as Bringing Up Baby, Psycho, The Red Shoes, Godzilla, and The Bourne Identity, Murray Pomerance traces the common dynamics that work to structure the complex relationship between the act of cinematic performance and its eventual perception.   Mining the spaces where subjective and objective analyses merge, Pomerance offers both a deeply personal account of film viewership and a detailed examination of the intuitive gestures, orchestrated movements, and backstage maneuvers that go into creating those phenomenal moments onscreen. Moment of Action takes us on an innovative exploration of the nexus at which the actor’s keen skills spark and kindle the audience’s receptive energies. 

"The versatile critic and scholar Murray Pomerance analyzes the complexities, casts light on the enigmas, and celebrates the excitements of screen performance with insight, appreciation, and panache." - David Sterritt (author of The Cinema of Clint Eastwood: Chronicles of America) "Is acting a cinematic element, inseparable from direction, cinematography, special effects, and design? This book by the prodigious, prolific Pomerance will change how you think about screen acting." - Dennis Bingham (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) "Moment of Action magnifies every aspect of the art and craft of filmmaking. Murray Pomerance is a scholar and keen observer, whose passion for the subject is very impressive." - Elliott Gould (Academy Award-nominated actor) "The versatile critic and scholar Murray Pomerance analyzes the complexities, casts light on the enigmas, and celebrates the excitements of screen performance with insight, appreciation, and panache." - David Sterritt (author of The Cinema of Clint Eastwood: Chronicles of America) "Is acting a cinematic element, inseparable from direction, cinematography, special effects, and design? This book by the prodigious, prolific Pomerance will change how you think about screen acting." - Dennis Bingham (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) "Moment of Action magnifies every aspect of the art and craft of filmmaking. Murray Pomerance is a scholar and keen observer, whose passion for the subject is very impressive." - Elliott Gould (Academy Award-nominated actor)

MURRAY POMERANCE is an independent film scholar in Toronto, Canada. He is the author, editor, or co-editor of many books, including The Eyes Have It, Shining in Shadows: Movie Stars of the 2000s, A Little Solitaire: John Frankenheimer and American Film, and The Horse Who Drank the Sky: Film Experience Beyond Narrative and Theory (all published by Rutgers University Press).