Since the early 70s, film theory has focused on melodrama as a particularly challenging genre. Feminism, in particular, has claimed a stake in re-examination of the form, raising many critical questions about the relation between gender and culture. This collection contains the most exciting contributions from nearly two decades of critical endeavor to come to terms with these questions. Christine Gledhill's overview precedes essays that range from classics by Thomas Elsaesser, Laura Mulvey, and Geoffrey Nowell-Smith to newly commissioned perspectives covering Hollywood's output from the early 20s to the 60s. Home is Where the Heart Is constitutes invaluable reading for anyone interested in the role of melodrama in the history of cinema, feminist film criticism, and analyses of popular culture.