The Great Hollywood Musical Pictures


Book Description

Takes a lively look at some 340 motion pictures from Hollywood's most distinctive genre.




Film Genre Reader IV


Book Description

From reviews of the third edition: “Film Genre Reader III lives up to the high expectations set by its predecessors, providing an accessible and relatively comprehensive look at genre studies. The anthology’s consideration of the advantages and challenges of genre studies, as well as its inclusion of various film genres and methodological approaches, presents a pedagogically useful overview.” —Scope Since 1986, Film Genre Reader has been the standard reference and classroom text for the study of genre in film, with more than 25,000 copies sold. Barry Keith Grant has again revised and updated the book to reflect the most recent developments in genre study. This fourth edition adds new essays on genre definition and cycles, action movies, science fiction, and heritage films, along with a comprehensive and updated bibliography. The volume includes more than thirty essays by some of film’s most distinguished critics and scholars of popular cinema, including Charles Ramírez Berg, John G. Cawelti, Celestino Deleyto, David Desser, Thomas Elsaesser, Steve Neale, Thomas Schatz, Paul Schrader, Vivian Sobchack, Janet Staiger, Linda Williams, and Robin Wood.




Dana Andrews


Book Description

Dana Andrews, arguably the finest minimalist actor of his generation, as one critic commented, could convey more with one look than many actors could with a soliloquy. In a film career spanning nearly five decades, Andrews appeared in some of Hollywood's most prestigious productions, including The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). His unique screen presence was shown at its best in such film noir classics as Laura (1944) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950). Beginning with an absorbing biographical chapter, this critical survey of Dana Andrews' screen career features a complete filmography with synopses, reviews, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and insightful comments from Andrews and his coworkers. A chronological list of television, radio and theater credits is included.




Shots in the Mirror


Book Description

Criminologist Nicole Rafter analyses the source of the appeal of crime films, and their role in popular culture. She argues that crime films both reflect and shape our ideas about fundamental social, economic and political issues.




It's Good to Be the King


Book Description

This book traces the extraordinary life and career of Mel Brooks, who has ridden a wave of show business success perhaps unsurpassed by anyone of his generation. Offering many insights into the wacky world of Brooks and his many collaborators, as well as an intimate look into his successful marriage to the brilliant and beautiful actress Anne Bancroft, It's Good to Be the King might just be the most delightful, engaging, and entertaining biography you'll ever read.




Policing the World on Screen


Book Description

This book analyzes Hollywood storytelling that features an American crimefighter—whether cop, detective, or agent—who must safeguard society and the nation by any means necessary. That often means going “rogue” and breaking the rules, even deploying ugly violence, but excused as self-defense or to serve the greater good. This ends-justifies-means approach dates back to gunfighters taming the western frontier to urban cowboy cops battling urban savagery—first personified by “Dirty” Harry Callahan—and later dispatched in global interventions to vanquish threats to national security. America as the world’s “policeman often means controlling the Other at home and abroad, which also extends American hegemony from the Cold War through the War on Terror. This book also examines pioneering portrayals by males of color and female crimefighters to embody such a social or national defender, which are frustrated by their existence as threats the white knight exists to defeat.




Best Picture


Book Description

About the Book This book is a fascinating look at the history of the Oscars that dates back to 1927. Every Best Picture winner is profiled in the book. Although there have been many books listing the Oscar winners, there has never been one like this that looks in depth at every film that has been awarded the Oscar for Best Picture. The author evaluates each film and then presents at the end of each article his personal choice for the year's best film. In about two-third of the films, he selects a Best Picture that is different from the Academy Award-winner. He also includes sections of “Memorable Moments” that make each film special. The book will be of great value to movie fans, but it will also be enjoyable to anyone who has ever wondered what the fuss is about when a film is awarded Best Picture. About the Author Laurence E. MacDonald is a Professor Emeritus from Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan, where he taught music history, literature, appreciation, film music, and private piano study. He is also a former church choir director and author of several books, including The Invisible Art of Film Music and 100 Greatest Film Scores. MacDonald is a performing member and newsletter editor of the St. Cecilia Society of Flint. He is also former music critic of the Flint Journal and film reviewer of Michael Moore’s newspaper the Flint Voice. For over twenty years he hosted Music from Movies, which ran weekly on Flint’s public radio station WFBE. MacDonald has six children, three of whom are Catholic priests and avid movie fans. He has been married to Carolyn McDonough since 2013. Together they have worked to update an old colonial home in Flint’s East Village neighborhood, and have recently adopted a fun-loving beagle named Emmy, who also likes old movies.




The Hollywood Book of Extravagance


Book Description

Savor the inside scoop on over-the-top superstars "I'm not a paranoid, deranged millionaire. . . . I'm a billionaire!" "Acting is an empty and useless profession." "Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere else." "I'm interested in being provocative and pushing people's buttons." Which screen icons gave us the quotes above? How do stars get away with self-indulgent, unrestrained behaviors-or do they? In The Hollywood Book of Extravagance, longtime industry insider and Hollywood historian James Robert Parish gives you a provocative look behind the scenes at the lavish indulgences and larger-than-life egos of Tinseltown's rich and famous. The featured celebrities range from heartthrobs to industry tycoons, and from yesterday's matinee idols to today's hottest celebs. The stars are grouped according to their excesses: ego, neurosis, partying, power, rich living, and romancing. You'll devour little-known details on the excesses and exploits of notables ranging from Mae West to Madonna, Greta Garbo to Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando, Bela Lugosi to John Belushi, Zsa Zsa Gabor to Paris Hilton, Errol Flynn to Jude Law, and many more.




One Tough Cop


Book Description

"This is the true story of the maverick cop who made the busts, the headlines, and the controversies. Now Bo Dietl tells what it's really like inside the raw and deadly world of a big-city-cop--and how one man became a legend from the station house to the streets"--Back cover.