Book Reviews

10 Tips on Getting in More Classic Film Reading
My Classic Film Bookshelves
Books Written by Classic Film Bloggers
New and Upcoming Books Roundups

Book Reviews 

1. American Titan: Searching for John Wayne by Marc Eliot
2. Ann Dvorak: Hollywood's Forgotten Rebel by Christina Rice
3. Anne Bancroft: A Life by Douglass K. Daniel
4. Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations by by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner
5. Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan
6. Cagney by Cagney by James Cagney
7. Cecil B. DeMille: The Art of the Hollywood Epic by Cecilia de Mille Presley and Mark A. Vieira
8. Charles Walters: The Director Who Could Make Hollywood Dance by Brent Phillips
9. Charlie Chaplin: A Brief Life by Peter Ackroyd
10. Classic Hollywood Style by Caroline Young
11. Conversations with Classic Film Stars: Interviews from Hollywood's Golden Era by by James Bawden and Ron Miller
12. Dangerous Rhythm: Why Movie Musicals Matter by Richard Barrios (Interview)
13. The Dawn of Technicolor: 1915-1935 by James Layton and David Pierce
14. The Disenchanted by Budd Schulberg
15. Dolce Vita Confidential: Fellini, Loren, Pucci, Paparazzi, and the Swinging High Life of 1950s Rome by Shawn Levy
16. Elizabeth Taylor: A Passion for Life by Joseph Papa (interview)
17. The Entertainer: Movies, Magic, and My Father's Twentieth Century by Margaret Talbot (Interview)
18. Ernie: The Autobiography by Ernest Borgnine
19. Errol & Olivia: Ego and Obsession in Golden Era Hollywood by Robert Matzen
20. Every Frenchman Has One by Olivia de Havilland
21. The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks by Tracey Goessel
22. Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris
23. Forbidden Hollywood: The Pre-Code Era (1930-1934) When Sin Ruled the Movies by Mark A. Vieira (written and video review)
24. Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan (about Frank Sinatra)
25. The Genius of the System by Thomas Schatz
26. George Sanders, Zsa Zsa and Me by David R. Slavitt
27. The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After Romeo & Juliet by Olivia Hussey with Alexander Martin
28. The Good, the Bad and Me: In My Anecdotage by Eli Wallach
29. Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales edited by Robert S. Bader (Interview)
30. Hail, Hail, Euphoria!: Presenting the Marx Brother sin Duck Soup, The Greatest War Movie Ever Made by Roy Blount Jr.
31. Hank and Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart by Scott Eyman
32. Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Richard Rhodes
33. Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut
34. Hollywood Beach Beauties by David Wills
35. Hollywood Digs: An Archaeology of Shadows by Ken LaZebnik
36. Hollywood Divided: The 1950 Screen Directors Guild Meeting and the Impact of the Blacklist by Kevin Brianton 
37. Hollywood in Kodachrome: 1940-1949
38. Hope: Entertainer of the Century by Richard Zoglin
39. The Ice Cream Blonde: The Whirlwind Life and Mysterious Death of  Screwball Comedienne Thelma Todd by Michelle Morgan (Interview)
40. I Do and I Don't: A History of Marriage in the Movies by Jeanine Basinger
41. I Loved Her In the Movies: Working with Legendary Actresses of Hollywood by Robert J. Wagner Into the Dark: The Hidden World of Film Noir, 1941-1950 by Mark A. Vieira
42. John Huston: Courage and Art by Jeffrey Meyers
43. Keep Moving by Dick Van Dyke
44. King of Jazz: Paul Whiteman's Technicolor Revue by James Layton and David Pierce
45. Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood by Kirk and Anne Douglas
46. Leading Couples: The Most Unforgettable Screen Romances of the Studio Era
47. by Frank Miller
48. Learning to Live Out Loud by Piper Laurie
49. Life Beyond Measures: Letters to My Great Grandaughter by Sidney Poitier
50. A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 by Victoria Wilson
51. M: A Graphic Novel based on the film by Fritz Lang illustrated by Jon J Muth
52. The Man Who Seduced Hollywood: The Life and Loves of Greg Bautzer, Tinseltown's Most Powerful Lawyer by B. James Gladstone (interview)
53. The Many Faces of Josephine Baker by Peggy Caravantes
54. Mary Astor's Purple Diary by Edward Sorel 
55. Maureen O'Hara: The Biography by Aubrey Malone
56. Memoirs of a Professional Cad by George Sanders
57. Missing Reels by Farran Smith Nehme
58. Must See Sci-Fi: 50 Movies That are Out of This World by Sloan De Forest (Interview)
59. My Judy Garland Life by Susie Boyt
60. A Mysterious Something in the Light: The Life of Raymond Chandler by Tom Williams
61. Nicholas Ray: The Glorious Failure of an American Director by Patrick McGilligan
62. The Night of the Hunter - A Biography of a Film by Jeffrey Couchman
63. Photo by Sammy Davis Jr. by Burt Boyar
64. The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic by Richard Sandomir
65. The Real James Dean edited by Peter L. Winkler
66. Rex Ingram: Visionary Director of the Silent Screen by Ruth Barton
67. Room 1219: The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood by Greg Merritt (Interview)
68. Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design by Jennifer Bass and Pat Kirkham
69. Seduced by Mrs. Robinson: How The Graduate Became the Touchstone of a Generation by Beverly Gray
70. Seduction: Sex, Lies and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood by Karina Longworth (podcast episode)
71. Showman of the Screen: Joseph E. Levine and His Revolutions in Film Promotion by A.T. McKenna
72. The Silent Screen and My Talking Heart by Nell Shipman
73. A Song in the Dark: The Birth of Musical Film by Richard Barrios
74. Son of Harpo Speaks by Bill Marx (Interview)
75. Spencer Tracy by James Curtis
76. A Star is Born: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away by Lorna Luft and Jeffrey Vance
77. Stella!: Mother of Modern Acting by Sheana Ochoa (Interview)
78. Stepin Fetchit: The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry by Mel Watkins
79. Sterling Hayden's Wars by Lee Mandel
80. Steve McQueen: A Biography by Marc Eliot
81. Steve McQueen: A Passion for Speed by Frederic Brun
82. Tony and Me: A Story of Friendship by Jack Klugman
83. Tough Without a Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of Humphrey Bogart by Stefan Kanfer
84. Trumbo by Bruce Cook
85. The Unconscious Actor: Out of Control, In Full Command by Darryl Hickman
86. Unsinkable: A Memoir by Debbie Reynolds
87. Warner Bros: The Making of an American Movie Studio by David Thomson
88. Warren William: Magnificent Scoundrel of Pre-Code Hollywood by John Stangeland (Interview)
89. Weddings and Movie Stars
90. William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come by James Curtis
91. Young Man with a Horn by Dorothy Baker

Features:
Bluffton: My Summers with Buster Keaton by Matt Phelan (Interview)
Film Noir: Light and Shadow edited by Alain Silver and James Ursini
Miss D & Me: Life with the Invincible Bette Davis by Kathryn Sermak and Danelle Morton

Guest Reviews: 
James Bond FAQ by Tom DeMichael (Interview)
Michael Douglas: A Biography by Marc Eliot

Currently reading:


Next up:
Giant: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Edna Ferber, and the Making of a Legendary American Film by Don Graham
Hooked on Hollywood: Discoveries from a Lifetime of Filmdom by Leonard Maltin

Reviews coming (eventually):

We'll Always Have Casablanca by Noah Isenberg
Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast by Patrick McGilligan

Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge
Hosted 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018

Page updated May 2019