Book Reviews


A stack of classic film books

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


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=163Le-WvU2g&feature=youtu.be

Book Reviews 

  1. Aline MacMahon: Hollywood, the Blacklist, and the Birth of Method Acting by John Stangeland (interview)
  2. All for Beauty: Makeup and Hairdressing in Hollywood's Studio Era by Adrienne L. McLean
  3. American Titan: Searching for John Wayne by Marc Eliot
  4. Ann Dvorak: Hollywood's Forgotten Rebel by Christina Rice
  5. Anne Bancroft: A Life by Douglass K. Daniel
  6. Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations by by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner
  7. Blood on the Moon by Alan K. Rode
  8. Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan
  9. Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley by Jeffrey Spivak
  10. Cagney by Cagney by James Cagney
  11. Camera Man: Buster Keaton: The Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the 20th Century by Dana Stevens
  12. Cecil B. DeMille: The Art of the Hollywood Epic by Cecilia de Mille Presley and Mark A. Vieira
  13. Charles Boyer: The French Lover by John Baxter
  14. Charles Walters: The Director Who Could Make Hollywood Dance by Brent Phillips
  15. Charlie Chaplin: A Brief Life by Peter Ackroyd
  16. Christmas in the Movies: 30 Classics to Celebrate the Season by Jeremy Arnold
  17. Classic Hollywood Style by Caroline Young
  18. Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black FIlms in a White World by Wil Haygood
  19. Conversations with Classic Film Stars: Interviews from Hollywood's Golden Era by by James Bawden and Ron Miller
  20. Danger on the Silver Screen: 50 Films Celebrating Cinema's Greatest Stunts by Scott McGee
  21. Dangerous Rhythm: Why Movie Musicals Matter by Richard Barrios (Interview)
  22. Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir by Eddie Muller
  23. The Dawn of Technicolor: 1915-1935 by James Layton and David Pierce
  24. Dervish Dust: The Life and Words of James Coburn by Robyn L. Coburn
  25. Designing Hollywood: Studio Wardrobe in the Golden Age by Christian Esquevin
  26. The Disenchanted by Budd Schulberg
  27. Dolce Vita Confidential: Fellini, Loren, Pucci, Paparazzi, and the Swinging High Life of 1950s Rome by Shawn Levy
  28. Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
  29. Dynamic Dames: 50 Leading Ladies Who Made History by Sloan De Forest (written and video review) (Interview)
  30. Elizabeth Taylor: A Passion for Life by Joseph Papa (interview)
  31. Engulfed: The Death of Paramount Pictures and the Birth of Corporate Hollywood by Bernard F. Dick (podcast episode: fast forward to 13:40)
  32. The Entertainer: Movies, Magic, and My Father's Twentieth Century by Margaret Talbot (Interview)
  33. Ernie: The Autobiography by Ernest Borgnine
  34. Errol & Olivia: Ego and Obsession in Golden Era Hollywood by Robert Matzen
  35. The Essential Directors: The Art and Impact of Cinema's Most Influential Filmmaker by Sloan De Forest (interview)
  36. Every Frenchman Has One by Olivia de Havilland
  37. Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood Memoir by Victoria Riskin (video review)
  38. The Female Gaze: Essential Movies Made by Women by Alicia Malone
  39. Finding Zsa Zsa by Sam Staggs
  40. The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks by Tracey Goessel
  41. Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris
  42. Forbidden Hollywood: The Pre-Code Era (1930-1934) When Sin Ruled the Movies by Mark A. Vieira (written and video review)
  43. Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan (about Frank Sinatra)
  44. The Genius of the System by Thomas Schatz
  45. George Sanders, Zsa Zsa and Me by David R. Slavitt
  46. The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After Romeo & Juliet by Olivia Hussey with Alexander Martin
  47. Girls on Film: Lessons from a Life of Watching Women in Movies by Alicia Malone
  48. The Good, the Bad and Me: In My Anecdotage by Eli Wallach
  49. Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales edited by Robert S. Bader (Interview)
  50. Hail, Hail, Euphoria!: Presenting the Marx Brother sin Duck Soup, The Greatest War Movie Ever Made by Roy Blount Jr.
  51. Hank and Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart by Scott Eyman
  52. Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Richard Rhodes
  53. Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut
  54. Hollywood Beach Beauties by David Wills
  55. Hollywood Black: The Stars, the Films, the Filmmakers by Donald Bogle (video)
  56. Hollywood Digs: An Archaeology of Shadows by Ken LaZebnik
  57. Hollywood Divided: The 1950 Screen Directors Guild Meeting and the Impact of the Blacklist by Kevin Brianton 
  58. Hollywood Godfather: The Life and Crimes of Billy Wilkerson by W.R. Wilkerson III
  59. Hollywood Hates Hitler! by Chris Yogerst
  60. Hollywood in Kodachrome: 1940-1949
  61. Hollywood Tiki: Film in the Era of the Pineapple Cocktail by Adam Foshko and Jason Henderson
  62. Hollywood Victory by Christian Blauvelt
  63. Hope: Entertainer of the Century by Richard Zoglin
  64. The Ice Cream Blonde: The Whirlwind Life and Mysterious Death of  Screwball Comedienne Thelma Todd by Michelle Morgan (Interview)
  65. Ida Lupino: A Biography by William Donati
  66. I Do and I Don't: A History of Marriage in the Movies by Jeanine Basinger
  67. 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
  68. In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes
  69. It's a Wonderful Life: The Official Bailey Family Cookbook
  70. John Huston: Courage and Art by Jeffrey Meyers
  71. Keep Moving by Dick Van Dyke
  72. King of Jazz: Paul Whiteman's Technicolor Revue by James Layton and David Pierce
  73. Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood by Kirk and Anne Douglas
  74. The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O'Meara
  75. Lana: The Lady, The Legend, The Truth by Lana Turner
  76. Laura by Vera Caspary
  77. Leading Couples: The Most Unforgettable Screen Romances of the Studio Erby Frank Miller
  78. Learning to Live Out Loud by Piper Laurie
  79. Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking by Rocky Lang and Barbara Hall
  80. Life Beyond Measures: Letters to My Great Grandaughter by Sidney Poitier
  81. A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 by Victoria Wilson
  82. The Lives of Robert Ryan by J.R. Jones
  83. M: A Graphic Novel based on the film by Fritz Lang illustrated by Jon J Muth
  84. The Man Who Seduced Hollywood: The Life and Loves of Greg Bautzer, Tinseltown's Most Powerful Lawyer by B. James Gladstone (interview)
  85. The Many Faces of Josephine Baker by Peggy Caravantes
  86. Mary Astor's Purple Diary by Edward Sorel 
  87. Mary Wickes: I Know I've Seen That Face Before by Steve Taravella
  88. Maureen O'Hara: The Biography by Aubrey Malone
  89. Mean... Moody... Magnificent!: Jane Russell and the Marketing of a Hollywood Legend by Christina Rice (Interview)
  90. Memoirs of a Professional Cad by George Sanders
  91. Missing Reels by Farran Smith Nehme
  92. Must See Sci-Fi: 50 Movies That are Out of This World by Sloan De Forest (Interview)
  93. My Judy Garland Life by Susie Boyt
  94. A Mysterious Something in the Light: The Life of Raymond Chandler by Tom Williams
  95. Nazimova: A Biography by Gavin Lambert
  96. Nicholas Ray: The Glorious Failure of an American Director by Patrick McGilligan
  97. The Night of the Hunter - A Biography of a Film by Jeffrey Couchman
  98. Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, The Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane
  99. Photo by Sammy Davis Jr. by Burt Boyar
  100. The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic by Richard Sandomir
  101. The Real James Dean edited by Peter L. Winkler
  102. Rex Ingram: Visionary Director of the Silent Screen by Ruth Barton
  103. Rock on Film: The Movies That Rocked the Big Screen by Fred Goodman
  104. Room 1219: The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood by Greg Merritt (Interview)
  105. Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design by Jennifer Bass and Pat Kirkham
  106. The Savvy Sphinx: How Garbo Conquered Hollywood by Robert Dance
  107. Seduced by Mrs. Robinson: How The Graduate Became the Touchstone of a Generation by Beverly Gray
  108. Seduction: Sex, Lies and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood by Karina Longworth (podcast episode)
  109. She Damned Near Ran the Studio: The Extraordinary Lives of Ida R. Koverman by Jacqueline R. Braitman
  110. Showman of the Screen: Joseph E. Levine and His Revolutions in Film Promotion by A.T. McKenna
  111. The Silent Screen and My Talking Heart by Nell Shipman
  112. A Song in the Dark: The Birth of Musical Film by Richard Barrios
  113. Son of Harpo Speaks by Bill Marx (Interview)
  114. Spencer Tracy by James Curtis
  115. A Star is Born: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away by Lorna Luft and Jeffrey Vance
  116. Stella!: Mother of Modern Acting by Sheana Ochoa (Interview)
  117. Stepin Fetchit: The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry by Mel Watkins
  118. Sterling Hayden's Wars by Lee Mandel
  119. Steve McQueen: A Biography by Marc Eliot
  120. Steve McQueen: A Passion for Speed by Frederic Brun
  121. Straight Lady : The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont, "The Fifth Marx Brother" by Chris Enss and Howard Kazanjian
  122. Summer Movies: 30 Sun-Drenched Classics by John Malahy
  123. Tony and Me: A Story of Friendshiby Jack Klugman
  124. Topper by Thorne Smith
  125. Tough Without a Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of Humphrey Bogart by Stefan Kanfer
  126. Trumbo by Bruce Cook
  127. The Unconscious Actor: Out of Control, In Full Command by Darryl Hickman
  128. Unsinkable: A Memoir by Debbie Reynolds
  129. Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film by Luis I. Reyes
  130. Warner Bros: The Making of an American Movie Studio by David Thomson
  131. Warren William: Magnificent Scoundrel of Pre-Code Hollywood by John Stangeland (Interview)
  132. Weddings and Movie Stars
  133. West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic by Richard Barrios
  134. William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come by James Curtis
  135. 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:
Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy by Burt Kearns
The Queen of Technicolor: Maria Montez in Hollywood by Tom Zimmerman
Tcm Underground: 50 Must-See Films From the World of Classic Cult and Late-Night Cinema by Millie de Chirico and Quatoyiah Murry
Competing with Idiots: Herman and Joe Mankiewicz: A Dual Portrait by Nick Davis
Truly, Madly: Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier and the Romance of the Century by Stephen Galloway
John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars by Eve Golden
Making The Best Years of Our Lives: The Hollywood Classic That Inspired a Nation by Alison Macor
Ryan's Daughter: The Making of an Irish Epic by Paul Benedict Rowan
My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington by George Steves, Jr.
Don Rickles: The Merchant of Venom by Michael Seth Starr


Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge
Hosted 2013 - 2021

Page updated September 2022

1 comment:

  1. I love your blog! I'm a huge Robert Mitchum fan; he's my favorite actor so it's nice to see another young person who appreciates him. I've always loved classic movies and frankly, it's rare to find a modern movie that wows me as much as a classic film. Thanks for all of the great work!

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