Wednesday, March 31, 2021

New & Upcoming Classic Film Books (16)


I'm way overdue for another new book round-up. Better late than never! Get ready for a wave of new classic film books!

Are you new to my list? Here are the details. The books include biographies, memoirs, scholarly texts, coffee table books and more from a variety of publishers. Publication dates range from January to July 2021 and these are subject to change.

Links go to Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Powell's. I receive a small commission if you shop through some (not all) of my buy links. With that said if you're going to buy from any of these links, make sure you click through to Larry Edmunds Bookshop and support that fantastic book store!







 by Cicely Tyson
HarperCollins
432 pages— January 2021




The Killer 1940s
by Kimberly Truhler
GoodKnight Books
288 pages— January 2021




A Career Chronicle and Biography
by Allan R. Ellenberger and Robert Murdoch Paton
McFarland
226 pages— January 2021




A Life from Beginning to End
by Hourly History
46 pages— January 2021




Gangster Noir in Midcentury America
by Robert Miklitsch
University of Illinois Press
304 pages— January 2021




by Terri Simone Francis
Indiana University Press
216 pages— January 2021




by Scott Allen Nollen and Yuyun Yuningsih Nollen
McFarland
484 pages— January 2021




Quick Takes: The Movie Musical
by Desiree J. Garcia
Rutgers University Press
110 pages— January 2021




by Karl K. Kitchen and edited by Paul Duncan
256 pages— January 2021




A Complete Guide to the World of Film (New Edition)
by Ronald Bergan
DK
360 pages— February 2021




A True Story
by Mike Sager
The Sager Group LLC
 172 pages— February 2021





Vernacular Jazz Dance in American Film, 1929-1945
by Susie Trenka
John Libbey Publishing
256  pages— February 2021




Florence Deshon, Max Eastman, and Charlie Chaplin
edited by Cooper C. Graham and Christoph Irmscher
Indiana University Press
474 pages— February 2021




Mike Nichols
A Life
by Mark Harris
Penguin Press
688 pages— February 2021




Second Edition
DK
360 pages— February 2021




Shane
Paramount's Classic Western
by Aubrey Malone
BearManor Media
184 pages— February 2021




Harold Pinter's Screenplays and the Artistic Process
by Steven H. Gale
University Press of Kentucky
538 pages— February 2021




A Cultural Timeline from the Magic Lantern to Netflix 
 by Ian Haydn Smith
Thames and Hudson
272 pages— March 2021




by George Chakiris with Lindsay Harrison
Lyons Press
232 pages — March 2021





An Unquiet Life
New Edition
by Stephen Michael Shearer
520 pages— March 2021




Ride the Pink Horse
Reprint
by Dorothy B. Hughes
American Mystery Classics
288 pages— March 2021




Melodrama and Visibility in Latin American Silent Film
by Juan Sebastian Ospina Leon
University of California Press
252 pages— March 2021




Six Iconic Photographers, One Legendary Star
by various
Acc Art Books
288 pages— April 2021




Dispatches from Weimar Berlin and Interwar Vienna
edited by Noah Isenberg
Princeton University Press
224 pages— April 2021




Consider Your Ass Kissed
by Ruta Lee
Briton Publishing
274 pages —April 2021




Filmmaker and Philosopher
by Robert B. Pippin
Bloomsbury Academic
168 pages— April 2021




The Mysteries of Cinema
Movies and Imagination
by Peter Conrad
Thames and Hudson
320 pages— April 2021




An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense 
by Edward White
W.W. Norton and Company
 336 pages —April 2021




A Celebration of Cars at the Movies
by Giles Chapman
The History Press
128 pages —April 2021




A Daughter's Love Story in Black and White
by Kitt Shapiro with Patricia Levy
Pegasus Books
288 pages —May 2021




The Untold Story of Their Intimate Friendship
by Charles Casillo
Kensington
352 pages —May 2021




A World History of Horror Film
by Brad Weismann
University Press of Mississippi
256 pages —May 2021




A Director's Life
by Ira Wells
The Sutherland House Inc.
400 pages —May 2021




Yellowface and Chinglish by Anglo-American Culture
by Sheng-mei Ma
Bloomsbury Academic
264 pages —May 2021




by Patricia White
BFI Film Classics
120 pages —May 2021




30 Sun-Drenched Classics
by John Malahy
TCM and Running Press
208 pages —May 2021




by Sean French
New Edition
BFI  Film Classics
80 pages —May 2021




The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made
by Josh Hull
Abrams
256 pages —May 2021




by Peter William Evans
New Edition
BFI Film Classics
80 pages —May 2021




A Filmography, 1928-1962
by David A. Redfern
McFarland
249 pages —June 2021




Film Noir, the Western and Other Genres
from the 1920s to the 1950s
McFarland
275 pages —June 2021




by Jim Cullen
Rutgers University Press
180 pages —June 2021




Jane Russell and the Marketing of a Hollywood Legend
by Christina Rice
University Press of Kentucky
392 pages —June 2021




The Women Who Made British Cinema
by Melanie Bell
University of Illinois Press
288 pages —June 2021




Postwar Anxieties and Hollywood Films, 1947-1960
by N. Megan Kelley
University Press of Mississippi
288 pages —June 2021




by Dahlia Schweitzer
Rutgers University Press
188 pages —June 2021




In the Wee Small Hours
by Tony Oppedisano and Mary Jane Ross
Scribner
320 pages —June 2021




The Lost World of Film Noir
Revised and Expanded Edition
by Eddie Muller
Turner Classic Movies/Running Press





A Complete Illustrated Biography of America's Comedy Queen
Centennial Books
192 pages —July 2021




Photographed by Terry O'Neill
by James Clarke
Acc Art Books
224 pages —July 2021



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Thursday, February 4, 2021

Sundance: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World (2021)




Director Luchino Visconti spent months traveling to Russia, Hungary, Poland, Finland and elsewhere in search of the most beautiful boy in the world. When he traveled to Stockholm, Sweden in February 1970, Visconti found him. Björn Andrésen had just turned 15 years old when his grandmother encouraged him to participate in Visconti's casting call. With his mop of blonde hair, blue eyes, feminine features and slender frame, he was the perfect choice to play Tadzio in Visconti's Death in Venice (1971). Tadzio is the son of a wealthy woman vacationing in Venice. He soon becomes the object of fascination (and more disturbingly desire) for Gustav von Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde), a dying composer. The role of Tadzio required no dialogue. Andrésen just had to look good for the camera.




Death in Venice made Björn Andrésen a celebrity overnight. He became the poster boy for ideal beauty and everyone seemed to want him. The young Andrésen was terrified by the press and remembers that time as both a "living nightmare" and a "surreal dream." When you watch Andrésen in Death in Venice and in archival press footage you will clearly see a young boy who is uncomfortable with all this newfound attention. The sudden fame and admiration, which he felt he had done nothing to earn, took a toll on his self-esteem. Andrésen couldn't even capitalize on his fame in Europe as Visconti had complete control over the newcomer with a three year contract. However, Andrésen became particularly famous in Japan. When he visited that country he was treated like a rock star. He was lavished with attention, he modeled for photo shoots, was drawn into a manga series and even made a record. Andrésen has worked as an actor ever since, most recently appearing in the horror film Midsommar (2019). But events from his past, including his mom's mysterious death and the making of Death in Venice, still haunt him to this day.

 


Directed by Kristina Lindström, The Most Beautiful Boy in the World is fascinating look into the life of Björn Andrésen. It tells the story of Björn Andrésen both as a young boy objectified by a famous film director and a man haunted by past traumas. It's an intimate documentary. We hear from Andrésen himself with narrations, interviews and both old and new footage. It also features interviews with his sister, daughter, childhood friend and others close to him.I had known very little about both Death in Venice and Andrésen so I made sure to watch the film immediately after watching the documentary. Lindström's film is as exquisite as it is eye-opening. Highly recommended.


The Most Beautiful Boy in the World premiered at the virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival as part of their World Cinema Documentary Competition. It's distributed by Juno Films but there is no news yet about a theatrical or virtual release to the public. 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Death in Venice (1971). The film is available on Blu-ray and DVD from the Criterion Collection and can be rented on DVD.com and iTunes.


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Sunday, January 31, 2021

Sundance: Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It



"She's an original and can't being that every minute of her life." — Norman Lear

Actress, singer, dancer, speaker, activist. Rita Moreno can do it all. Not only is she a natural performer but she lives for the spotlight. For someone who has such energy and passion for what she does, it's natural that her career as an entertainer has lasted as long as it has. Moreno battled sexual harassment, racism and toxic relationships and continued to thrive, broadening her horizons to work in every aspect of the entertainment industry. In doing so it is fitting that Moreno would become the first Latinx performer to earn the label of EGOT (winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). In paving her own way she helped forge a path for Latinx performers to come.








Directed by Mariem Pérez Riera, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided To Go For It is a celebratory documentary that offers a polished look at Moreno's life and career. Talking heads include George Chakiris, Norman Lear, Justina Machado, Lin Manuel Miranda, Hector Elizondo, Mitzi Gaynor, Morgan Freeman, Eva Longoria, Gloria Estefan, Terrence McNally, Moreno's daughter, manager, among others. There are also interviews with scholars who offer perspectives of how Moreno's story fits into the history of Latinx performers. Front and center is Rita Moreno herself who shares her trials and tribulations as a Puerto Rican woman coming up in an industry that didn't quite know what to do with her. We learn about what she calls her "dusky maiden roles", her incredible rise to fame, her work in Singin in the Rain (1954) and West Side Story (1960), her torrid romantic relationship with Marlon Brando, her activism and her constant evolution as an artist. Along with interviews there are paper doll animations, scenes from her 86th birthday part and plenty of archival footage. The documentary paints a portrait of a woman who loves life and bursts with joy but also suffers from self-loathing. As a biographical documentary it's quite ordinary. It does allow its subject to shine which many will appreciate. Perhaps the most eye-opening moments for me were when Moreno divulged about her experience with sexual harassment and how that mirrored her role in West Side Story and her troubled marriage.

Highly recommended for fans of Rita Moreno and for Latinx viewers who want to learn more about one of our most important entertainment icons.

Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided To Go For It premiered at the virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival as part of their US Documentary competition.


There is no trailer for the documentary so here is an introduction by the director.

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