Saturday, January 29, 2022

New & Upcoming Classic Film Books (18)

New year, new books! Let's kick off the new year (albeit a little late) with some 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. For any scholarly books I make sure the ones included are affordable. There are also some reissues added to the bunch. Publication dates range from January to June 2022 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. 


JANUARY


Women and National Identity in U.S. Silent Film 
by Liz Clarke
Rutgers University Press
174 pages — January 2022




Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century 
by Dana Stevens
Atria Books
432 pages — January 2022




The Most Disruptive Films in Cinema 
by Ian Haydn Smith
Lincoln
208 pages — January 2022




The Making of a Filmmaker
by Henry K. Miller
University of California Press
250 pages — January 2022




Alfred Hitchcock's Rope
by Neil Badmington
SUNY Press
224 pages — January 2022




by Andrew Norman
White Owl
208 pages — January 2022



FEBRUARY




More Dark Alleys of Classic Horror Cinema
by Gregory William Mank
McFarland
328 pages — February 2022




A Journey through Film History and the Academy Awards
by John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky
Foreword by Helen O'Hara
Rowman and Littlefield
332 pages — February 2022




A Cultural History of the Most Glamorous, Radical, and Scandalous Oscar Fashion 
Esther Zuckerman, Montana Forbes (Illustrated by)
Running Press
240 pages — February 2022




A Filmmaker's Life 
by James Curtis
Knopf
832 pages — February 2022




Fashion, Architecture and Interior Design on Film
by Jess Berry
Bloomsbury Visual Arts
224 pages — February 2022




Paris 1850–1907
edited by by Leah Lehmbeck, Britt Salvesen, Vanessa R. Schwartz
DelMonico Books and LACMA
192 pages — February 2022




The Style and Themes of Cinema's Dark Genre
by Diana Royer
McFarland
229 pages — February 2022




How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act 
by Isaac Butler
Bloomsbury Publishing
512 pages — February 2022




Precursors from the Silent Era to the 1940s
by Kevin Grant
McFarland
161 pages — February 2022




The Making of an Irish Epic 
Paul Benedict Rowan
University Press of Kentucky
364 pages — February 2022




100 Outstanding Film Performances with Screen Time of 10 Minutes or Less 
by John DiLeo
Gliterati
320 pages — February 2022



MARCH




by Barry Keith Grant
BFI
224 pages — March 2022




by D. A. Miller
BFI
128 pages — March 2022




Master of Suspense
by Noel Simsolo and illustrated by Dominique He
NBM Publishing
312 pages — March 2022





The Basil Rathbone Story 
by David Clayton
The History Press
192 pages — March 2022




The Complete History of the Women Who Broke Barriers and Redefined Roles 
by Alicia Malone
Mango
224 pages — March 2022




by Jon Lewis
BFI
104 pages — March 2022




The Gentleman Preferred Blondes 
by Bernard F. Dick
University Press of Mississippi
304 pages — March 2022



How Movie Theaters Projected American Power Around the World 
by Ross Melnick
Columbia University Press
496 pages — March 2022




From New Yorker Films to Lincoln Plaza Cinemas 
edited by Daniel Talbot and Toby Talbot
foreword by Werner Herzog
Columbia University Press
312 pages — March 2022




The Triumph of American Cinema’s Trade Press 
Eric Hoyt
University of California Press
294 pages — March 2022




The 100 Most Popular Films of a Revolutionary Decade
by Brian Hannan
McFarland
247 pages — March 2022




by Edward Buscombe
BFI
96 pages — March 2022




by Joan Mellen
BFI
112 pages — March 2022




Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, and the Romance of the Century 
by Stephen Galloway
Grand Central Publishing
416 pages — March 2022




by Christina N. Baker
Rutgers University Press
174 pages — March 2022



APRIL




The Essential Guide to Euro-Westerns
by Kevin Grant
Foreword by Franco Nero
FAB Press
480 pages — April 2022




A Life on Stage and Screen
by Axel Nissen 
McFarland
220 pages — April 2022




University Press of Mississippi
330 pages — April 2022
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Powell's




50 Films Celebrating Cinema's Greatest Stunts 
by Scott McGee
TCM and Running Press
288 pages — April 2022




How They Create, Craft and Communicate 
by David Jenkins
Laurence King Publishing
128 pages — April 2022




Visions of Progress in Mid-Twentieth-Century America 
by Douglas Horlock
University Press of Mississippi
256 pages — April 2022




Producer to the Stars 
by Bernard F. Dick
University Press of Kentucky
336 pages — April 2022




The Hollywood Classic That Inspired a Nation 
by Alison Macor
University of Texas Press
240 pages — April 2022




When Sea Lions Were Stars of Show Business (1907-1958) 
by Gary Bohan Jr.
Excelsior Editions
326 pages — April 2022




The American World War II Film
by Bernard F. Dick
University Press of Kentucky
300 pages — April 2022




The Life and Times of Dale Evans 
by Theresa Kaminski
Lyons Press
392 pages — April 2022




A Viewer’s Guide 
James R. Russo
Sussex Academic Press
288 pages — April 2022



MAY




by Matthew Page
BFI
256 pages — May 2022




An Illustrated History 
by Steven Jones
Applause Books




Dennis Hopper, Brooke Hayward, and 1960s Los Angeles 
by Mark Rozzo
Ecco
464 pages — May 2022




Daily Inspiration and Frontier Wisdom for Men 
by Editors of the Official John Wayne Magazine
Media Lab Books
384 pages — May 2022




Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington 
by George Stevens Jr.
University Press of Kentucky
552 pages — May 2022




Theory of Studio-Era Filmmaking 
by Ana Salzberg
Edinburgh University Press
256 pages — May 2022




by Nghi Vo
Tordotcom
288 pages — May 2022




Marilyn Monroe's Life in England 
by Michelle Morgan
Pegasus Books
320 pages — May 2022




by Simon Ward and James Nolan
Titan Books
128 pages — May 2022



JUNE




The Early Cinema of Raoul Walsh
by Tom Conley
SUNY Press
256 pages — June 2022




How Movies Began
by Meghan McCarthy
Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
48 pages — June 2022



Filmmaker and Philosopher 
by Mark William Roche
Bloomsbury Academic
224 pages — June 2022



First Lady of Film 
by José-Louis Bocquet, 
illustrated by Catel Muller
SelfMadeHero
400 pages — June 2022




edited by Tony Nourmand
text by Paul Duncan
Reel Art Press
256 pages — June 2022




Through the Lens of Six Great Photographers
by James Clarke
Acc Art Books
252 pages — June 2022


Do any of these titles pique your interest? Let me know in the comment section. 

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Thursday, January 27, 2022

Sundance: Lucy and Desi

 


Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz are having a moment. They were recently been the subject of Aaron Sorkin's new movie Becoming the Ricardos, which stars Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as the famous duo. And TCM's season three of their excellent podcast The Plot Thickens devotes an entire 10 episodes (plus a bonus one) to Lucille's story. Now there is a new documentary, directed by Amy Poehler and premiering on Amazon Prime March 4th, that takes viewers into the world of these two 20th Century icons. 

Lucy and Desi follows the story of the two entertainers from their early days in New York and Cuba, to their start in Hollywood, the success of the I Love Lucy show and Desilu Studios and beyond. The documentary includes archival footage, home video, family photographs, clips from I Love Lucy and audio recordings of Ball and Arnaz talking about their lives. Poehler wanted to tell the story of Lucy and Desi through their own words which she does effectively in this film. There are plenty of interviews too including with family members, experts, and celebrities like Carol Burnett, Bette Midler and Charo. 

The documentary demonstrates just how influential Lucy and Desi really were. A powerhouse couple in the entertainment industry, the resounding success of I Love Lucy and the birth of Desilu Studios revolutionized television production. Lucille Ball was a brilliant comedian and a free spirit. Desi Arnaz was a master at the business and a talented producer. The film also explores their marriage, including stories from their children, and even goes into some detail about their second marriages, which are often overlooked despite lasting longer than the Ball-Arnaz union. There is a really moving story, as told by their daughter, about Lucy and Desi's final meeting and their final phone call. 

There were a couple of claims made in the film which were a bit off. I'd have to revisit the doc to see what exactly was said because I only got one chance to see it. It was suggested that Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance were the first on screen female comedy duo. While that was a rarity, they were not the first and such a claim ignores the fact that comedic talents like Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts and Patsy Kelly (who all worked with each other in duos) existed before the advent of television. Also there was a claim that Lucy and Desi were the original lifestyle brand which also ignores how many famous actors were employed to market household products on radio shows and in magazine ads.

Lucy and Desi is a good primer for anyone wanting to learn about these two entertainment icons. However, I would steer people more towards TCM's podcast The Plot Thickens which is very well-researched, offers more information, includes plenty of audio so you get that feeling like you heard Lucille Ball tell her own story, but also has the added benefit of Ben Mankiewicz as host.



Lucy and Desi had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and will be available on Amazon Prime in March.



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Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Sundance: Living

 



It's been a long time since I've had a strong emotional reaction to a film like I had with this one. It really spoke to my soul in such a way that I was a wreck afterwards. It's brilliant, heartbreaking and soul-reviving. It breathed new life into me.

Written by acclaimed author Kazuo Ishiguro and directed by Oliver Hermanus, Living is a remake of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's classic drama Ikiru (1952). Set in early 1950s London, the film stars Bill Nighy as Mr. Williams, a civil servant in charge of a government office that oversees projects. Mr. Williams is a widower living with his son Michael and daughter-in-law. Every day he takes the train into London to work and his routine is very set in stone. So much so that his coworkers know his routine and his quirks down pat and respect him enough to not to disturb his daily flow. His coworkers are a serious bunch with the exception of newcomer Peter Wakeling (Alex Sharp), who brings with him the enthusiasm of energy of a young man embarking on a new chapter, and Margaret Harris (Aimee Lou Wood), the sprightly young woman brings a bit of joy to the otherwise dullness of office work. Mr. Williams gets the devastating news that he has terminal cancer and little time left. He stops going to work, looking for a way to spend his final days actually living. After a few jaunts he realizes exactly what will give him a sense of purpose and a bit of happiness before his time runs out.

"I withdrew this cash and came down here to enjoy myself or live a little... but I realize I don't know how." — Mr. Williams

This film is breathtaking. Besides the poignant story, there are the wonderful performances, the stunning cinematography and the period authentic set design and costuming. Bill Nighy delivers an award worthy performance as Mr. Williams. He portrays his character as gentle, kind but ultimately lost. Mr. Williams reminds us that life is short and there is no time like the present to start living. At one point I felt the film would become too sappy, but the story steers us back to reality. We are human. We self-sabotage. We don't really grasp what living truly is. And we let a job eat away at our years, robbing us of a chance of really taking in the world around us. 

Living is a pretty faithful adaptation of Kurosawa's Ikiru in terms of story. The opening credits are laid over archival footage of 1950s London and for a moment it feels like we're watching the beginning of an old movie. 


Living recently had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. I implore you all to see it when you can. It's really just a fine piece of filmmaking. It's a movie with a lot of heart. There isn't any information about future film festival spots or a public release but when there is I will add it here. In the meantime, if you haven't seen Kurosawa's Ikiru or want to revisit it, the film is currently available on the Criterion Channel.





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