Polanski


Christopher Sandford - 2007
    Polanski would go on to become one of the best and most infamous directors in Hollywood’s history, with a list of achievements that includes Repulsion, Rosemary’s Baby, Macbeth, Chinatown, Tess, Frantic, and more recently, the Golden Globe- and Oscar-winning The Pianist.Yet the most dramatic story has unfolded within his own personal life: in August 1969, his pregnant wife Sharon Tate and seven of their friends were butchered by the Manson family. Polanski was in London at the time. Eight years later he was arrested by L.A. police on charges of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in Jack Nicholson’s home. Polanski fled the country and has since lived in exile in Paris.The director is currently filming Oliver Twist and promises to follow it with his version of the Tate killings. Both projects, dealing with child exploitation and murder, can only fuel the controversy that surrounds him. This biography is timed to coincide with the release of the movies, and will be the first opportunity to read about this talented yet wildly excessive personality in such depth for over fourteen years.

The Rough Guide to Horror Movies 1


Alan Jones - 2005
    The guide includes all the icons, from Boris Karloff to Wes Craven and Frankenstein to Freddie Kruger, including classics from Argentina, Pakistan, South Africa and the recent chillers from East Asia. The canon of fifty essential horror movies features The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Switchblade Romance, via Psycho and The Exorcist. Everything you need to know is covered from festivals, adaptations, magazines and merchandise. The guide tells the stories behind the movies that have scared us throughout the twentieth century.

The Mommie Dearest Diary: Carol Ann Tells All


Rutanya Alda - 2015
    Rutanya frames her diary with anecdotes of Robert Altman, Joan Crawford, Brian De Palma, Bob Dylan, Elia Kazan, Sam Peckinpah, Roman Polanski, Lee Strasberg, Barbra Streisand, and John Wayne, among others-a rich cast of her life's characters, who in turn entertain, illuminate, and ultimately weave Rutanya's life into Carol Ann's, setting the stage for you to vicariously live through the making of this cult classic, from her audition in the living room of director Frank Perry to the wrap party on the last day of shooting.

The Empire of Russia From the Remotest Periods to the Present Time


John S.C. Abbott - 2011
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Peter O'Toole: The Definitive Biography


Robert Sellers - 2015
    Described by Richard Burton as "the most original actor to come out of Britain since the war", O'Toole regularly seemed to veer towards self-destruction.With the help of exclusive interviews with colleagues and close friends, Peter O'Toole: The Definitive Biography paints the first complete picture of this much loved man and reveals what drove him to extremes, why he drank to excess and hated authority. But it also describes a man who was fiercely intelligent, with a great sense of humour and huge energy. Always insightful, at times funny, at times deeply moving, this is a fitting tribute to an iconic actor who made a monumental contribution to theatre and cinema.

Considering Doris Day


Tom Santopietro - 2007
    America's favorite girl next door may have projected a wholesome image that led Oscar Levant to quip "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin," but in Considering Doris Day Tom Santopietro reveals Day's underappreciated and effortless acting and singing range that ran the gamut from musicals to comedy to drama and made Day nothing short of a worldwide icon.             Covering the early Warner Brothers years through Day's triumphs working with artists as varied as Alfred Hitchcock and Bob Fosse, Santopietro's smart and funny book deconstructs the myth of Day as America's perennial virgin, and reveals why her work continues to resonate today, both onscreen as pioneering independent career woman role model, and off, as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor. Praised by James Cagney as "my idea of a great actor" and by James Garner as "the Fred Astaire of comedy," Doris Day became not just America's favorite girl, but the number one film star in the world. Yet after two weekly television series, including a triumphant five year run on CBS, she turned her back on show business forever.             Examining why Day's worldwide success in movies overshadowed the brilliant series of concept recordings she made for Columbia Records in the  '50s and '60s, Tom Santopietro uncovers the unexpected facets of Day's surprisingly sexy acting and singing style that led no less an observer than John Updike to state "She just glowed for me." Placing Day's work within the social context of America in the second half of the twentieth century, Considering Doris Day is the first book that grants Doris Day her rightful place as a singular American artist.

Winter Light


Ingmar Bergman - 1997
    

Hollywood: The Pioneers


Kevin Brownlow - 1979
    A history of the beginning days of movie making in Hollywood, focusing on the great actors like Keaton, Chaplin & Fairbanks & the great directors like Griffith & Raoul Walsh. Alive with the excitement of the old Hollywood, peppered with vivid cinematic and social recollections never before on record, illustrated with 300 rare photos - stills, on-the-set shots, portraits, most of them published here for the first time and reproduced from the original negatives or prints - this is a unique film history, the result of a unique collaboration.

Hawks on Hawks


Joseph McBride - 1982
    The distinguished director, Howard Hawks, discusses his techniques of filmmaking, analyzes the artistry of his movies, and portrays his experiences working in Hollywood.

John Ford


Peter Bogdanovich - 1978
    The fifty-year career of John Ford (1895-1973) included six Academy Awards, four New York Film Critics' Awards, and some of our most memorable films, among them The Informer (1934), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Quiet Man (1952), The Long Gray Line (1955), and The Wings of Eagles (1957). In addition, the name John Ford was practically synonymous with the great Westerns that came out of Hollywood for many years-- Stagecoach (1939), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Rio Grande (1950), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), for example. After his death a European newspaper mourned ford as "the creator of the Western," although many of his finest films were far removed from that genre. Combining interviews with John Ford with his own reflections, director Peter Bogdanovich captures both the artist and the man in a highly readable, compact book that will please film lovers and Ford admirers alike. Over a hundred stills are included, along wit hthe most completed filmography yet compiled for John Ford.

Lee Marvin: Point Blank


Dwayne Epstein - 2013
    Although Lee Marvin is best known for his icy tough guy roles—such as his chilling titular villain in The ManWho Shot Liberty Valance or the paternal yet brutally realistic platoon leader in The Big Red One—very little is known of his personal life; his family background; his experiences in WWII; his relationship with his father, family, friends, wives; and his ongoing battles with alcoholism, rage, and depression, occasioned by his postwar PTSD. Now, after years of researching and compiling interviews with family members, friends, and colleagues; rare photographs; and illustrative material, Hollywood writer Dwayne Epstein provides a full understanding and appreciation of this acting titan’s place in the Hollywood pantheon in spite of his very real and human struggles.

মানিকদার সঙ্গে


Soumitra Chattopadhyay - 1993
    Soumitra Chatterjee tells the stories of his life with Satyajit Ray, recounting his experiences on and off the sets, revealing unknown facts, and offering intimate glimpses into his relationship with the film-maker he revers. As much about Ray as it is about Chatterjee, this is a unique artistic as well as personal journey along the path walked by the director and his most beloved actor. Soumitra Chatterjee was originally rejected for the role of Apu in Apur Sansar by Satyajit Ray. How did he get it back? Did Soumitra Chatterjee advise Satyajit Ray to change the ending of Charulata? How did Satyajit Ray influence Soumitra Chatterjees career on the stage? For 35 years, Bengals most accomplished actor Soumitra Chatterjee was a constant presence in the artistic and personal life of Indias foremost film director Satyajit Ray. Not only did he act in 14 of the maestros films, he was also the film- makers most faithful student and one of his closest friends. Soumitra Chatterjee tells the stories of his life with Satyajit Ray, recounting his experiences on and off the sets, revealing unknown facts, and offering intimate glimpses into his relationship with the film-maker he revers. As much about Ray as it is about Chatterjee, this is a unique artistic as well as personal journey along the path walked by the director and his most beloved actor. My life would never be the same again. It wasnt just that he had given me the chance to act in so many of his films, but also the fact that what I had got from my relationship of thirty-five years with him was no different from what I got from my parents or my wife. It was woven into my life, into the development of my character, and will remain with me till I die

Altman on Altman


Robert Altman - 2006
    Cited as an influence by such envelope-pushing directors as Spike Jonze and P. T. Anderson, Altman has created a genre all his own, notable for its improvised, overlapping dialogue and creative cinematography. One of the key moviemakers of the 1970s--commonly considered the heyday of American film--Altman's irrepressible combination of unorthodox vision and style is most clearly evidenced in the fourteen movies he released across that decade. By fine-tuning his talent in a diverse array of genres, including westerns, thrillers, and loopy, absurdist comedies--all subtly altered to fit his signature métier--he cemented his place as one of our most esteemed directors.In these conversations with David Thompson, Altman reflects on his start in industrial filmmaking, as well as his tenure in television directing Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Bonanza, and his big break in feature films as the director of the enormously popular M*A*S*H, a project for which he was the last possible resort behind fourteen other directors. The resulting portrait reveals a quixotic man whose films continue to delight and challenge audiences, both in the United States and beyond.

The Kill Bill Diary


David Carradine - 2006
    Throughout the filming of Quentin Tarantino's brilliant, violent epic, Carradine kept a daily diary—capturing all the action, the genius, the madness, and the magic that combined to make a masterpiece. More than simply an insider's close-up look at the filmmaking process and the astonishing cast and crew—director Tarantino, star Uma Thurman, and all the other artists whose extraordinary skills helped create something glorious—The Kill Bill Diary illuminates the fine points of the serious actor's craft, as a truly unique talent takes us along with him on a quirky, breathtaking, no-holds-barred, and altogether miraculous journey. It is a must-own volume for anyone who loves the movies.

Tragic Hollywood, Beautiful, Glamorous And Dead


Jackie Ganiy - 2013
    What really happened to Natalie Wood aboard The Splendor that cold November night? Was Jayne Mansfield really decapitated? Just how decadent were the days of the silent movies? Maybe you think you've heard it all? Trust me, you haven't! Chock full of new details, shocking photos and even a segment on haunted Hollywood, you've never seen a book quite like Tragic Hollywood. Read about the unbelievable thing that happened to Errol Flynn AFTER he was dead. Find out why Sharon Tate is said to haunt her Cielo Drive Neighborhood to this day. You will not be able to put this book down! These stories are delivered with a wit and poignant observation that will leave you saying "WOW"