The Immortal Count: The Life and Films of Bela Lugosi


Arthur Lennig - 1974
    While the role may have given him eternal life on the silver screen, it doomed him to a career plagued by typecasting. After a decade of trying vainly to broaden his range and secure parts to challenge his acting abilities, Lugosi finally resigned himself to a career as the world's most recognizable vampire. His last years were spent as a forgotten and rather tragic figure.

Ingrid: A Personal Biography of Ingrid Bergman


Charlotte Chandler - 2007
    She had starred in several now-classic films: "Casablanca, Spellbound, Notorious, Gaslight, " and her co-stars included such Hollywood icons as Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, and Gregory Peck. In this insightful new biography, Charlotte Chandler draws on her extensive conversations with Bergman herself to describe what happened from Bergman's point of view, revealing a complex and fascinating woman who lived life intensely.Already a movie star in her native Sweden, Ingrid Bergman became an instant sensation for David O. Selznick in Hollywood and the number-one box-office star in the world. But the most dramatic event in her life took place off the screen when she made a film in Italy and began a passionate romance with her director, Roberto Rossellini. The scandal that followed left her exiled from America, ostracized by Hollywood, vilified in the press, denounced by clergy, censured in the U.S. Senate -- and separated from her young daughter. She was able to make films only with Rossellini.In the words of those who were involved, Chandler describes Bergman's life before, during, and after the scandal. Among those Chandler spoke with were Alfred Hitchcock, George Cukor, Sidney Lumet, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Greta Garbo, and Liv Ullmann. She spoke with Roberto Rossellini; their twin daughters, Isabella and Isotta Ingrid; Rossellini's son, Renzo; Ingrid's daughter Pia Lindstrom; and others who knew Ingrid well. This extraordinary access makes Ingrid: "Ingrid Bergman, a Personal Biography" the most perceptive and revealing book ever written about the charismatic Hollywood legend.

Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story


Cass Warner Sperling - 1993
    The first family biography of Hollywood's Warners draws on letters and interviews to follow four brothers from their immigrant beginnings to their position as prime shapers of American entertainment, capturing the excitement and tension of Hollywood's evolution.

The Heart of the Lion: A Novel of Irving Thalberg's Hollywood


Martin Turnbull - 2020
    He’s climbed all the way to head of production at newly merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and is determined to transform Leo the Lion into an icon of the most successful studio in town.The harder he works, the higher he soars. But at what cost? The more he achieves, the closer he risks flying into oblivion. A frail and faulty heart shudders inside this chest that blazes with ambition. Thalberg knows that his charmed life at the top of the Hollywood heap is a dangerous tightrope walk: each day—each breath, even—could be his last. Shooting for success means risking his health, friendships, everything. Yet, against all odds, the man no one thought would survive into adulthood almost single-handedly ushers in a new era of filmmaking.This is Hollywood at its most daring and opulent—the Sunset Strip, premieres at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, stars like Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford—and Irving is at the center of it all.From the author of the Hollywood’s Garden of Allah novels comes a mesmerizing true-life story of the man behind Golden Age mythmaking: Irving Thalberg, the prince of Tinseltown.Martin Turnbull's Hollywood’s Garden of Allah novels have been optioned for the screen by film & television producer, Tabrez Noorani.

Stanwyck


Axel Madsen - 1994
    He examines her Dickensian childhood, her violent first marriage, her painful estrangement from her son, and the troubled sexual dynamics of her marriage to Robert Taylor.

My Life In Pictures


Charlie Chaplin - 1974
    However, only once in a while does a genius emerge whose work is of such brilliance and magnitude that it surpasses all existing levels. Charles Chaplin was such an artist and his extraordinary career is a stunning testament to both his own genius and to the development of that unique popular art form--the cinema.

By Myself and Then Some


Lauren Bacall - 2005
    Their romance on and off screen made them Hollywood's most celebrated couple and together they produced some of the most electric scenes in movie history. But when Bogart died of cancer in 1957, Bacall had to find a way of living beyond the fairytale and ironic way she had evolved. In a time of post war communism, Hollywood blacklisting and revolutionary politics she moved with the legends: Hemingway, the Oliviers, Katharine Hepburn, Bobby Kennedy, an engagement to Frank Sinatra and a second turbulent marriage to Jason Robards. Now at 80, BY MYSELF AND THEN SOME brings her story up to date including her recent films and Broadway runs, fond memories of her children and many close lifelong friendships, not least the greatest love of her life, Humphrey Bogart.

Marilyn Monroe


Maurice Zolotow - 1990
    Originally published in 1960, Zolotow's book was the first to take Marilyn seriously as an actress at a time when she was thought to be just an eccentric, gorgeous blonde. 16 pages of photographs.

My Week With Marilyn


Colin Clark - 2000
    The film united Britain's leading actor, Laurence Olivier, with Hollywood's most glamorous sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe - and clashes between them entered film legend.For one glorious week, the world's biggest star sought comfort in the arms of the set's most junior employee. This is the frank, fresh and comic story of how Clark came to share Monroe's confidences - and her bed!This edition combines Colin Clark’s acclaimed 'The Prince, the Showgirl and Me' (191995) and his 'My Week with Marilyn' (2005).'More illuminating than the millions of words and pictures pumped out to expose or dish the dirt on the Monroe legend.' - Sunday TelegraphClark’s extraordinary experiences on and off set have now been turned into a major film starring Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Judi Dench, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh and Dominic Cooper.

Errol Flynn Slept Here: The Flynns, the Hamblens, Rick Nelson, and the Most Notorious House in Hollywood


Robert Matzen - 2009
    Its story spans five continents and includes Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Fidel Castro, Humphrey Bogart, Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Billy Graham, Johnny Cash, Roy Rogers, the Rolling Stones, and of course, the three owners of Mulholland Farm: wicked Errol Flynn; Christian singer, songwriter, and radio star Stuart Hamblen; and rock n roll legend Rick Nelson. On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Errol Flynn, authors Robert Matzen and Michael Mazzone tell this remarkable story for the first time, revealing the peep holes, two-way mirrors, secret passageways, and wild parties...not to mention a bodysnatching. Errol Flynn lived in this house during his most prosperous years at Warner Brothers and through the course of the rape trial that would eventually ruin him. Errol Flynn Slept Here also documents the haunting of Mulholland Farm as described by the people who lived in this, the most notorious house in Hollywood.

Sharon Tate: Recollection


Debra Tate - 2014
    Sharon Tate: Recollection is a celebration of her life and career, her influence as a fashion icon throughout the world, and presents a sociological portrait of 1960s Hollywood. All of this comes from the one-of-a-kind perspective of her sister, Debra Tate, and through stunning images and stories from those who knew her best.In this impressive photo book, Sharon Tate’s story emerges through quotes and short essays—�Recollections”—by Debra Tate, as well as by those who knew her personally and who have been influenced by her. An all-star cast contributing memories and thoughts on Sharon includes Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Robert Evans, Mia Farrow, Raquel Welch, Hugh Hefner, Michelle Phillips, Patty Duke, and Barbara Parkins. And the book is filled with hundreds of rare and unpublished photos of Sharon Tate taken by the likes of Milton Greene, Richard Avedon, Bert Stern, Norman Parkinson, Philippe Halsman, John Engstead, and more.Unlike all other books on Sharon Tate that focus on her tragic death in one of the most notorious crimes of the twentieth century, Sharon Tate: Recollection is a stunningly gorgeous tribute to her life.

Alfred Hitchcock


Peter Ackroyd - 2015
    Fat, lonely, burning with fear and ambition, his childhood was an isolated one, scented with fish from his father's shop. Afraid to leave his bedroom, he would plan great voyages, using railway timetables to plot an exact imaginary route across Europe. So how did this fearful figure become the one of the most respected film directors of the twentieth century?As an adult, Hitch rigorously controlled the press's portrait of himself, drawing certain carefully selected childhood anecdotes into full focus and blurring all others out. In this quick-witted portrait, Ackroyd reveals something more: a lugubriously jolly man fond of practical jokes, who smashes a once-used tea cup every morning to remind himself of the frailty of life. Iconic film stars make cameo appearances, just as Hitch did in his own films. Grace Kelly, Carey Grant and James Stewart despair of his detached directing style, and, perhaps most famously of all, Tippi Hedren endures cuts and bruises from a real-life fearsome flock of birds.Alfred Hitchcock wrests the director's chair back from the master of control and discovers what lurks just out of sight, in the corner of the shot.

Life Itself


Roger Ebert - 2011
    He has been reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and was the first film critic ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. He has appeared on television for four decades, including twenty-three years as cohost of Siskel & Ebert at the Movies.In 2006, complications from thyroid cancer treatment resulted in the loss of his ability to eat, drink, or speak. But with the loss of his voice, Ebert has only become a more prolific and influential writer. And now, for the first time, he tells the full, dramatic story of his life and career.Roger Ebert's journalism carried him on a path far from his nearly idyllic childhood in Urbana, Illinois. It is a journey that began as a reporter for his local daily, and took him to Chicago, where he was unexpectedly given the job of film critic for the Sun-Times, launching a lifetime's adventures.In this candid, personal history, Ebert chronicles it all: his loves, losses, and obsessions; his struggle and recovery from alcoholism; his marriage; his politics; and his spiritual beliefs. He writes about his years at the Sun-Times, his colorful newspaper friends, and his life-changing collaboration with Gene Siskel. He remembers his friendships with Studs Terkel, Mike Royko, Oprah Winfrey, and Russ Meyer (for whom he wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and an ill-fated Sex Pistols movie). He shares his insights into movie stars and directors like John Wayne, Werner Herzog, and Martin Scorsese.This is a story that only Roger Ebert could tell. Filled with the same deep insight, dry wit, and sharp observations that his readers have long cherished, this is more than a memoir-it is a singular, warm-hearted, inspiring look at life itself."I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."-from LIFE ITSELF

Forever Young : The Life, Loves, and Enduring Faith of a Hollywood Legend ; The Authorized Biography of Loretta Young


Joan Wester Anderson - 2000
    The real life and faith journey of Loretta Young -- her strong devotion to her Catholic faith and her passion for helping others in need.

Film Isms...: Understanding Cinema


Ronald Bergan - 2011
    Following the success of Isms: Understanding Art and Isms: Understanding Architectural Styles, this guide sorts the great classic films and directors according to the significant movements that have shaped the development of cinema. Beginning with the early silent era, it spans the entire range of movie history up to the present wave of indie films and the growing fascination with international cinema. Each spread is devoted to a distinct movement and explains when it first emerged, the principal directors, themes, and representative films, and is illustrated with film stills, posters, and photos. Important international cinematic breakthroughs are also highlighted, as well as the careers of international auteurs like Kurosawa, Fellini, and Almodóvar. From prewar Expressionism to twenty-first-century Dystopianism, Film Isms… offers an engaging, new way of understanding movie history.