Author: Wendy L. Marshall Publisher: Scarecrow Press ISBN: 9780810852181 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 428
Book Description
"In this detailed biography, Marshall chronicles Beaudine's swift rise through the ranks, his triumph as one of the most successful directors of British comedies, accumulation and loss of personal fortunes, and prolific work in television. William Beaudine: From Silents to Television also corrects much misinformation that has been written about the director. With the most complete list of his directorial credits to date, this volume serves as the ultimate authority on Beaudine's life and career."--Jacket.
Author: Amanda Ann Klein Publisher: University of Texas Press ISBN: 0292742754 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
A series of movies that share images, characters, settings, plots, or themes, film cycles have been an industrial strategy since the beginning of cinema. While some have viewed them as "subgenres," mini-genres, or nascent film genres, Amanda Ann Klein argues that film cycles are an entity in their own right and a subject worthy of their own study. She posits that film cycles retain the marks of their historical, economic, and generic contexts and therefore can reveal much about the state of contemporary politics, prevalent social ideologies, aesthetic trends, popular desires, and anxieties. American Film Cycles presents a series of case studies of successful film cycles, including the melodramatic gangster films of the 1920s, the 1930s Dead End Kids cycle, the 1950s juvenile delinquent teenpic cycle, and the 1990s ghetto action cycle. Klein situates these films in several historical trajectories—the Progressive movement of the 1910s and 1920s, the beginnings of America's involvement in World War II, the "birth" of the teenager in the 1950s, and the drug and gangbanger crises of the early 1990s. She shows how filmmakers, audiences, film reviewers, advertisements, and cultural discourses interact with and have an impact on the film texts. Her findings illustrate the utility of the film cycle in broadening our understanding of established film genres, articulating and building upon beliefs about contemporary social problems, shaping and disseminating deviant subcultures, and exploiting and reflecting upon racial and political upheaval.
Author: Bernard A. Drew Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317928946 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 416
Book Description
In 1989 alone, for example, there were some forty-five major motion pictures which were sequels or part of a series. The film series phenomenon crosses all genres and has been around since the silent film era. This reference guide, in alphabetical order, lists some 906 English Language motion pictures, from 1899 to 1990, when the book was initially published. A brief plot description is given for each series entry, followed by the individual film titles with corresponding years, directors and performers. Animated pictures, documentaries and concert films are not included but movies released direct to video are.
Author: Charles Stumpf Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 0786460237 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 225
Book Description
Most often remembered for her gestures, expressive eyes, and body language on the screen, ZaSu Pitts was an unusual actress (and also an excellent cook: she often gave homemade candies to her coworkers, and her collection of candy recipes was published posthumously). This affectionate study of both her private life off-screen and her public persona details how the multi-talented actress become one of filmdom's favorite comediennes and character players. The book includes many rare photographs.
Author: James L. Neibaur Publisher: ISBN: 9781629335582 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 242
Book Description
William Beaudine is one of the most misrepresented directors in film history. Inaccurately called "One-Shot" due to false claims that he hurried through his projects with disdain and never filmed more than one take, Beaudine was actually a very skilled director whose career ran from silent movies to television. Beginning with one-reel short comedies, Beaudine learned how to be efficient within the parameters of a low budget, but when allowed to open up production and given time to be creative, the results were classic films like "The Canadian," "Sparrows," and "The Old Fashioned Way." At the height of his career, William Beaudine went to England and spent several years helming popular movies. When he returned to America, the industry had passed him by, and he was relegated to working in low budget movies for poverty row studios. Still, he was instrumental in helping to form the popular Bowery Boys movie series, and recalled his efficiency with silent comedy shorts to make low budget films look better. The limitations of TV production also benefited from this efficiency. William Beaudine directed everyone from Mary Pickford, Jean Harlow, Tom Mix, and W.C. Fields, to Bela Lugosi, The East Side Kids, and John Carradine. In his career he made films for Fox, Warner Brothers, MGM, Paramount, Universal, and Walt Disney, as well as Monogram, Republic, and Producers Releasing Corporation. The rumors and tales that have plagued William Beaudine's legacy are dispelled in this overview that examines his long and varied career.
Author: James L. Neibaur Publisher: ISBN: 9781629335599 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 242
Book Description
William Beaudine is one of the most misrepresented directors in film history. Inaccurately called "One-Shot" due to false claims that he hurried through his projects with disdain and never filmed more than one take, Beaudine was actually a very skilled director whose career ran from silent movies to television. Beginning with one-reel short comedies, Beaudine learned how to be efficient within the parameters of a low budget, but when allowed to open up production and given time to be creative, the results were classic films like "The Canadian," "Sparrows," and "The Old Fashioned Way." At the height of his career, William Beaudine went to England and spent several years helming popular movies. When he returned to America, the industry had passed him by, and he was relegated to working in low budget movies for poverty row studios. Still, he was instrumental in helping to form the popular Bowery Boys movie series, and recalled his efficiency with silent comedy shorts to make low budget films look better. The limitations of TV production also benefited from this efficiency. William Beaudine directed everyone from Mary Pickford, Jean Harlow, Tom Mix, and W.C. Fields, to Bela Lugosi, The East Side Kids, and John Carradine. In his career he made films for Fox, Warner Brothers, MGM, Paramount, Universal, and Walt Disney, as well as Monogram, Republic, and Producers Releasing Corporation. The rumors and tales that have plagued William Beaudine's legacy are dispelled in this overview that examines his long and varied career.
Author: John McCarty Publisher: Da Capo Press ISBN: 0786738758 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 336
Book Description
The gangster, like the gunslinger, is a classic American character-and the gangster movie, like the Western, is one of the American cinema's enduring film genres. From Scarface to White Heat, from The Godfather to The Usual Suspects, from Once Upon a Time in America to Road to Perdition, gangland on the screen remains as popular as ever.In Bullets over Hollywood, film scholar John McCarty traces the history of mob flicks and reveals why the films are so beloved by Americans. As McCarty demonstrates, the themes, characters, landscapes, stories-the overall iconography-of the gangster genre have proven resilient enough to be updated, reshaped, and expanded upon to connect with even today's young audiences. Packed with fascinating behind-the-scenes anecdotes and information about real-life hoods and their cinematic alter egos, insightful analysis, and a solid historical perspective, Bullets over Hollywood will be the definitive book on the gangster movie for years to come.
Author: Brent E. Walker Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 0786457074 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 671
Book Description
This is a comprehensive career study and filmography of Mack Sennett, cofounder of Keystone Studios, home of the Keystone Kops and other vehicles that showcased his innovative slapstick comedy. The filmography covers the more than 1,000 films Sennett produced, directed, wrote or appeared in between 1908 and 1955, including casts, credits, synopses, production and release dates, locations, cross-references of remade stories and gags, footage excerpted in compilations, identification of prints existing in archives, and other information. The book, featuring 280 photographs, also contains biographies of several hundred performers and technical personnel connected with Sennett.
Author: Anthony Balducci Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 1476650888 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 261
Book Description
At first glance, Lloyd Hamilton was a large, baby-faced comic who walked like a duck. To the trained eye, Hamilton demonstrated keen timing and an inventive mind, providing wry humor rich in emotion during his 20 year career. Perhaps most importantly, Hamilton was greatly admired by his fellow comics, receiving praise from the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. This book explores Hamilton's life and work, beginning with his conservative, middle-class childhood and continuing through the comic's entry into show business as a theatre extra, his most memorable role as half of silent comedy's "Ham and Bud" duo, and his first feature film, The Darker Self. The author examines Hamilton's private life and alcoholism and the decline of his health and career, which led to his death at the age of 43. The book includes exclusive photographs from the Hamilton family, a filmography with detailed plot descriptions, many behind-the-scenes facts, and an analysis of Hamilton's critical lost feature film A Self-Made Failure.
Author: Wendy L. Marshall
Author: Amanda Ann Klein
Author: Bernard A. Drew
Author: Charles Stumpf
Author: James L. Neibaur
Author: James L. Neibaur
Author: John McCarty
Author: Brent E. Walker
Author: Anthony Balducci
Author: Terry Rowan