The "Randolph Scott Movie Poster Book" presents nearly 90 rare and vintage posters from the classic films of the handsome, versatile leading man who became one of Hollywood's greatest and most popular western stars. As an actor, Scott's versatility can easily be seen in his long list of film roles. Scott appeared in just about every genre, including two musicals (not as a musical performer), "Roberta" (1935) and "Follow the Fleet" (1936). Both starred Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. He was even cast in films opposite Shirley Temple, Mae West and Irene Dunne. One of his three films with Dunne was the classic screwball, romantic comedy, "My Favorite Wife" (1940). By the late 1930s and early 1940s, his western roles were increasing. In 1939, Scott played Wyatt Earp in "Frontier Marshal" and a lawman in "Jesse James" (1939) with Tyrone Power in the title role. In 1940, he was Errol Flynn's nemesis in "Virginia City." In 1942, he made two films with fellow Western icon John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich, namely "The Spoilers" and "Pittsburgh." During World War II, Scott served his country in his several war films including "Bombardier" (1943), "Gung Ho!" (1943) and "China Sky" (1945). By the mid to late 1940s, Scott sat tall in the saddle, making big hit westerns like "Return of the Bad Men" (1948). Others include ''Santa Fe'' (1951), ''Fort Worth" (1951), ''Man in the Saddle" (1951), ''Man Behind the Gun" (1953), ''Ten Wanted Men" (1955) and ''Ride Lonesome" (1959). He was one of the top box office draws of the 1950s. Considered among his best films are the seven he made between 1956 and 1960 with director Budd Boetticher. They include "Seven Men From Now" (1956) ''Comanche Station" (1960). Scott's last film was 1962's ''Ride the High Country" directed by Sam Peckinpah and co-starring another longtime western star, Joel McCrea. Some critics believe the film to be his best.
In the world of Western films, Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy have frequently been overlooked in favor of names like Roy Rogers and John Wayne. Yet these three actors played a crucial role in the changing environment of the post-World War II Western, and, in the process, made many excellent middle-budget films that are still a pleasure to watch. This account of these three Western stars' careers begins in 1946, when Scott and McCrea committed themselves to the Western roles they would play for nearly twenty years. Murphy, who also joined them in 1946, would continue his Western career for a few years after his cohorts rode into the film sunset. Arranged chronologically, and balanced among the three actors, the text concludes with Audie Murphy's last Western in 1967. Covering both the personal and professional lives of these three Hollywood cowboys, the book provides both their stories and the story of a Hollywood whose attitude toward the Western was in a time of transition and transformation. The text is complemented by 60 photographs and a filmography for each of the three.
Film is the world's most popular artistic medium. What began as a novelty at country fairs rapidly became the consummate art form of the twentieth century, spanning both popular culture and high art. The Film Book enables you to identify different cinematic genres, appreciate the style of celebrated directors, see how a film is made, and understand why the greatest movies deserve their reputation. The book is unique in encompassing each of these key aspects and, as such, outspans the many other guides and film companions on the market. The guide is split into seven distinct sections, each of which deals with a particular aspect of film. The first of these chapters is a detailed history of the art form over the last 120 years, charting its evolution from a musical event accompanied by pictures, through its numerous developments and innovations-talking pictures; color film; video and DVD; online films; computer-generated special effects; and the modern 3D experience. The second shows how these techniques are applied in practice, taking the reader behind the camera to explore the film-making process and find out who's who on set, offering a useful insight into how movies are brought to life. Sections 3 to 6 look at the films themselves. Providing an overview of cinematic styles and genres, the third section covers everything from westerns, musicals, and sci-fi to arthouse cinema, the avant-garde, and the cult movie, whilst the fourth compares and contrasts the major styles of international cinema, with key schools, movements, directors, and films. The fifth section profiles 100 of the film industry's greatest and most influential directors, listing their key works and assessing their cinematic legacy, whilst the sixth section discusses 100 key cinematic works which invented, extended, or reinvented the art form. The closing section of the book is an interesting, and often provocative, range of lists compiled by a variety of film associations, publications, and institutions. Comprehensive, authoritative, and written with passion and verve, The Film Book is a unique treasure-trove of a guide that will appeal to anyone who loves movies. Table of Contents Prelims (5pp) Introduction (4pp) The story of film (56pp) 1896-1919: The Birth of Cinema 1920-1929: Silence is Golden 1930-1939: The Cinema Comes of Age 1940-1949: The Cinema Goes to War 1950-1959: The Cinema Fights Back 1970-1979: Independence Days 1980-1989: The International Years 1990-: Celluloid to Digital How movies are made (20pp) Pre-production Production Post-production World cinema (52pp) Africa The Middle East Iran Eastern Europe (including Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic) The Balkans (including Yugoslavia, Bugaria, Romania, Greece, and Turkey) Russian The Nordic countries (including Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark) Germany France Italy United Kingdom Spain Portugal Canada Central America South America (including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Chile) Australian and New Zealand China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan Japan Korea India Movie genres (52pp) Action-adventure Animation Avant-garde Biopic Comedy Costume drama Cult Disaster Documentary Epic Film Noir Gangster Horror Martial Arts Melodrama Musicals Propaganda Science Fiction and Fantasy Serials Series Teen Thrillers War Westerns 100 Key directors (92pp) Woody Allen Pedro Almodo ́var Robert Altman Michelangelo Antonioni Ingmar Bergman Bernado Bertolucci Tod Browning Luis Bun~uel Tim Burton Jane Campion Frank Capra Marcel Carne ́ Charlie Chaplin Chen Kaige Joel and Ethan Coen Francis Ford Coppola David Cronenburg George Cukor Michael Curtiz Cecil B. DeMille Jonathan Demme Brian De Palma Vittorio De Sica Stanley Donen Carl Drayer Clint Eastwood Blake Edwards Sergei Eisenstein Rainer Werner Fassbinder Federico Fellini Victor Fleming John Ford Milos Forman Abel Gance Jean-Luc Godard D.W. Griffith Howard Hawks Werner Herzog Alfred Hitchcock Hou Hsiao-Hsien John Huston Peter Jackson Elia Kazan Buster Keaton Krzysztof Kieslowski Fritz Lang David Lean Ang Lee Spike Lee Sergio Leone Ernst Lubitsch George Lucas Sidney Lumet David Lynch Alexander Mackendrick Joseph L. Mankiewicz Sam Mendes Lewis Milestone Vincente Minnelli F.W. Murnau Max Ophu ̈ls Yasujiro Ozu Georg Wilhelm Pabst Pier Paolo Pasolini Sam Peckinpah Roman Polanski Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger Nicholas Ray Satyajit Ray Carol Reed Jean Renoir Eric Rohmer Roberto Rossellini John Schlesinger Martin Scorsese Ridley Scott Stephen Spielberg Josef von Sternberg Oliver Stone Erich von Stroheim Quentin Tarantino Andrei Tarkovsky Jacques Tati Franc ̧ois Truffaut Dziga Vertov Luchino Visconti Andrzej Wajda Raoul Walsh Peter Weir Orson Welles William Wellman Wim Wenders Billy Wilder Robert Wise John Woo William Wyler Franco Zeffirelli Zhang Yimou 100 Key Movies (52pp) Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith, 1915) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1919) Nosferatu: A Symphony of Terror (F.W. Murnau, 1921) Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty, 1922) The Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1926) Napole ́on (Abel Gance, 1927) An Andalucian Dog (Un Chien Andalou) (Luis Bun~uel, 1928) The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Dreyer, 1928) All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 1930) The Blue Angel (Joseph von Sternberg, 1930) City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931) 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1933) Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933) King Kong (Merian Cooper/Ernest Schoedsack, 1933) L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Walt Disney, 1937) Olympia (Leni Riefenstahl, 1938) The Rules of the Game (La Re`gle du Jeu) (Jean Renoir, 1939) Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940) His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1940) Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) The Little Foxes (William Wyler, 1941) To Be or Not To Be (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942) In Which We Serve (Noe ̈l Coward, 1942) Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) Ossessione (Luchino Visconti, 1942) Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis) (Marcel Carne ́, 1945) A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger, 1946) It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) Bicycle Thieves (Ladri Di Biciclette) (Vittorio de Sica, 1948) Letter from an Unknown Woman (Max Ophu ̈ls, 1948) Passport to Pimlico (Henry Cornelius, 1949) The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949) Orpheus (Orphe ́e) (Jean Cocteau, 1950) Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950) Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen, 1952) Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953) On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954) All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955) Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955) The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955) The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957) Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) Ashes and Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda, 1958) The 400 Blows (Franc ̧ois Truffaut, 1959) Some Like it Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959) Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960) La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960) Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960) L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960) Last Year in Marienbad (Alain Resnais, 1961) Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962) Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964) The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1965) The Sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965) Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966) The Chelsea Girls (Andy Warhol, 1966) Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967) The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969) Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969) The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1969) The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) Aguirre, Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972) Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975) In the Realm of the Senses (Ai No Corrida) (Nagisa Oshima, 1976) Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
Budd Boetticher (1916-2001) was a bullfighter, a pleasant madman and a talented journeyman filmmaker who could--with the right material and drive--create a minor Western film classic as easily as he could kill a bull. Yet pain and passion naturally mixed in both endeavors. Drawing on studio archives and featuring insightful interviews with Boetticher and those who worked with him, this retrospective looks at each of his 33 films in detail, covering his cinematic career from his days as an assistant's assistant on the set of Hal Roach comedies to his last documentary some 45 years later.
Since the silent days of cinema, Westerns have been one of the most popular genres, not just in the United States but around the world. International filmmakers have been so taken by westerns that many directors have produced versions of their own, despite lacking access to the American West. Nowhere has the Western been more embraced outside of the United States than Italy. In the 1960s, as Hollywood heroes like John Wayne and Randolph Scott were aging, Italian filmmakers were revitalizing the western, securing younger American actors for their productions and also making stars of homegrown talent. Movies directed and produced by Italians have been branded “spaghetti westerns”—a genre that boastsseveral hundred films. In Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer’s Guide, Aliza S. Wong identifies the most significant westerns all’italiana produced as well as the individuals who significantly contributed to the genre. The author profiles such American actors as Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef; composers including Ennio Morricone and Carlo Rustichelli; and, of course, directors like Sergio Corbucci and Sergio Leone. The most memorable movies of the genre are also examined, includingCompañeros, Django; A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; and They Call Me Trinity. In addition to citing pivotal films and filmmakers, this volume also highlights other relevant aspects of the genre, including popular shooting locations, subgenres like the Zapata western, and the films and filmmakers who were inspired by the spaghetti western, including Quentin Tarantino, Richard Rodriguez, and Takashi Miike. An introduction to a unique homage of American cinema, Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer’s Guide allows fans and scholars alike to learn more about a genre that continues to fascinate audiences.
For millions & millions of people, Randolph Scott brought an identifiable image to the movie screen. His legend in film lasted for more than three decades. His stern-jawed & likable characters inspired & kept him in the top ten box office draws for all his career. He never gave interviews & kept carefully away from the spotlights off film. For the first time, Randolph Scott's son gives a look at the man & the legend from a perspective that is as unique as it is sincere. Randolph Scott never gave interviews. For the literally millions of people who still recall his fame & his appeal, this will be the only book that will afford them the insight & the truth about the legend.
Film historian and acclaimed New York Times bestselling biographer Scott Eyman has written the definitive, “captivating” (Associated Press) biography of Hollywood legend Cary Grant, one of the most accomplished—and beloved—actors of his generation, who remains as popular as ever today. Born Archibald Leach in 1904, he came to America as a teenaged acrobat to find fame and fortune, but he was always haunted by his past. His father was a feckless alcoholic, and his mother was committed to an asylum when Archie was eleven years old. He believed her to be dead until he was informed she was alive when he was thirty-one years old. Because of this experience, Grant would have difficulty forming close attachments throughout his life. He married five times and had numerous affairs. Despite a remarkable degree of success, Grant remained deeply conflicted about his past, his present, his basic identity, and even the public that worshipped him in movies such as Gunga Din, Notorious, and North by Northwest. This “estimable and empathetic biography” (The Washington Post) draws on Grant’s own papers, extensive archival research, and interviews with family and friends making it a definitive and “complex portrait of Hollywood’s original leading man” (Entertainment Weekly).