Showing titles in History & Criticism

Charming and classically handsome, John Gilbert (1897-1936) was among the world's most recognizable actors during the silent era. He was a wild, swashbuckling figure on screen and off, and accounts of his life have focused on his high-profile romances with Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, his legendary conflicts with Louis B. Mayer, his four tumultuous marriages, and his swift decline after the introduction of talkies.

"What Do You Mean, Murder?" dives deep into the making of Clue and walks fans through the movie they know and love. From producer Debra Hill's original idea of Detective Parker bumbling around a mansion to Carrie Fisher's casting as Miss Scarlet, from Madeline Kahn's iconic "flames" ad-lib to the legendary deleted fourth ending, it's all here.

Explore the Stories Behind the Legends In 1984, Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter brought Marvel’s heroes and villains together for an epic battle that became the template for comic book crossovers and impacted Marvel’s storylines for decades, including major changes to the Spider-Man...

The Towering Inferno (1974) was the crowning achievement of über-producer Irwin Allen, the self-proclaimed “Master of disaster.” Crafted from two best-selling books and with a budget-busting cast headed by two mega-stars, it took two studios to bring it to the screen. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Towering Inferno, biographer-historian Nat Segaloff (who was a member of the film’s special publicity unit) writes about the production, its innovative marketing campaign, and the goings-on before, during, and after its box office success.

In the golden age of American cinema, when Hollywood stood as a symbol of glamour, freedom, and creativity, a shadow descended over its bright lights. In the tense years following World War II, fear replaced trust, and suspicion replaced truth. The Cold War had begun—and in its early years, paranoia found a stage in Hollywood itself. Behind the Curtain takes listeners deep into one of the darkest chapters of American cultural history—a time when actors, writers, directors, and musicians were silenced, exiled, or destroyed by accusations that required no proof.

This new edition of Bill Nichols' best-selling text provides an up-to-date introduction to the most important issues in documentary history and criticism. Designed for students in any field that makes use of visual evidence and persuasive strategies, Introduction to Documentary identifies the distinguishing qualities of documentary and teaches the viewer how to read documentary film. Each chapter takes up a discrete question, from "how did documentary filmmaking get started?" to "why are ethical issues central to documentary filmmaking?"

A memoir by the legendary TV executive detailing his pioneering work on Saturday Night Live, NBC Sports, Sunday Night Football, Olympic broadcasting, the NBA, music videos, late night, and more. Think of an important moment in live television over the last half-century. Dick Ebersol was likely...

Scarface is a powerful, stylized commentary on violence, materialism, excess, corruption and crime in America. Set during the drug-driven decadence of Miami in the 1980s, it is a rags to riches story about the rise and fall of an illegal immigrant from dishwasher to narcotics kingpin who is undone by greed and delusions of grandeur triggered by cocaine psychosis. It is both thrilling entertainment and a wicked, nightmarish parody of the American dream.

Dueling Banjos: The Deliverance of Drew is a collection of stories of the making of the iconic movie, Deliverance, told from the perspective of one of the four main actors in the film, Ronny Cox, who played the character of Drew. Based on the novel by James Dickey, the movie was filmed in the summer of 1971 and was released the following year in 1972. Forty years later, it remains one of the most recognized films in movie history for being raw, emotional, violent and shocking - yet it leaves a lasting impression of artistic excellence.

Bloomsbury presents Pan's Labyrinth by Mar Diestro-Dópido, read by Gabrielle Glaister. Guillermo del Toro's cult masterpiece, Pan's Labyrinth (2006), won a total of 76 awards and is one of the most commercially successful Spanish-language films ever made. Blending the world of monstrous...

The behind-the-scenes story of the iconic film, featuring new interviews with the cast and crew. An unflinching confrontation of humanity’s dark side, Brian De Palma’s crime drama film Scarface gave rise to a cultural revolution upon its release in 1983. Its impact was unprecedented, making...

The fifth and final PHANTASM took an incredible eight years to go from set to screen. The project began as an experimental short before becoming a 13-part web series and finally a feature length sequel. Shot in secret on a microbudget, RAVAGER reunites PHANTASM's core cast 35 years after the original cult classic. The new sequel filmed not in Hollywood soundstages but in the homes of cast and crew. Visual effects were handled mostly by the director.

*A New York Times Bestseller* The first definitive, unauthorized, behind-the-scenes cultural history of the Bachelor franchise, America’s favorite guilty pleasure. For sixteen years and thirty-six seasons, the Bachelor franchise has been a mainstay in American TV viewers’ lives. Since it...

Born to immigrant parents and raised in the slums of Toronto during the Depression, Ted Kotcheff learned storytelling on the streets before taking a stagehand job at CBC Television. Discovering his skills with actors and production, Kotcheff went on to direct some of the greatest films of the freewheeling 1970s, including The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Wake in Fright, and North Dallas Forty.

Even 150 years later, we are haunted by the Civil War---by its division, its bloodshed, and perhaps, above all, by its origins. Today, many believe that the war was fought over slavery. This answer satisfies our contemporary sense of justice, but as Gary W. Gallagher shows in this brilliant revisionist history, it is an anachronistic judgment.

Apocalypse Television features a dramatic insider's account of the making of and backlash against The Day After. No other book has told this story in similar fashion, venturing behind-the-scenes of the programming and news divisions at ABC, the backlash from the conservative movement and Religious Right, the challenges encountered by the film's production team, and the experiences of the citizens of Lawrence, Kansas, where the film was set and shot.

Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: “I want to be you.” My stock reply is always: “Then you have to take the whole package.” And now, at last, the most important woman in the history of television journalism gives us that “whole package,” in her inspiring and...

Der große Erzähler Werner Herzog fragt nach der seltsamsten aller Erzählungen: der von der Wahrheit. Was ist wahr? In einer Welt, die durch Fake News, politische Manipulation und künstliche Intelligenz verunsichert ist, die auf kalte Fakten setzt und doch die Poesie und den Film erfunden hat, muss Wahrheit mehr als bloß stumpfe Empirie bedeuten. Von einem erfundenen Schlachtensieg des Pharao Ramses bis zum modernen Mythos der Entführung durch Außerirdische, von ekstatischen Momenten am Filmset bis zu seinen Begegnungen mit der Wirklichkeit durch tagelanges Gehen reiht Werner Herzog auf einmalige Weise faszinierende Überlegungen und Erinnerungen aneinander. Ein Hörbuch für alle, die sich wundern können.

Film historian David Thomson, leads us into this very delicate subject. While unpacking classics such as Seven, Strangers on a Train, The Conformist, The Godfather, and The Shining, he offers a disconcerting sense of how the form of movies makes us accomplices in this sinister narrative process. Murder and the Movies admits us into what Thomson calls "a warped triangle": the creator working out a compelling death; the killer doing his and her best; and the entranced spectator trying to cling to life and a proper sense of decency.

In 1971, Newsweek heralded The Last Picture Show as "the most impressive work by a young American director since Citizen Kane." Indeed, few filmmakers rivaled Peter Bogdanovich's popularity over the next decade. Riding the success of What's Up, Doc? (1972) and Paper Moon (1973), Bogdanovich became a bona fide celebrity, making regular appearances in his own movie trailers, occasionally hosting late-night television shows, and publicly advocating for mentors John Ford and Howard Hawks.