Showing titles in History & Criticism

The behind-the-scenes story of the quintessential film noir and cult classic, Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity—its true crime origins and crucial impact on film history—is told for the first time in this riveting narrative published for the film's 80th anniversary. From real crime to serial...

Ridley Scott's dystopian classic Blade Runner, an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, combines noir with science fiction to create a groundbreaking cyberpunk vision of urban life in the twenty-first century. In his innovative and nuanced reading, Scott Bukatman details the making of Blade Runner and its steadily improving fortunes following its release in 1982.

Even by the standards of the 1970s, even compared to Jar-Jar Binks, the legendary 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special is a peerlessly cringeworthy pop-culture artifact.

Maureen O'Hara is the first book-length biography of the screen legend hailed as the "Queen of Technicolor". Following the star from her childhood in Dublin to the height of fame in Hollywood, film critic Aubrey Malone draws on new information from the Irish Film Institute, production notes from films, and details from historical film journals, newspapers, and fan magazines.

The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai is an accessible collection that explores the cultural, industrial, and historical impact of that beloved American sitcom. Edited by Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin, Jr., this anthology brings together a diverse range of voices that model different media studies approaches to researching and critically analyzing television texts.

A 13th-century toxic jungle, a bathhouse for tired gods, a red haired fish girl, and a furry woodland spirit - what do these have in common? They all spring from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki, one of the greatest living animators, known worldwide for films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises. Japanese culture and animation scholar Susan Napier explores the life and art of this extraordinary Japanese filmmaker to provide a definitive account of his oeuvre.

From exclusive interviews with director Ken Russell and new interviews with cast, crew, and historians, comes this examination of the beautifully blasphemous film The Devils. Based on historical fact, this controversial 1971 film is about an oversexed priest and a group of sexually repressed nuns in 17th-century France and the ensuing trials and exorcisms that followed. Detailing the production and the personalities of two of cinema’s great eccentrics, director Ken Russell and star Oliver Reed, Crouse delves deeper to explore the aftermath of the film.

How to Score in Hollywood reveals the secrets to a movie’s success and profitability. Entertainment research expert Kevin Goetz shares how smart, data-driven decisions—from development to release—help filmmakers minimize risks and maximize returns. How to Score in Hollywood reveals the...

The history of the films, cartoons, toys, and more: The Back to the Future series is a timeless collection that is greatly revered by all audiences. The beauty of this audiobook by Brad Gilmore is that it doesn't present the history of the film as textbook information. Gilmore discusses these films from a place of passion and so effectively reveals how the history behind the movies is just as engaging as the films themselves.

50 Years of Hammer Horror by John L. Flynn, Ph.D. is the follow-up book to his popular 75 Years of Universal Monsters. Hammer Film Productions was the most successful independent film company in the world. Between 1935 and 1983, the company produced more than 250 motion pictures and television shows, and their signature productions headlined theater marquees all around the globe. Those productions included thrillers, comedies, historical dramas, and science fiction. The company was best known for its series of gothic horror films.

Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is one of the best-loved films of Classical Hollywood cinema, a story of despair and redemption in the aftermath of war that is one of the central movies of the 1940s, and a key text in America's understanding of itself. This is a film that remains relevant to our own anxieties and yearnings, to all the contradictions of ordinary life, while also enacting for us the quintessence of the classic Hollywood aesthetic.

In time for Scorsese’s 80th birthday and the release of Killers of the Flower Moon, a new edition of the seminal oral history tracing Scorsese’s journey from young filmmaker to legend, featuring a foreword by Steven Spielberg Few filmmakers, if any, make the kind of impact that Martin...

The “shocking” (The Wall Street Journal), must-read story of Charlie Chaplin’s years of exile from the United States during the postwar Red Scare, and how it ruined his film career, from bestselling biographer Scott Eyman. Bestselling Hollywood biographer and film historian Scott Eyman...

The story of the music that accompanies the cinematic adventures of Ian Fleming's intrepid Agent 007 is one of surprising real-life drama. In The Music of James Bond, author Jon Burlingame throws open studio and courtroom doors alike to reveal the full and extraordinary history of the sounds of James Bond, spicing the story with a wealth of fascinating and previously undisclosed tales.

New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman delivers the definitive story of the life and artistic legacy of David Letterman, the greatest television talk show host of all time and the signature comedic voice of a generation. In a career spanning more than thirty years, David Letterman redefined...

In honor of the 25th anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring, this special audiobook edition features a new epilogue by the author, reflecting on how The Lord of the Rings franchise has continued to expand across films, games, merchandise, and fan culture since the book’s original publication.

Hollywood was born just over a century ago, at a time of huge forward motion for women's rights. With no rules in place to stop them, there were women who forged ahead in many areas of filmmaking. Yet, despite the work of early pioneers like Dorothy Arzner, Mabel Normand, Mary Pickford and Alice Guy-Blaché, it soon came to embody the same old sexist standards. Women found themselves fighting a system that fed on their talent, creativity and beauty but refused to pay them the same respect as their male contemporaries - until now....

In the decades following his death, many of those who knew James Dean best - actors, directors, friends, lovers (both men and women), photographers, and Hollywood columnists - shared stories of their first-person experiences....

Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (2003) brings two Americans together in Tokyo, each experiencing a personal crisis. Both are distant — emotionally and spatially — from their spouses. They are lost until they develop an intimate connection. In the film’s poignant, famously ambiguous closing scene, they find each other, only to separate. In this close look at the multi-award-winning film, Suzanne Ferriss mirrors Lost in Translation’s structuring device of travel: her analysis takes the form of a trip, from planning to departure...

The Sound of Music is a classic film cherished in the hearts of millions. It won five Oscars, including Best Picture, upon its release in 1965. This tribute to a Hollywood classic is sure to thrill everyone who's ever sung along to "My Favorite Things" at one of the many screenings that still take place today. Through interviews with the cast and crew, in-depth access to memorabilia and personal scrapbooks, and archival research at Fox Studios, author Julia Antopol Hirsch reveals the lively human story behind the making of the von Trapp family film.