ZEPPO: THE RELUCTANT MARX BROTHER by Robert S. Bader (Applause) This is a revelatory book, achieved through painstaking research (see: Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage by the same author) and the participation of Zeppo Marx’s two…
MISS MAY DOES NOT EXIST: THE LIFE AND WORK OF ELAINE MAY, HOLLY WOOD’S HIDDEN GENIUS by Carrie Courogen (St. Martin’s Press) If you came of age when comedy albums were all the rage, as I did, it’s likely…
As usual, film books are coming out at a faster pace than I can read them, so I am unable to offer reviews or opinions of the following titles. Please consider this a survey of recently published books and…
THE PATH TO PARADISE: A FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA STORY by Sam Wasson (Harper) Having taken a “big picture” approach to the making of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Chinatown, Wasson focuses here on an individual rather than a film. This is not a conventional biography,…
CHARLIE CHAPLIN VS. AMERICA: When Art, Sex and Politics Collided by Scott Eyman (Simon & Schuster) At first glance this new book by premier film historian and biographer Eyman would seem to limit its coverage to the period of…
Last week Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter published the results of a survey to determine the 100 greatest film books of all time. I was delighted to find that I made it to the list at #19 for Leonard Maltin’s Movie…
CARTOON VOICES OF THE GOLDEN AGE, 1930-1970 Volumes 1 and 2 by Keith Scott (BearManor Media) This is not so much a book as a life’s work for its author, a lifelong cartoon fanatic who wound up providing voices…