CELEBRATING JERRY LEWIS
I can’t pretend to have any objectivity about Jerry Lewis. I grew up worshiping him. And while I came to realize that he was fallibly human I never stopped being impressed, especially after I met him. That’s why I…
NEW AND NOTABLE BOOKS JUNE 2021
A LOT CAN HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAKING OF FARGO by Todd Melby; foreword by William H. Macy (Minnesota Historical Society Press) Despite the pedigree of its publisher, this book is not…
CARY GRANT: A BRILLIANT DISGUISE by Scott Eyman
CARY GRANT: A BRILLIANT DISGUISE by Scott Eyman (Simon and Schuster) Over the years, it’s been said, people told Cary Grant they wished they could be like him and the star responded, “So do I.” This is more than…
NEW AND NOTABLE FILM BOOKS September 2020
HITCHCOCK’S CALIFORNIA: VISTA VISIONS FROM THE CAMERA EYE by Robert Jones, Dan Auiler, and Aimee Sinclair; introduction by Bruce Dern; afterword by Dorothy Herrmann (Middlebrow Books) At first glance I thought this striking, oversized book was a series…
MOVIE BOOK ROUNDUP JULY 2020: MAX STEINER TO THE KEYSTONE COPS
MUSIC BY MAX STEINER: THE EPIC LIFE OF HOLLYWOOD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL COMPOSER by Steven C. Smith (Oxford University Press) You don’t need to be musically educated to appreciate or enjoy this thorough, meticulously researched and entertaining biography. Smith,…
NEW AND NOTABLE BOOKS – March 2020
PHANTOM LADY: HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER JOAN HARRISON, THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN BEHIND HITCHCOCK by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press) Just when you think you know all there is to know about the principal figures of Hollywood’s golden age, along comes…
DISNEY BOOKS GALORE
MARC DAVIS IN HIS OWN WORDS: IMAGINEERING THE DISNEY THEME PARKS by Pete Docter and Christopher Merritt (Disney Editions) Walt Disney was stingy with compliments, but he called longtime animator Marc Davis his “renaissance man” and meant it.…
