Amazon.com
Borrowing his title from dialogue in John Ford's classic Western, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance ("When the legend becomes fact, print the legend"), Scott Eyman heeds this advice in his splendid study of Ford, finding a convincing balance between the gruff image Ford cultivated and the sensitive artist that Ford truly was. The result is a to-date definitive biography, occasionally prone to indelicate critical assessment while benefiting greatly from Eyman's full access to the Ford family archives. Arguably the greatest American filmmaker of the 20th century, Ford protected himself with a façade of belligerence yet engendered more loyalty among his crew and stock players (notably John Wayne and Ward Bond) than any other director. Eyman illuminates the Ford legend while focusing on fact--on a complex genius who would berate even the most vulnerable actor and then "apologize without apologizing," a binge drinker who never let alcohol interfere with his closely-guarded artistry, and a stalwart Navy captain whose service in World War II became his primary source of pride.
Print the Legend essentially confirms Ford's brief affair with Katharine Hepburn, but Eyman emphasizes Ford's deep, abiding affection for his wife, Mary, who valiantly tolerated his absolute devotion to filmmaking. While hundreds of interviews yield a comprehensive account of Ford's working methods (which the director was loathe to discuss), Eyman expertly navigates around Ford's own penchant for autobiographical embellishment. What emerges is likely to remain the most thorough portrait of a cinematic master who recognized his own greatness without parading it, and whose human flaws were ultimately forgivable by those--and they were many--who loved him. Readers should look elsewhere for more astute studies of Ford's films, but Eyman has captured Ford the man with lasting authority. -- Jeff Shannon
Book Description
Brilliant, stubborn, witty, rebellious, irascible, and contradictory, John Ford remains an enduring symbol of Hollywood's Golden Age and one of its most respected directors. Through a career that spanned decades and 140 films -- among them such American masterpieces as The Searchers, The Grapes of Wrath, Stagecoach, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance -- John Ford left a cinematic legacy that few filmmakers will ever equal. Yet Ford himself was famously reticent about his personal life, often fabricating details and events. In this definitive look at the life and career of one of America's greatest directors, Scott Eyman offers a remarkable portrait of the man behind the legend that reveals how a saloon keeper's son from Maine helped to shape Hollywood's idea of America.
Customer Reviews:
The movies were different.......2006-05-14
Many books were written about Jonh Ford.
All of them tell the story and the profile of the man.
But John Ford was more than that.
His life is the beginning, but the book doesn?t take it as a experience or example for his films.
The exploration is a long trip in this book.
The readers are going to find the artist who control
everything around and his mind to think faster than others.
He made no more than one take, sometimes to have completely control about the film, not suffering the torture of the film process and the editing.
It?s a strange story about the man who won four Academy Awards?
for Best Directing but he never won an Oscar for one of his western films.
The book explores how he created the images and how he felt involved in those stories so different from cowboys, horses and
shots: 'The grapes of Wrath', 'How green was my valley', 'The informer' and 'The quiet man'.
His camera was different in all these ones.
But finally you can see the horizon, the actor,
the music and the ending.
It is a film directed by John Ford.
Thanks to him, the movies were different in style.
He had the conception of an artist.
John Ford: From Maine to the Movies to Cinematic Glory!.......2005-05-16
Scott Eyman has written an outstanding book on John Ford! Ford
was the second generation son of an Irish bartender from Portland Maine who followed his brother Frank to Hollywood.
In over 130 films from such silent classics as Iron Horse to
his four Oscars for best director: The Informer; How Green Was My
Valley; the Grapes of Wrath and The Quiet Man Ford chronicles
the life of ordinary people living in extraordinary circumstances.
Ford made Westerns better than anyone as witness his classic
cavalry trilogy: Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon; Rio Grande and the peerless The Searchers.
John Ford was a bristling porcupine guy who could dish out insults, reduce strong actors to tears and cover his sensitive,
melancholic, brooding intellectual Irish soul with a veneer of
toughness and macho maleness.
Ford was a complex man isolated and in conflict with famly who made great films for over 50 years in the Hollywood jungle.
He was an admiral who loved the military serving with distinction in World War II.
You may not like Ford after reading this fine book but you will be in awe of one of Hollywood's giants.
Eyman gives a sketch of each of Ford's top films and charts the choppy waters of his long marriage to wife Mary and the difficult relationship he had with his daugher and son.
John Ford will always ride tall in the saddle of Film History
as we travel with him to Monument Valley, meet such Ford stars
as John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara and the other excellent actors in the Ford acting troupe.
Anyone claiming to be knowledgable about film who does not know about John Ford (1894-1973 should read this fine biograhy.
Readers may also wish to peruse Joseph McBride's lengthy biograpy of Ford "In Search of John Ford." Both books are well
done.
Biography that's a page turner!`.......2004-11-16
Having read a fair number of biographies in my time, in subjects from Science to American and military history, this book is as fine a work as I've seen. It is quite probably the best work of its kind on John Ford and pulls few punches when presenting the dark side of this complex man's character.
Genius often goes hand-in-hand with madness, and the odd juxtapositions of cruelty and sensitivity, visciousness and generosity within in the same man leaves it difficult for the reader to like him, much less understand the deep love so many of his peers and actors had for him.
The vast limits of his brilliance as a film maker are far clearer to me now and the more so since reading other works on the man's work and times ("Tis Herself" by Maureen O'Hara and "John Ford, the Man and his Films" by Tag Gallagher, to name two).
I am a recent "student" of film after years in other pursuits, and I have always considered Ford's pictures to be the best of the best, among which are "The Grapes of Wrath", "The Quiet Man" and "The Searchers".
It is apparently popular for current budding directors to attempt to attempt to emulate the work of the current crops of popular directors (generally those of the preceding five years or so) without paying sufficient attention to the classics; perhaps even trying to ride their stylistic coattails to success.
I believe that in order to be successful in any discipline, it is imperative to study closely the great works of past generations, just as most successful musicians should have a background in classical music.
I can recommend this work unreservedly both to the casual film fan (it's a damned good read!) and to the serious film student.
Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford.......2003-06-27
I've read other books on this great Hollywood director, and while I can't comment on their relative accuracy, I can say that Eyman's book is the most readable I've found. He writes with a wonderfully fluid style, finds exactly the right balance between enough detail and too much, and mixes in some penetrating observations about the films and their style. He really captures that curious paradox of how artistic genius and personality disturbance can coexist within the same mind.
Comprehensive almost to a fault..........2002-08-22
Unless you are old like me and remember many John Ford movies from their original 50's release dates, or you have a semi-professional interest in film directing, this book offers more than one needs to know about a complex, often unlikeable, sometimes generous, routinely selfish genius. It isn't just a bio of John Ford, respected director with a 40-year career...it also functions as a partial history of movie-making itself, since Ford began before 1920, when films were silent, and ended up in the mid-60's, when wide screens, technicolor, blatant sex and violence and changes in how movies were financed stranded him in a very different professional atmosphere. To a person with a more casual interest in Ford and his films, like me, the book had many surprises. Ford was cruel on the set to many actors whom he befriended away from the cameras, John Wayne and Hank Fonda included. Ford was a binge drinker, and kept his sprees separate from his duties until the mid-1950's, rather late in his progressive alcoholism. Ford was capable of great kindness, generosity and loyalty, but also held grudges for decades. He was not only personally brave in World War II while filming the real battle of Midway, he was tuned in enough to have joined the Navy and prepared for documenting the war on film a full year before Pearl Harbor. He also showed courage in standing up to the Communist witch-hunts in the early 50's. He was sometimes a liberal Democrat, sometimes a conservative Republican. His final decade was full of illness and idleness and loneliness and undoubtedly some bitterness. If you are a lover of "American" movies, John Ford's story will be essential for you. I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'll ever need to read it a second time, or keep the book in my personal collection.
Customer Reviews:
Serious stuff if you are serious about distribution.......2007-07-31
This is serious stuff! Written by three of the top "Profit Participation Auditor-Accountants" in Hollywood, this is a very informative, very scary inside look at how the legendary "Hollywood Accounting" really works. They also go into why it is the way it is...and that does give you some sympathy for the devil. It's not an easy read since we're talking about legalese and accounting strategies here, so it's not for the casual hobbist. I found it absolutely fascinating and extremely useful since I consider myself a serious filmmaker who wants to know what a good deal and a bad deal may look like...and want to make some money with my movies, not just hit a few festivals and it end up a trophy on the shelf. If you're serious, this is a must read...but bottom line: Don't try to do this yourself. Even the everyday lawyer or CPA will get bamboozeled if they don't have a movie biz experience.
Follow the Money!.......2001-07-03
This book will help anyone who desires to learn how their box office ticket dollars are spent. The authors take you step by step through a standard profit participation agreement. I feel the authors are not as aggressive as they should be hollywood's unethical "creative accounting". The distributors and the audit firms would like artists to believe that the lack of knowledge is why many artist are "cheated" out of their net profits or as Eddie Murphy stated "monkey profits". All net profit participants should read this before they listen to their lawyers and auditors. Many auditors and attorneys are willing participants in the "net profit scam"!
Average customer rating:
- Best young person's bio on Walt Disney
- Walt Disney
- A witty young one
- I hope more people read this exciting book.
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Walt Disney: Young Movie Maker (Childhood of Famous Americans)
Marie Hammontree
Manufacturer: Aladdin
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ASIN: 0689813244 |
Customer Reviews:
Best young person's bio on Walt Disney.......2005-08-30
There are several books that put the biography of Walt Disney in a format meant for children, and this is the best of them. The majority of the book tells what Walt's life as a child was like. The publisher has produced a whole series of bio type books for young people, and has a good formula. They try to put the child in touch not only with the life deeds of the man, but his personality, and how he got his start. In understanding a great person from history, it is tremendously useful to know not just what he did, but why he did it. Who and what influenced this person. What was he like as a kid himself? Without these it is hard for a kid to connect to the historical figure, and this book accomplishes it very well. I highly reccommend! For a good adult bio, check the Bob Thomas book, or the Amy Boothe book.
Walt Disney.......2005-08-10
Walt disney had an exciting childhood not to mention adult career. My children loved reading this book and having it read to them prior to visiting Disney World.
A witty young one.......2004-12-31
I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought that Walter was a very intelegent young person. I thought Marie Hammontree did an excelent job at making a usual boring biography into an intresting tale.I wish that there where many more pages in the book so I could read more and more about Walt Disney. I thought that Marie made him sound like a very lively young child. I thought that Walt was a very big risk taker. I would have hoped that the book would have had more information and details though. all in all I thought that this was a great book.
I hope more people read this exciting book........1999-01-13
This book was enjoyable. Marie Hammontree described how a person can be a big success while being a little poor. It shows the ups and downs of Disney's life. She describes what it took to get to the top of his career. This book tells who he was inspired by and how they helped him. She told me his problems in his life and how they were solved. It gave me the puzzle pieces to his life so I could better understand it. All in all I think it was a really informative book.
Book Description
What do you need to make money making movies? The answer, according to cult hero, creator of the sexploitation film, and the man the Wall Street Journal once dubbed the King Leer of Hollywood, Russ Meyer, is: “big bosoms and square jaws.” In the first candid and fiendishly researched account of the late cinematic instigator’s life, Jimmy McDonough shows us how Russ Meyer used that formula to turn his own crazed fantasies into movies that made him a millionaire and changed the face of American film forever.
Bringing his anecdote—and action—packed biographical style to another renegade of popular culture, New York Times bestselling author of Shakey Jimmy McDonough offers a wild, warts-and-all portrait of Russ Meyer, the director, writer, producer, and commando moviemaking force behind such sexploitation classics as Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Vixen, and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. This former WWII combat photographer immortalized his personal sexual obsession (women with enormous breasts, of course) upon the silver screen, turning his favorite hobby into box-office gold when this one-man movie machine wrote, directed, and produced a no-budget wonder called The Immoral Mr. Teas in 1959. The modest little film pushed all preexisting limits of on-screen nudity, and with its success, the floodgates of what was permitted to be shown on film were thrust open, never to be closed again. Russ Meyer ignited a true revolution in filmmaking, breaking all sex, nudity, and violence taboos. In a career that spanned more than forty years, Meyer created a body of work that has influenced a legion of filmmakers, fashionistas, comic book artists, rock bands, and even the occasional feminist.
Rich with wicked and sometimes shocking observations and recollections from Meyer’s friends (such as colleague Roger Ebert and fellow filmmaker John Waters), lovers and leading ladies (some of whom played both roles with equal vigor), a cadre of his grizzled combat buddies, moviemakers inspired by him, and critics and fans alike, Big Bosoms and Square Jaws tells the voluptuous story of Meyer’s very singular life and career: his troubled youth, his war years, his volatile marriages, his victories against censorship, and his clashes with the Hollywood establishment. In his new biography of a true maverick, Jimmy McDonough blows the lid off the story of Russ Meyer, from beginning to his recent tragic demise, creating in the process a vivid portrait of a past America.
The picture is midnight black. An imperious, testosterone-heavy voice intones: “Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the world of violence . . . While violence cloaks itself in a plethora of disguises, its favorite mantle still remains sex . . . Let’s examine closely then, the dangerously evil creation, this new breed, encased and contained within the supple skin of woman—the softness is there, the unmistakable smell of female . . . But a word of caution: handle with care and don’t drop your guard. This rapacious new breed prowls both alone and in packs . . . Who are they? One might be your secretary, your doctor’s receptionist . . . or a dancer in a go-go bar!”
Cut to an eye-popping triad of outrageous, impossibly built women shimmying with frenzied abandon. A swaggering, bargain-basement Tom Jones–style voice belts out a number on the soundtrack. Cut! Close-ups of gyrating, disembodied breasts and hips. Cut! A shiny, alluring jukebox. Cut! Leering, predatory faces of cigar-chomping manimals impotently cheering the women on. Cut! Cut! Cut! Each new shot seems to add another crazy angle, another fabulous detail.
Cut to raven-haired, black-gloved Varla—one of the dancers—head thrown back and cackling maniacally as she hammers the gas pedal of a gleaming Porsche. Vrrrrooom! The Porsche screams down a Mojave desert highway at the head of a menacing trio of bisexual go-go superwomen, itching to annihilate any man who gets in their way. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! screams the title. And this is just the first two minutes of the picture.
—From the Introduction of Big Bosoms and Square Jaws
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Biography.......2007-07-02
I was impressed with the quality of the research that went into this book. Neither a puff-piece nor a hatchet job, this is as solid a bio as we can expect of someone who was as erratic as Meyer. The author was able to move from Meyer's bizarre family of origin through his fixation on World War II, his remarkably limited sexual experience, his almost-impenetrable emotional life, to his final years of dementia. Along the way we get a surprisingly human view of many of the people he worked with and against.
Those who consider Meyer a pornographer probably will not like this book, but they would probably benefit by reflecting on the war between Meyer and Charles Keating, who, as the author observes, spent years protecting Midwestern Americans from Meyer's movies, while stealing their pension funds.
Phenomenal ! ! !.......2006-10-31
To sum things up, this is a fascinatingly written book about a fascinating topic.... despite its somewhat voluminous 400 or so pages (only a fraction of A CLEAN BREAST of course) I found it impossible to put down in light of the great stories and great writing. Jimmy McDonough proves himself not only a great fan of Meyer, but also one who's learned well from his "fast cut" style of directing... The book reads with the intensity of Meyer as a film director at his best (say Faster Pussycat or Super Vixens.)
At times hillarious, the only sad part is the ending which also offers an explanation to the big question of why Russ's films are so hard to find... and one is left with an ironic impression of his legacy: one in which the general public still wants more, but if the author's (researched) allegations are true may not get to see for a long long time.
Ironically, as I read the final page of the book, I didn't feel it was a final chapter, but was left wanting to know more about a film director with a strange fetish who unintentionally changed the world we live in... and considering Russ's flare for perpetuating his own myth and surrounding himself with some amazing people who's stories have simply yet to be told my hope is that this book is only the begining !
Master of Disaster.......2006-07-24
I found that what worked in McDonough's spectacular biography of filmmaker Andy Milligan (THE GHASTLY ONE) is exactly what doesn't work here. What McDonough does so well on Milligan's behalf, for example, the careful and painstaking description of films that are often difficult to come by, and then an analysis of them which shows us why they have a certain value--is nearly missing here entirely. Was there just too much material of all sorts to bother describing films like BLACKSNAKE or UP? I have no idea what the plot of either is, I just get the feeling that McDonough abhors them.
Maybe, like many biographers, he began work on this project admiring the man, and wound up disliking him? The last half of the book is an unadulterated look into a disaster, as Meyer's personal and professional lives come falling apart, accelerated by his dementia and his general greediness and bad manners. Melissa Mounds, a stripper whom Meyer befriended, and Janice Cowart, a bookkeeper who wound up taking over Meyer's affairs, become the villains who provide Meyer with his just deserts.
The experience of reading BIG BOSOMS AND SQUARE JAWS is like stumbling across some unknown masterpiece by Balzac, told in a hipster dialect from the early days of Rolling Stone magazine. It is incredibly affected and annoying, but it must have been fun for the author to write. He's so in the mood that every sentence becomes a little display of hyperbole: "Russ Meyer and Erica Gavin: a clash of wills the likes of which had not been seen since Meyer and Tura Satana locked horns." Like Meyer's huge sadness, Jimmy McDonough has written a book strangely atune with a hateful glamor. Some readers will love it, I wound up admiring it but throwing it in the Bay.
I Knew The Man.......2006-07-15
I had the sheer pleasure of working with Russ Meyer on the two films he produced and directed at 20th Century Fox in the early 70s. I was witness to how much of himself Russ poured into each of thosae two films, knew his passion, his extraordinary to detail no matter how small.
Mr. McDonough, who has an impressive track record doing books of this type, was deligent enough to track down the people who knew RM best and do extensive phone interviews to get the true story behind this anmazing film-maker. I was honored to be on that list.
Jimmy has done a first class job of capturing not only what is generally known about Russ, but bits and pieces of his life that very few people know about.
If you want a grade "A" look into the life of a man who had a MAJOR impact on how films are made when in the hands of a skilled director, master camerman, inventive film editor and true marketing genius, do yourself a favor and order this book!
Manny Diez
Brilliant: as much for the writer as for the subject.......2005-10-11
I don't recall ever seeing a Russ Meyer film. Sure, I knew the name, but was never interested enough to see one of his movies. Now, after reading Jimmy McDonough's "Big Bosoms and Square Jaws," I don't think I have to: McDonough's biography tells me all I need to know.
I wasn't familiar with Jimmy McDonough either before picking up this book. Now I am. McDonough writes like the late Hunter S. Thompson on one his better days. The prose is intensely personal, highly driven, with the feel of a first-person memoir. I suspect that if Russ Meyer weren't an egocentric, self-centered guy who made movies with bare breasts when it was considered "dirty," the book still would have been interesting. McDonough is that good.
I still have no great desire to see a Meyer film. But the guy's story as told by McDonough is interesting. McDonough doesn't get into film criticism as an effete sport. Rather he delivers his opinion of Meyer's work, buttressed by reviews. His interviews with survivors of relationships with Meyer crackle. He's done a marvelous job of weaving other people's recollections (always properly attributed) into the narrative.
Meyer coems across as a guy who pursued his dreams. Personally he seems to have been a large ego who really didn't care a whole lot for or about other people. There is literally a cast of thousands of supporting players who played a role in making Meyer whatever he became. The women he used as his "stars" are treated beautifully and sensitively by McDonough. Many, if not all, were strippers. It would have been easy to depict them as airheads. Much to McDonough's credit, he doesn't. He treats them as human beings.
Meyer never really failed. He determined on what he was going to (worship the female breast, essentially, and make movies) and did it. Meyer will never be a nominee for a Nobel Prize and its likely that his work will fade from memory over time. McDonough, however, does an excellent job of describing Meyer's technique, his contributions to filmaking and his not inconsiderable role in broadening the accpeptability of all manner of "artistic expression" in the United States.
McDonough is very understated in his description of Meyer's decline. It would have been easy, I think, to have allowed a sense of outrage to show, but much to McDonough's credit, he holds himself in.
Overall, even if you have little or no interest in Russ Meyer or his films, this biography is worth reading simply to gain a sense of Jimmy McDonough.
Jerry
Book Description
Newark Star-Ledger, 8/14/06
Customer Reviews:
Huston - an Irish huntsman from the Mexican cavalry.......2006-12-01
John Huston's autobiography 'An Open Book' was written while the author - a film director whose life spanned the period from the earliest days of Hollywood to his eventual death in 1987 - was living, in old age, as something of a recluse in Mexico.
From this quiet, remote, idyllic spot he tells - as he sees it - the story of his own life and the many experiences and fotuitous friendships and relationships which he believes had been important in making him the way he was.
It goes back as far as he can go into his own ancestry and the origin of his own name - Huston. It goes deep into the impressions of his own family that he formed as a child and refined as he grew up.
He shares with us his many mistakes, as well as the background to some of his greatest successes - which nominally, are his many great films.
But somehow more important than this is the way he approaches his life and how he tells his own story. At one point he is discussing what actually constitutes the 'style' of a writer and what makes it distinctive. He concludes that what is called a writer's style is straightforwardly a unique artefact of how that person thinks and feels about their life and experience.
This book is full of a polished but intimate candour that illuminates and compliments his long and successful career in film
Ranconteur of the first order!.......2006-02-25
I can't remember when I enjoyed reading a book so much. I wished that I could read it anew all over again. I've read half dozen Hollywood bios and autos the last 6 months or so and this was hands down the most enjoyable!
I'm really quite surprised to see only two reviews before this one. Afterall, in my mind Huston ranks up there with the very best of American directors and screen writers. His history in the film business dates back to the ''golden era'' of Hollywood. And he knew all the top heads of the studios as well as many of the most talented people in the their related fields.
He is of course my overall favorite director, based on the quality and sheer number of films on his side of the scale. High Sierra [Scrnply], Maltese Falcon, the Big Sleep, Treasure of Sierra Madre, Key Largo just to mention a few of the early ones. And of course his writing of screenplays of the late thirties that anyone will recognize as some of the best of the classics. And his continued writing of movies; with and without directing, far to many to start listing here!
His relating of his life stories as told here is so captivating and so 'dog gone' interesting and funny, that I felt I was listening to a grandfather tell his life story from the front porch of a family home on a Sunday afternoon!
Anyone that likes to read of a Hollywood long gone and about the people in the industry in those days would do just fine in getting a copy of this wonderfully entertaining book, told by one of Hollywoods finest raconteurs! If not the finest!
Like autobiographies? This one's a winner........2005-12-08
Not only has he been one of my favorite directors over the years, he did some great acting spots, particularly in Chinatown. Then to have this book to read is truely a window into his life. He gives one bit of advice. Has to do with smoking, I won't spoil it for you. Witty guy. I think we tend to forget that films are visual/written/audio stories that several people have put together. A piece of art, typically. And the director is the eye of the hurricane, piecing it all together, in his (her) vision. This book gives us a look into both his private life, one which the citizen today likely has little idea about, as well as numerous stories about various Hollywood people he worked with over the decades. I could barely put this book down. He's got a writing style that's so comfortable, so enjoyable to read, well, maybe it was more fun for me because, in my mind I heard his resonate speaking voice reading the whole book like one on tape by the author. There's never been a director like him that I'm aware of, someone who did not have his own style so much as cull the story right out of the block of stone so to speak. Each of the great films he did has their own vision, their own look. A great accomplishment for a real director who mastered his craft. I think of him as a man's man and this book keeps that sense alive. Sure am glad he took the time to write it because it's a lot of fun to explore his life with him. Unique places, people and times in American cinematic history, and he was there, right in the midst of it all. chrisbct@hotmail.com
Must-Read For Film Buffs.......1998-12-31
Here are some great annecdotes (Bogart, Hepburn, Lorrie, Connery, et al.) by one of Hollywood's greatest directors. Huston's private life rivals any script that he ever shot, and his skill and training as a scriptwriter makes this an interesting, articulate volume.
Amazon.com
This roller coaster ride through Quentin Tarantino's life and work is based on over 100 in-depth interviews with friends, colleagues and family and was written with the invaluable support of Quentin' mother, Connie. Perceptive and compelling,
Quentin Tarantino: Shooting from the Hip penetrates the eccentric world of Hollywood's hottest movie director. It is essential reading for everyone wanting to understand Tarantino the man, and the phenomenon.
Customer Reviews:
Excellant Novel.......1999-06-20
Excellant biography. Its objective, funny, interesting, and well researched. A must read not only for fans of the hot shot director, but for anyone interested in the process that goes into making movies. My only quarrel is that it ends before the making of From Dusk Till Dawn or jackie Brown.
Book Description
Artisan, entrepreneur, and impresario, British filmmaker Ridley Scott accepts the profit motive as the only way to thrive in an industry where there is little patience for artistic flourishes or overblown expenses. Yet, while he may pay lip service to the free enterprise system, he is an unapologetic auteur, committed to using every element of film?from evocative lighting to digital composition?to overwhelm our senses and redefine how we perceive the future (Alien, Blade Runner), the past (1492: The Conquest of Paradise, Gladiator), and the present (Thelma & Louise, Black Hawk Down).
This collection of interviews follows Scott over twenty-five years as he perfects the Ridley Scott look, builds his media empire, and reacts to the twenty-year cult status of Blade Runner. Throughout, he discusses the triumphs and challenges involved in working with A-list actors?particularly women such as Susan Sarandon, Sigourney Weaver, and Demi Moore?and big-budget special effects. Scott emerges as a consummate English gentleman who acknowledges the legacy of the futuristic Blade Runner and Alien, but who also is adept at taking the pulse of contemporary American culture.
Unlike many of his colleagues in the U.S., Scott did not attend film school. Instead, he developed his visual sensibility at London's Royal College of Art. Years in television production gave Scott the clout and confidence to revitalize feature filmmaking. He hit the jackpot with Alien but ran into financial and logistical difficulties with Blade Runner and Legend. In response he shifted his attention to more contemporary genres, offering a continental perspective on America in Black Rain and Thelma & Louise. By the late 1990s Scott had achieved both critical and commercial success with Oscar-winning films Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.
Customer Reviews:
The Key of Ridley's Kingdom.......2006-08-20
I usually own all the movies directed by my favorite directors. Even their lesser achievements often prove to say a lot about them. And you usually get to understand the man (if not know them) through their filmography.
I must admit that I never thought of Ridley Scott as one of my favorite directors until I read this book. I never actually realized that I actually own all his movies! and the reason for that is because I was not always connecting the themes and constants all along his career. If you take Alien and Thelma&Louise, one could wonder what is the link between the 2 films. I am not saying that we should always try to connect every filmmaker's movie to his previous ones but after reading Ridley's interviews, I really started understanding the man's endeavour. All through the interviews, spreading from 1975 to 2000, he actually never discusses politics or mystical matters. He is a filmmaker with a pragmatic approach to his art. Coming with an art director background, he likes to build his movies. At some point, it is said he likes to create universe. And this is the connection between all of his movies: the sets speak for Ridley. He seems to take acting very seriously as well so he is not just painting on the surface; content does matter equally as the surface but Ridley works in subtle touches. He obviously demonstrates through the years that he leaves nothing to chance.
Highly recommanded.
candid in depth interviews.......2006-01-24
This book is a great buy for anyone interested in Ridley Scott or in filmmaking in general. His interviews if looked at closely reveal mountains of filmmaking knowledge as it goes through most of his major motion pictures in a series of varying inteviews dating from around 70's to when the book was published. True film buffs might get a good bit of pleasure out of this text as well.
An arresting account of the great film director Ridley Scott.......2005-08-03
I've been a fan of Ridley Scott's films since I first began to study film as an art form and not just as something to do on a weekend. Your eyes are never bored, he constantly produces great images to take in and transport you to new worlds. The level of immersion he allows an audience to indulge in is amazing, there are not too many other filmmakers who are able to do this.
This interview book starts at his early beginnings at art school and his long and lucrative foray into the commercial world and proceeds chronologically through Matchstick Men. There is some mention of Kingdom of Heaven, but no heavy material, as this book was published around the same time this movie came out.
Although a couple of the articles were somewhat familiar to me, most were first time reads for me, and so the book was very fresh and informative. Some of his lesser known or less popular films like White Squall and 1492:Conquest of Paradise have some very good making-of articles and were the most surprising. Much is discussed about Alien, Blade Runner and Thelma and Louise, which is a given, but this doesn't diminish their interest.
What unfolds is a well drawn picture of a man who didn't start making features until he was nearly 40, whose film career has had its ups and downs over the last nearly three decades, yet who has not tired of making pictures that stretch over vast and small spaces and will hopefully continue to innovate and challenge audiences for years to come. I highly recommend this book for his fans, and for those who have taken even passing interest in his films.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent introduction to Almodovar.......2007-01-03
This short book is one of the best things available in English on Almodovar. It's part of a good series. I also recommend Pedro Almodovar: Interviews; Peter William Evans, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; and "Almodovar's Girls (All About my Mother)" in Leo Bersani and Ulysse Dutoit, Forms of Being: Cinema, Aesthetics, Subjectivity. There is better literature in French (Notably Frederic Strauss, Conversations avec Pedro Almodovar, published by Cahiers du Cinema) and undoubtedly in Spanish.
Average customer rating:
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Child of Paradise: Marcel Carne and the Golden Age of French Cinema (Harvard Film Studies)
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