The Producers Books

I had no intention of reading this book. I felt I had ruined it by seeing the movie so it was shelved for years. Then I was doing something on my computer that took some rendering time. I reached for the closest book. "Gods and Monsters" was it. At first I read it lazily, thinking I only had a small amount of time to look at it so my concentration was non-committal. The computer finished what it had to but I kept reading. I was captured.

The book is about James Whale, the director of "Frankenstein" and other horror films, but you don't have to be a horror enthusiast to love this book. There is a slight "witch hunt" element surrounding Whale's homosexual life---and there is some indication by the author that he empathized with Whale. (He's gay and became obsessed with Whale's life, which is totally understandable--authors often become obsessed with topics for reasons they can't explain.) But you don't have to be a politically angry homosexual or horror lover or even a movie enthusiast to love this book.

Per chance while I was reading the book my husband heard a Podcast on Whale's life saying that this book was inaccurate. I was a little angry at that simplistic conclusion--the FACTS of his life for me are of no consequence. What's important is that the author here captures the essence of a life--a far greater skill in many ways than documenting the facts and often closer to the "truth".

You empathize with Whale. You understand that he had artistic talents and contributions he could have made as a director that were thwarted by lesser minds. He had the courage to walk away but the consequence was isolation and a bitterness that chased his lover and perhaps others out of his life.

Our poor gardener, strong and straight, finally learns to be a man through a queen. That's a powerful enough idea with its obvious paradox and lesson to be learned but I winced when I read the author's take on the character--that he called him Clay Boone because he wanted a good "white trash" name.

Being more closely affiliated with the white-trash side of the tracks and less with the glamorous side of the arts and theater, I found myself a little annoyed with Boone being so reduced. Here homosexuals play the role of the victim while enjoying the finest things life has to offer while the working class is labeled the oppressor and gets to get up and labor in their gardens yet another day. All the while the movie(s) ("Frankenstein") is full of insider, homosexual jokes that the naive workingman won't see because he is blinded by the sweat in eyes and knows no better but to get up and do it again and again. But he pays for the movie ticket, a small distraction from his futile life, and so I can't help but think perhaps Boone and his kind is the victim; the one really being laughed at and treated with contempt for what he is.

Nonetheless, it is a beautifully written book, filling you with empathy for these characters. Whether the facts are accurate or not I cannot help but believe I have an understanding of the person James Whale, and consequently a more powerful way of viewing others and myself.

This novel is reminiscent of such films as SUNSET BOULEVARD and WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE. The story concerns the last days of has-been director James Whale who in his prime had directed the films SHOW BOAT and THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, among other hits. In 1957 he was a virtual recluse in his expensive Hollywood home, despondent after suffering a stoke. His death by drowning in his swimming pool was ruled an accident, but many years later, his former companion made public Whale's suicide note. From this grim material, Christopher Bram has fashioned a sweet and far-from-sentimental love story of Whale and his obsession with his handsome ex-marine gardener. There are a lot of surprises along the way, some of them hilarious, some truly disturbing. Once again Bram intermingles fictional characters with real people. In this volume Elsa Lanchester, Greta Garbo, Charles Laughton, George Cukor, Princess Margaret and Elizabeth Taylor make appearances. My favorite scene was when Whale takes his gardener to a lawn party thrown by George Cukor in honor of Princess Margaret. This is a great party scene worthy of Proust himself. Although the relationship between Whale and the gardener is a chaste one, it is nonetheless a love story. I found this a beautiful book with a lot of heart and humor. I laughed aloud several times. I liked this edition with its appendices and author's afterword.

My only real criticism is that once again Bram has contemporary slang usage coming from the mouths of characters who lived in a previous era. I hope that if Bram writes another novel set in the past that he will have an expert go through the manuscript with him to correct this. But nonetheless, I really like Bram's writing and plan to read more of his work. Everything I've read by him so far has been very intelligent and entertaining. Four stars.

This is a great book, guys. I came from the angle of being a fan of old Hollywood, and if it's black and white, I've heard of it.

"Frankenstein" is by far the best of the Universal monster movies, and it has a lot to do with the subject of this novel: James Whale. The guy took the unwieldy, even boring, Shelley novel and pulled out the story of a sad monster and the redemption of its creator. He's also the reason why we have "Young Frankenstein" - so there's a lot to love about the guy.

The most intriguing thing about the novel, is the author creating a fictionalized "untold story" of Whale's final days - an act of literary bravado that could easily go wrong, but didn't, and it didn't in a big way. I'll spare you the plot synopsis because if you're reading this, you've already read that, but I will tell you this is a great book in the sense that college classes will make it required reading and the sense of being accessible to the masses.

Don't let anyone fool you: This is not a "movie book" or a "gay book" it's just a book; and a damn good one.

I really dig this particular edition for it's "postscript". It's the kind of stuff DVD extras are made of...an interview with the author, an after word and so on. As someone who invested the time to read the 300+ pages, it was great to hear directly from the author of how he came to tell this story, his thoughts on the movie based upon this book among other things.

Mark my words, soon you will see "Special Editions" of nearly every book you can think of...not just for the insights of the author or analysis of its historical context...but as a marketing tool by which we will end up buying our favorite books all over again. :)

Gods and Monsters (a.k.a. Father of Frankenstein) is a great novel on lots of different levels. It explores the gay world of Hollywood in the 1950s, the impossibility of overcoming stereotyping (can we say Joseph Heller?), and the way that the horrors of the First World War were morphed into a classic horror movie, among other themes.

But most of all, Gods and Monsters is about life and death. What gives meaning to life? Can one grow into life by being part of another man's death? Why is death so feared? These questions are all raised and adressed, although the answers are left for the reader to determine.

I have read many gay novels, and this one is a masterpiece. It transcends the genre and approaches the level of the great writers of our time. Well worth reading!

Jacques Tati is finally exposed for all to analyze. His singlemindedness, his need for total control... He was an auteur of the French cinema, in complete control of his films from script to production to direction, to starring. No studio edits, no rewrites, no director's cut. His was the only cut. This singlemindedness stands in complete contrast to his complete ignorance of comedy and film, an ignorance he maintained purposely all his life. He knew nothing of competitors like Chaplin, and insisted old gags in his films were original ideas of his own, to the point of being insulted at the suggestion he copied them. Now we know we can believe him. He kept reinventing the wheel, instead of leveraging off others' experience to take his own humor to new heights. The result was steady decline in the quality of his films, leading to bankruptcy and a pathetic ending to a lifetime of dedication to his craft, and the good fortune to be able to realize his goals. This is the story of the man behind the rumpled raincoat and the odd posture, and it is well worth understanding.

David Bellos and Jacques Tati: What an odd combination. The odd thing about it is that David Bellos is a much-respected translator of French writer Georges Perec's novels, in addition to being Perec's biographer, and he's a much-admired expert on French literature. So why would he be interested in writing a biography of one of cinema's great clowns, Jacques Tati, especially when Bellos admits he is not a film fanatic and feels that if he had met Tati, he wouldn't have been able to spend more than five minutes in conversation with the man? Bellos cites his interest in Tati's artistry and his place in what the author calls "the trente glorieuses -- the 30 glorious years of rising prosperity in France from 1945 to 1975." These are the years during which Tati did his amazing work. He was not only one of the great filmmakers but also an artist who commented on humankind's interest and need for work and leisure -- with hilarious results. And his set designs have been a hit with architects around the world.

There is nothing more moderne than a Tati film. Tati made fun of the French love for le gadget: everything from Le Corbusier-style chaises longues to cars that had grills suitable for barbecuing. Jacques Tati is weak as a biography, insofar as Bellos doesn't get into Tati's head, but the book is strong when Bellos writes about Tati's films and his Kubrick-like madness in waiting for the perfect shot, perfect moment, perfect anything. Like Kubrick, Tati was an unforgiving perfectionist, and although he was a funnyman on film, Tati was quite moody and depressed during the shoots. His single-minded intensity in getting the film he wanted eventually destroyed him financially; for the masterpiece Playtime, Tati built a small modern city as a set, which caused his accountant to flip his lid. The film failed financially, and Tati never recovered from the disappointment.

As Bellos writes in his introduction to the book, he is hopeful that there will be other books on this peculiar film genius. This is only an introduction, and when one takes it as just that, this book is a must-read for Tati fans. Oh, and if you are not a Tati fan, I don't want to know you.

don't expect to read the normal gossip-laden biography. this is a most serious text detailing the comic genius and cinematic philosophy of the brilliant and (almost) tragic actor/director.

Bellos presents the itinerary of a life and something more of a career, but Jacques Tati remains largely a mystery. I'll reread this biography, ignoring the narrow, academic view of intellect and flawless, postwar judgments of wartime behavior, and I'll recommend it to others. But I'll continue to hope that someone will write a life of Tati filled with scenes as revealing and eloquent as Hulot's resetting of a brick in a crumbling Paris wall.

A fascinating look at the work of this remarkable director whose horror films are among the great films of the genre. The book is well researched and nicely wirtten with good photos.

Chris Fujiwara is one of the world's best film critics. (Look for his soon-to-be-published work on Otto Preminger.) "The Cinema of Nightfall" is specifically about the great(and vastly underrated) Jacques Tourneur, but it is much more than that. It is one of the best books ever written about how to see and experience movies. Fujiwara goes inside the process of just how a film creates meaning, using Tourneur's very subtle genius as his base. The chapters on the more famous works("Cat People", "I Walked with a Zombie" and the immortal "Out of the Past") are the best analyses ever written on those titles. However, perhaps the most impressive part of Fujiwara achievement is his coverage of the more obscure Tourneurs: "Stars in My Crown", "Canyon Passage", "Berlin Express", the shorts. (His chapter on "Nightfall" is worth the price of admission -- a whole film theology in miniature.) "Cinema of Nightfall" is a model of film understanding and film love.

Jacques Tourneur has long been a favorite of horror fans, French critics, and a few sensible American observers like Manny Farber as a creator of some of cinema's most subtly potent effects, particularly in his trio of B-horror films for Val Lewton at RKO in the early 1940s and his Lewtonesque Curse of the Demon in 1958. His most famous film noir, Out of the Past, is also widely considered one of the genre's greatest. Fans who have wished to better understand Tourneur have had to cobble together a biography, production histories, and analysis from widely scattered sources -- obscure academic journals like Film and Psychoanalysis, zines like FilmFax and Photon, French-language studies for those who can read them, and one of the several books devoted to Val Lewton. The Edinburgh Film Festival issued an anthology of essays in English devoted entirely to Tourneur, but that book was aimed squarely at academics. It's Chris Fujiwara's book Jacques Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall, which straddles the academic and popular, that will likely be the standard reference in English for the foreseeable future.

Fujiwara begins by persuasively rescuing Tourneur from one of Sarris' gulags: the dreaded third ranking in American Cinema. Sarris' backhanded praise in phrases like "subdued, pastel-colored sensibility" and "a certain French gentility" has been seconded by many critics, who attributed the virtues of the Lewton-produced films to Lewton and the brilliance of Out of the Past and Night of the Demon to Tourneur's "intelligent" manipulation of prosaic generic elements. Fujiwara argues that the things that distinguish Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, and Leopard Man -- narrative ambiguity, lyrical mise-en-scene, understated dramatics -- are also present in such unjustly forgotten thrillers, westerns, and historical dramas as Experiment Perilous, Stars in My Crown, Way of a Gaucho, and others. By examining Tourneur's early French features and many MGM shorts, he shows decisively that the director's stylistic maturity occurred before his first widely acclaimed feature, Cat People, and only grew from there.

Fujiwara devotes meaty individual chapters to each of the features, with a close reading and critical analysis leavened with production data and contextualizing commentary. True to the author's missionary zeal, some of the best material is the most polemical, as when he effectively articulates the minority view that Leopard Man is not the mess that many (including Tourneur) have claimed, but a major work of "precise and inexhaustible poetry" that presaged the anti-narrative cinema that would be de rigeur in Hollywood two decades later. Fujiwara is also strong on the visual beauty of Stars in My Crown, the sense of personal conviction in Night of the Demon, and the connection between the underrated Experiment Perilous and the Lewton films. Overall, a worthy, well-written and -researched tribute to an auteur who deserves a higher ranking than Sarris, and too many other critics, has given him. Included are a detailed bibliography and filmography, along with photos.

Jacques Tourneur was a uniquely talented director with a string of distinctive films to his credit, including Cat People, Canyon Passage, I Walked With a Zombie and Out of the Past. Tourneur's best films look and sound like no one else's, stylish, subtle and strangely...quiet. At last there is an intelligent, discerning book on the subject of the talented Frenchman. Perhaps a bit more background on the making of the films would have been appreciated, otherwise this is an excellent and eye-opening bit of original film scholarship.

I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL DIRECTORS OF LAST 2 DECADES. JAMES CAMERSON IS AN EGO MANIAC, PERFECTIONIST, WORKAHOLIC,SLAVE DRIVER. HE IS SELF CENTERED AND AROGANT. HE HAS HAD 4 MARRIAGES AND FAILED IN EACH. HE ALSO IS A TALENTED, SELF MOTIVATED, INTELLIGENT, AND CREATIVE PERSON. HE SEEMS TO STRIVE ON STRESS, PRESSURE, AND CHAOS. THIS BOOK CONTAINS MANY INTERESTING AND AMUSING TALES OF HIS DARK SIDE (MIJ). THE TELLING OF HIM GOING DOWN IN A MINI SUB TO DO SOME FILMING OF THE WRECKAGE OF THE TITANIC HIMSELF IS IN ITSELF A GREAT STORY. THIS IS A MUST FOR ANYONE WHO LIKES TO READ ABOUT BEHIND THE SCENES ABOUT MOVIE MAKING AND LIKES TO READ ABOUT GOSSIP CONCERNING SO CALLED HOLLYWOOD STARS. THE AUTHOR HAS A REALLY GOOD READ HERE.
VERY RECOMMENDED.

This book is amazing. It explains all of James Cameron's movies, in detail. As well as the process he went through in making them, writing them, directing them, pre-production, production, and post-production. Not to mention the reviews critics gave the film, and it's popularity in the box office. And it explains his life and interest in moviemaking from the age of 10 to where he is now.

Over my life the "unauthorized" biographies are usually books with sorted details of sex, drugs and other scandals. Those books are usually a real turnoff for me. However, Marc Shapiro has written a book that I found both fascinating and enlightening at the same time.

What Shapiro gives you is an inside look at the Filmmaker who is responsible for films like Titanic, The Terminator, True Lies and Terminator 2. Read and learn how Cameron got his start working for another film genius, Roger Corman.

While this book leaves you to ponder the question of whether or not Cameron was the power hungry, controlling and manipulating filmmaker some have claimed or is Cameron just another Hollywood Movie flake or possibly the film industry's greatest genius.

The quick and interesting read makes this book a real pleasure. If you like to read about how the movie industry moves and shakes than this book is one you'll want to add to your collection. Overall an excellent job and well worth the time to read!

I picked up this book over the week-end, and finished it in a day. Being "unauthorized" it is actually a very well put together piece of work. The author has obviously used alot of reference material (he quotes Starlog alot) but reinforces this material with his own cast and crew interviews.

Unfortunately the sections on the films that preceed "The Abyss" are relatively light reads. The section on "Aliens" does however bring in some very interesting details about the production that I have never seen in print before...it does not however go quite far enough, I put it down wanting to know more.

Overall 3 out of 5...this book could have done more with the earlier period of this directors career.

This book is riveting reading for the fan or the filmmaker. Vachon has a talent for balancing intensive amounts of details with storytelling skills. You really will want to know how a distribution is made before the first frame is filmed. Her personality -- tough, passionate, centered -- also makes the book a compelling read. Even when her foes are completes a-hats, Vachon does not descend into bitterness, but rather, makes another compelling lesson.

The book is readable in as much as trash pop and pulp fiction is watchable and readable.No matter what is said,at the end of the day,this producer is yet another example of someone grandfathered into the industry ,with a production loan to get her started.A lump sum equvalent of about USD 100 000 today.There were a handful of active indie female producers operating in those times(most without that financial leg up.)Vachon is but one story.For that reason this is an ill researched book.
A few other women may not have stood on others toes as much as Vachon is capable of, nor claimed as much public or industry credit for themselves, but this book is but one story from the nineties,and it is in that context only it is best read.There were a small handful of extremely strident indie and studio women in Hollywood at the time,who broke significant paths for other women,not just themselves- in the choosing of projects they developed and the actions they took.The book is readable but indulgent insider name dropping. In one aspect a shallow take on a very political hollywood film business at the time.

...which kind of gets me wondering--why the heck don't *even more* aspiring producers and D-boy and D-girl wannabes get their hands on this amazing compendium of production experiences, take them to heart, and learn themselves a whole lot about the global film game in the process. If you've got the answer to that question, let me know. I'm still scratching my noodle.

Okay, so you're going to totally dig this book. Christine Vachon and her Killer Films outfit in N-Y-C, using that well-known convention of theirs--break the bounds of traditional (read: boring) publishing with a rather unconventional approach to bookwriting. Prepare for a wild wooly ride of a read...Christine's deft collaborators (egs. directors, financiers, and studio consigliatores) have chimed in here in various sections, offering up sage advice on the pit- and prat-falls of the indie and studio sides of the filmmaking biz, and what it's generally like working with Christine and her able band of brothers and sisters. That, for this here reviewer, was a right privilege...live recordings of Christine's conversations with her colleagues wouldn't have been richer. And like I tell you in my title...you couldn't pay Vachon enough to give this course. For a couple of Lincolns, this was a gold mine.

By the way, I think I've tattooed my entire Netflix wish list with every single Killer title known to Movieland. As luck would have it, ONE HOUR PHOTO was one of the better films of 2002, and little did I know that Christine was even responsible for getting this one made. Small world, baby.

It's an unsung job, the producing game can sometimes be, but mark it--without Christine's valuable input at various stages of the process, many of these so-called little pictures mightn't have been made, languishing in that purgatory of "development hell" (or turnaround) like 98% of the projects out there are in (according to every single statistic known to the filmmaking poobahs). One of the most inspiring statements from the entire book which I triple underlined, dogeared, and highlighted in tri-colour was her frank admission that producers must maintain "eternal optimism." They are the ones who are enthusiastic at all times, oftentimes when there's no reason to be, and oftentimes when there's no production necessarily to speak of. The equivalent to selling short on the stock market. If your sources' predictions are bang on, chances are you're going to make a "buchta" of cash.

Such boundless enthusiasm the mark of a truly gifted deal-maker, and in the trenches which is the modern-day studio system (read: the business of making movies), and the relatively recent advent of the "mini-majors" (or classics divisions of the major Hollywood studios), this brand of relentlessness has become all the more critical. Remove one element from the positivity puzzle, strip away a single grain of that much-needed goodness which is a key ingredient of the all-encompassing feelgood--by definition, a must towards smooth functioning on the film set--and off your high film concept goes into the grey ether.

Just for the rekkid, listening to podcasts helps, kids! I'd heard about this title after listening to Claude Brodesser Ackner's THE BUSINESS on NPR (goo-search it). I was so intrigued by Christine's outspokenness, that I simply couldn't curb my enthusiasm to hop on over to my favourite online book purveyor and pick up the nearest copy of her A KILLER LIFE.

Where is that extra star when I need it? Five estrellas, kids. Count 'em. Cinco.

--ADM in Prague

As an aspiring producer, I have long looked up to the indie queen Christine Vachon, and I was interested to read this book after having read her excellent SHOOTING TO KILL. I read that book when I was back in college, but this book is better. It's definitely more personal - in a way it reads like a memoir.

You feel like you are going through all the trials and tribulations with her. There's a lot of exciting stuff here - she battles the MPAA over Boys Don't Cry -- the bond company takes control of Far From Heaven-- she has interactions with big stars like Jude Law and Julia Roberts.
I have never been to Sundance, but Vachon's Sundance diary takes you through that festival with her.

All this makes for a book that's immensely readable; I couldn't put it down. I really liked the spotlights from other industry figures, agents, studio heads and directors like John Cameron Mitchell (who did my favorite film, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH!) If you are in the industry, want to learn about the industry or are just plain curious about how movies get made, go out and get this book now!

One Christmas, when Ingmar Bergman was 10 years old, a wealthy aunt gave his older brother a magic lantern--a low tech projector. Little Ingmar was overwhelmed by the contraption, and he traded 100 tin soldiers for it from his rather indifferent brother. That night he crept into a closet with the lantern, fired it up, and gazed in wonderment at the images flashed against the closet wall. He was enchanted, and in his memoir, aptly titled after that memorable experience, he tells us that he still is.

The Magic Lantern is as intriguing as Bergman's films. Anyone who has seen his films will immediately appreciate just how many scenes in them are pulled from Bergman's own life--or at least his memories, accurate or not, of his life: the spanking scene in "Fanny and Alexander," the locked-in-a-closet scene in "Hour of the Wolf," the infidelity in "Faithless" (Liv Ullmann directed, but Bergman wrote the script), the death fear in "Seventh Seal," and so on. Bergman truly is a confessional artist. As both writer and director, his personal life, both inner and outer, is the raw material for his films.

The Magic Lantern isn't written in a linear style. Memories of childhood dance with more recent ones--e.g., rehearsing Strindberg's "Dream Play" or being arrested on false charges of tax evasion. What's important for Bergman throughout is his inner life: the incredibly rich psyche that serves as the magic lantern that projects his art into the world, both on the screen and the stage.

Bergman wrote his memoir after he'd "retired." He still had several films ahead of him, including what I think turned out to be one of his best, "Saraband." The themes that haunted him throughout his life, including ones that he thought he'd laid to rest involving God and death, and which he wrote about in The Magic Lantern, remained with him for the final two decades of his life. Like his movies, there is no final resolution. Perhaps that's simply the human condition.

The Magic Lantern is not a page turner. The autobiography of the swedish film director Ingmar Bergman is the kind of book that needs time to be read, not because its boring or too deep, but because its so good so enjoyable and every chapter so wonderful that its a shame to finish it too quickly. The Magic Lantern is the life of Bergman but he hardly writes about his movies, he writes about his childhood, his life in the theater, the women of his life, his relationships with his children, his health, politics... this book will help you understand one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.

Ingmar Bergman's autobiography lacks the creative intensity and spark that have made him a cinematic legend. While "The Magic Lantern: An Autobiography" is prettily written and lets you see a little of Bergman's persona, he wrote with little detail and few interesting anecdotes.

Bergman covers his childhood at a Lutheran parsonage in Sweden, and his early fascination with the mechanics of filmmaking -- the "magic lantern." He describes his failures and successes, his marriages, his love affair with muse Liv Ullman, and the many now-legendary figures that he dealt with in his illustrious career.

Ingmar Bergman creates atmospheric, riveting films full of emotion... which is the exact opposite of "The Magic Lantern." It's heavy in uninteresting details and bits of information -- Bergman lectures at length about Swedish taxes, but doesn't tell us about his feelings or his motivation.

And while people who write autobiographies are entitled to keep parts of their lives private, Bergman's lack of emotion carries over to his family. He barely mentions Ullman, and only includes one emotionless anecdote about their love affair. Their daughter Linn isn't mentioned at all. For that matter, none of his kids or wives are given much attention.

If one slogs through the swamp of boring details, there are a handful of interesting stories, involving people like Charlie Chaplin, Ingrid Bergman and Greta Garbo. But Bergman seems to be half asleep. There's little humor, pathos or anger in his writing -- it's flat. There's something wrong with a book when the most passionate anecdote is about Bergman and a cinematograph. It's no coincidence that Bergman calls this book "The Magic Lantern" -- filmmaking seems to be the only passion he can describe.

Ingmar Bergman is an excellent director, but as a writer he leaves something to be desired. "The Magic Lantern: An Autobiography" comes across as a distasteful duty he didn't pay much attention to, rather than a look into his mind and life. Dull and ponderous.

This book is a moving, candid account of the great director's often turbulent life. It is written the same way that his films are made: full of humor and tender observation. I was deeply touched by it and inspired by his creative spirit.

Edward Marston is the pseudonym of Keith Miles, a fairly prolific and extremely good writer of mainly Elizabethan and medieval mysteries. He has also written mysteries under his own name with both sporting and golf backgrounds. However it is primarily the books that take place earlier in history that I am interested in. He read modern history at Oxford and has had many jobs, including university lecturer, but fortunately for all his readers, he turned to the writing profession.

Nicholas Bracewell, book holder for Lord Westfield's Men, a company of actors, is fresh from accomplishing the task of holding the group together during a recent plot against the queen, Elizabeth I. The Queen's Head galleries are about to ring with laughter when The merry Devils a new comedy is performed by Lord Westfield's men. The landlord is somewhat fearful that mischief will follow, but Nicholas sees only a harmless comedy, a play that will not summon up real devils. Why then do three devils suddenly appear on stage, one looking remarkably life-like, and then one imp is found dead beneath the stage?

What happens when an unexpected supernatural guest shows up on the stage of a play in Elizabethan England?

I was confused at the beginning of this book because there is a large cast of characters, and they are all introduced at the same time... once I got the characters straight in my head (I think) I found this mystery enjoyable.

The Merry Devils is a very creative work of art. It really shows what Tudor England was like under the reign of the Virgin Queen.
It blends theater and history into an astounding read from cover to cover.

"The Merry Devils" is Edward Marston's second episode in the Nicholas Bracewell "Elizabethan Whodunit" series.

It's now curtains up for the London theatrical group known as the Westfield Men.Their patron is Lord Westfield, who, often times, has his own misgivings and even problems. Still the troupe carries on, as the series reveals, with murder, mayhem, and political, social, and religious intrigues!

Behind the guidance of Bracewell, the company's book holder and general stage "boss," the group is enjoying measured success, after all it is good times in England as the Virgin
Queen seems happy on the throne and prosperity seems at an all-time high.

Not so fast, though. The troupe is excited about their production of a new play, "The Merry Devils." However, on opening day, a strange and surprising event occurs: instead
of two devils appearing on stage, mysteriously there are three devils there. This catches everyone's attention and they prepare for a second performance. This time, only one devil
appears and the crew find the second one dead beneath the stage!

Now, our Nicholas takes over. Despite the fact that he's a top theatrical manager, he's also a great detective. Now, with the help (and oftimes hindrance!) of his fellow troupe members, he begins slowly to unravel the circumstances surrounding this death. And, of course, it is no accident. Like a spider web, the event spins off in a number of directions, areas where jealousy, revenge, and political intrigue step forward. Marston's supporting characters include the indomitable Lawrence Firethorne, Edmund Hood, Barnaby Gill, and their nemesis Banbury's Men.

Marston does an excellent job with this historical
"whodunit," weaving excellent characterization, plot development, historical accuracy, and authentic tone and atmosphere to make "The Merry Devils" one worth the read. This story is not a history lesson, but history "with a twist," well worth the time it takes! (...

I really enjoyed this book. There are some new filmmakers on my radar.

This book is a really good book! My only complaint is that he had to cut some of the interviews down. The book is really well constructed and has a lot of interesting interviews which show you how hard it really is to get into the moviemaking industry. My favorite interviews were Richard Kelly and the Weitz twins. As an aspiring film maker, I recommend this to anyone who wants to go into the movie business or anyone who likes movies. It's really like getting a back stage pass into the lives of some of today's hottest directors.

Enjoy!

Budding filmmakers looking for inspiration should check out Josh Horowitz's interview anthology, "The Mind of the Modern Moviemaker: 20 Conversations With the Next Generation of Filmmakers" (Plume, $15).
Horowitz, a writer and TV producer, takes a simple concept - sit down with some of cinema's emerging directorial greats - and elicits eloquent, investigative pieces that truly provide glimpses into some fascinating storytellers.
Interviewing the likes of Michel Gondry, Kevin Smith, Richard Kelly and Neil LaBute, Horowitz has each filmmaker explain his big break, work process and philosophy. He asks surprisingly blunt questions, querying the subjects about significant failures and insecurities.
The author isn't in search of an overwhelming zeitgeist. The interviewees emerge as disparate personalities, all after distinct goals. Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour," "X-Men 3"), for instance, proves to be a business-oriented company man who cares most about making money, while Smith ("Clerks," "Chasing Amy") seems to be content with catering to his small yet devoted audience with his uncompromising fare.
The book is an excellent specimen of entertainment journalism, and the thoughts, hopes and fears expressed by the directors in the book will make for just as interesting a read 10 years from now, when some will be giants while others will surely have faded into obscurity.
Phil Villarreal

If you have even a passing interest in film then this book is a must-have. I collect books on television and film and this one is as good as anything I've read in recent years.

An interesting mix of storytelling, humor, and info for wannabe filmmakers, the author of this book does a fine job of asking informed questions that both fans and students of film want to have answered. What made it really stand out, in my mind, was the selection of filmmakers interviewed. Specifically, it's a group of men and women just reaching the top of their craft. This isn't a book full of old timey Hollywood stories from Robert Evans or even Martin Scorsese - these are the people making films that people are talking about today, and will be talking about for the next fifty years.

I just finished reading it and then ordered another copy for my nephew in film school. A really fun book. Hope this helped.

For anyone interested in the first true independent filmmaker in american cinema, Oscar Micheaux, this book is a great read. On top of being a wonderfully encompassing biographical project, this book reveals a lot about early hollywood history and the ways in which it created its own fringes. The problem here is that micheaux is a notoriously mysterious person, and the book comes off sometimes as a means of unveiling this mystery. I think that a straightforward biographical format might be a little inappropriate for the purposes of an account of micheaux's life. This is a great start, but a REALLY interesting novelist should take up this material and use it to write a more IMAGINATIVE biography.

Nevertheless, this is a good read for those of you curious about micheaux and his famously independent spirit.

McGilligen's "deep background" research pays off as his prose brings life to the mysterious life of Oscar Micheaux. McGilligen's knowledge of film history and movie directors brings historical context and makes Micheaux's accomplishments seem all the more amazing. Paced like a novel, the book is sprinkled liberally with Micheaux's own words, and really seems to capture the man. I certainly hope this book introduces Micheaux to a new generation of readers.

Having successfully chronicled such outsiders behind the camera as Cukor and Lang, celebs with secrets like Eastwood and Nicholson, and iconic geniuses like Hitchcock, I must say that I was surprised when I picked up this latest from the master film historian becuase I knew absolutetly nothing about the book's subject, a deficiency I am afraid that I share with the vast majority of American film-goers.
Now thanks to McGilligan's mastery I a aware of the "great and only" Oscar Micheaux who seems to have gotten the short shrift of American History in much the same manner as Crispus Attucks and Danile Hale Williams.
McGilligan charts the almost unchartable as this self-made man moves from porter to homesteader to author to film-maker, mixing the economics and art of the early film industry in an effort to supply entertainment and Art to an audience neglected by the major studios.
Filled with documentation, numerous name walk-ons, and insightful criticisms one is left with only one question after reading this book : how could Oscar Micheaux have been so neglected by both the public eye and history? ... and the fact that that question is raised is all to the credit of McGilligan's work.
BRAVO Patrick McGilligan - you've done it again!
Please try to write faster.

Oscar Micheaux was a Ground-breaking Film-Maker who paved the way for the Likes of Melvoin Van Peoples,Ossie Davis Jr, Gordon Parks,Spike Lee, John Singleton and other Highly Creative African-American film-Makers that carried on the tradition that was set by Micheaux. Patrick Mcgilligan does a Great job at speaking on the Independence of Oscar Micheaux's creativity. a great job of talking and speaking on Micheaux's Creativity. this Book is a Great introduction for a New Generation just discovering the Great works of Oscar Micheaux. a Must read and have.

Preston Sturges was one of the greatest comedy directors of all time, but most people have no idea who he was. This book is basically Sturges' autobiography. Ironically, he died before he ever had a chance to finish and publish his life story. However, using what he had written, various letters, and notes, his daughter Sandy collected his writings and edited them into this delightful book. I was fascinated and extremely amused reading about the exploits of the gifted (and wealthy) young Preston. His childhood was anything but usual, what with globetrotting and famous dinner guests and all; and the story of how he became a movie director is most interesting and entertaining. Full of wit and charm, this book is sure to entertain; not unlike a Preston Sturges' film.

A great autobiography that anyone who is a Sturges fan will love. He writes extremely well, and the life he tells about is a fascinating one. Why this book is not more widely known and discussed is a mystery. Had Sturges never made a movie (and he devotes little space to that aspect of his life), or if anyone reading the book would happen to not know who Sturges is, the book would hold up just as well. His wife Sandy did an excellent job of editing Sturges' journals and writings to come up with what will one day become known as literary classic that will stand alongside his film masterpieces.

The best biography (to date) of Preston Sturges is "Between Flops" by James Curtis, but this well-edited edition of Preston's own unfinished autobiography makes a wonderful companion volume to that vivid bio.

The strange title and author attribution of this (auto)biography of movie writer/director Sturges is revealed in the last paragraph, and I won't give it away here. Trust me to say that this is a fascinating look into Preston Sturges' life as it is revealed by the man himself. Revealing? For example, the time spent by Sturges working on his six Hollywood classics (starting with "The Great McGinty" and ending with "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek") are briefly covered in approximately 50 pages. Instead of concentrating his life into the three years that made him famous, Sturges spreads his story out equally to all years of his life, spending an equal amount of time on his toddlership. Fortunately, Sturges' life is interesting and by the time you arrive with him in Hollywood, you may agree with him that it's not necessarily as high a pinnacle as it may seem.

What you discover here is that Sturges, while a gifted writer and director, was something of a strange chap. His early life, while providing him many of the anecdotes that he would later incorporate into his movies, weren't necessarily guiding him to the silver screen. By tricks of simple fate, Sturges avoided a career as a perfumer, a broker, and an inventor. And, before Hollywood, there was a chance that he would have stayed a playwright on Broadway. For a man with the drive for success and money, though, no place but Hollywood in those years had quite the means to deliver the goods.

There's a few pictures to round out the book and a nice bibliography. As a starting point to discovering more about Sturges' work, this is a great book. About that work, though, one must look elsewhere.