The 247 Best Movie Scenes in Film History: A Filmgoer's Guide to Cigar Scenes, Car Chase Scenes, Haircut Scenes, Whistling Scenes, Dentist Scenes, Flu (McFarland Classics) [Paperback]

Sanford Levine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2001 | ISBN-10: 0786411112 | ISBN-13: 978-0786411115

A unique segment of the movie audience attends for one special scene. It could be a cigar scene (Joseph Cotten asking the young reporter to sneak him a "see-gar" in Citizen Kane), or a funny walk (Walter Brennan's in To Have and Have Not). For these fans a particular scene that brings them back time and time again. This is a witty, wry compilation of the best: accountant scenes, ballpoint pen scenes, food mushing scenes, telephone scenes, and more, arranged by category and described lovingly. The work is a droll delight to read.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fun to browse...useful" -- -Book Report

"Ingenious" -- -American Cinematographer

"Oone of the most entertaining film books.... Highly recommended" -- -Classic Images

About the Author

Sanford Levine, an author and screenwriter, got the idea for this book when he discovered other people too were leaving Citizen Kane after Cotten's cigar performance.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786411112
• ISBN-13: 978-0786411115
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,081,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quirky, Delightful Film Humor, October 8, 2004

By 

Steph Luca-V - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 247 Best Movie Scenes in Film History (Library Binding)

A real original--that's Sanford Levine and his delightful, quirky and utterly original take on little-noticed aspects of famous films. A must-read for the film fanatic or anyone with a sense of humor!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad for a One Joke Premise, January 24, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 247 Best Movie Scenes in Film History (Library Binding)

Most books I read that have only a one joke premise are boring after the second or third page. Levine's book, however, was short enough and diverse enough to keep my interest for quite a while. Levine has created a fictitious group, the DOA (Devotees of Film Art), composed of enthusiasts of particular types of scenes. There is the Cigar Scene group, who give their "Kipling" award (named after Rudyard Kipling who wrote "Betrothed" which compares cigars to women) a Neck Brace Scene group, a Fluttering Drape group, and several other categories. It's hard to believe there are so many groups out there that get all giddy over such small details. Nevertheless, that is the one joke premise of this book. Levine reports what the he has learned from these groups at their meetings and through their newsletters. Through this fiction we receive a collection of film scenes and brief explanations of how they are important in those sub-sub-subgenres. Levine often has problems with facts, muddling names, misattributing lines of dialogue, and printing the wrong dates from time to time. He also seems to have only seen a very few films in his life, or at least the DOA member groups have seen a limited number of films, as the book uses the same films over and over. The most enjoyable part of this film is that he tells us cute things about various films. Next time I see "The Uninvited" I'll pay more attention to the fluttering drape. After all, the members of the Fluttering Drape Fan Club might actually deserve that respect.