Customer Reviews

Biographical Dictionary of Film

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is not encyclopedic; personal favs like Donald Pleasence and John Carradine are omitted despite hundreds of credits. Thomson apparently wrote about just those who interested him. He expresses himself beautifully. He has a real gift for finding just the right words to convey his ideas. As always with critics, one remembers the opinions that seem loopy because he differs with everyone else. The revered directors like Kubrick he hates. The veteran actors I like he dismisses. His weird essays on comedians in which he treats being funny as of secondary importance. But he is always entertaining, and I found his attacks on some of my favorite actors (George Raft, Anthony Quinn) hilarious. Highly recommended.

The author seems to me the greatest writer on film (and just about anything else that interests him). What makes Thomson so good is the style in which he writes is so succinct that even if (like me) at first you disagree, given time you soon come round to his opinion. Why? Because you realise he is a master - hes tough, independant, superbly knowledgable and educates you on what is GOOD and what isnt, based on admirable opinions of art and expression. More than anything this book is a wonderful education.

Thomson's gifts seem to elude many... No, this is not the foundation for a film library; it's a wholly biased supplement...)

Thomson is first and foremost the densest writer about film out there; his economy is unparalleled, and it often takes two or three readings just to figure out how much he's saying in a single sentence. Most people won't agree with Thomson often, but that's the point: He's provocative, contrary, and dogmatic, the latter characteristics redeemed by his incisiveness. The challenge is to read him openly, consider his analyses fully, and form an opinion only then.

It's easy to fault Thomson for his selectivity, and the lapses between editions of his Biographical Dictionary of Film. But that's akin to criticizing your favorite author for not writing enough books. Thomson should be treasured for what he does offer; the world of film criticism would be a far poorer place without him.

RE: Previous review stating "Thomson is also not bashful about leaving out important contributors to cinema to include seasonal celebrities that were mostly popular in the early nineties". This title was originally published in 1975, then reprinted in the U.S, as hardback in 1976 and paperback - 1979. One should hardly fault the author for not including personalities who would experience their fame 10-20 years into the future.

Not your typical film encyclopedia. Instead of general-information blurbs, Thomson offers a critical assesment of the actors, directors, producers and other filmic figures he references. The best entries attempt to come to terms with their subject's meaning, his or her importance to the development of cinema as an international and a local/national artform -- and this describes virtually every entry in the book. Be aware, Thomson has very definite opinions and no fear of sharing them, but don't let that turn you off. Even if you disagree with his appraisals, his criticism is founded on sound reasoning, and presented in dense, articulate prose. The book does have its faults, of course; Thomson offers only a cursory treatment of contemporary cinema -- he has substantive comments for Tom Cruise and Speilberg, but other contemporary figures receive little more than a filmography. Still, this book should be useful to anyone interested in film history and criticism, or arts criticism in general.

If you love good, pointed writing, writing that really goes to the heart of what we see on the big screen when we see certain film actors, this is your book. Really well-written, certainly opinionated (but justifiably, in all cases), thoughtful, insightful, amusing, witty. As you read each entry, you'll be saying to yourself, "That's EXACTLY how I feel about SoAndSo!," because the author expresses each film person's essence so aptly. The author has apparently known and/or met many of the entries, so is able to add personal experience with these people to his vast historical knowledge of their work. A wonderful work.

Untouchable. If you are looking for the best guide to usher you through the vast moviehouse of the ages, Thomson is your man. Learned, caustic, and thoroughly entertaining, Thomson will cause you to re-evaluate old favorites and to discover many new ones. WARNING: You must live near a fabulous video store or you will not have the opportunity to develop your own conclusions about the movies discussed. The big video chains just don't cut it!

This is neither Biographical nor a Dictionary nor about Film. I know little more about the people in it after reading than I did before - only Thomson's opinions about them. Moreover, it's not very comprehensive, like a dictionary should be. Where is Jack Conway? Where is Klaus Maria Brandauer? Where is Sean Penn? But there is a huge write-up of Johnny Carson. What does he have to do with Film? In Thomson I suspect a fluttering fan, who is using his access to publication as a platform for promoting those who have favored him with their acquaintance and damning those who haven't.

Thomson reads like the film equivalent an opera queen, ready to defend camp heroes like Fassbinder and Joan Crawford, but rather scornful of the likes of John Ford and Fred Zinnemann. And what's worse, this British expatriate takes every opportunity he can to put down America and Americans. No wonder he lives in that most "cosmopolitan" of American cities, San Francisco.

If you want a competent, balanced, comprehensive and, yes, opinionated biographical dictionary of film, get Ephraim Katz's Film Encyclopedia.

I was looking forward to something more opinionated than the useful and comprehensive but rather dry film bios of Katz's Film Encylopedia. Well, I got opinion in this Biographical Dictionary.

Unfortunately, that opinion is from someone who apparently thinks one must be a curmudgeon in order to be a critic. It is obvious from this massive and hard-laboured work, that David Thomson is a pedant and a misanthrope. He really doesn't like much of anyone, especially those whose output is entertainment.

Woe be unto the actor or director deemed here as (a) politically incorrect or (b) an audience pleaser. As George Lucas has said, Thomson doesn't know much about the movie business. But he does know about Ceenéma Art.

If you are the type who thinks himself a cinema Enthusiast, who lives at the Penultimate Picture Palace, swooning at spittle on the faces of Dreyers's close-ups, you will no doubt relish Thomson's tome.

This book was probably mistitled A Biographical Dictionary of Film only for marketing reasons. It is really a selected list of film personalities with essays that are often more critical than biographical. The only useful feature may be its large entry of corresponding films and dates. But nowdays, this is also downloadable from many internet databases. One of the book's most pretentious touches is the combination of Sharon Stone and Frances Farmer's bios into one to show a parallel between two actresses from different generations. Self important in its overall tone this book really reveals a limited and basic selection of actors and directors based on the author's likes and dislikes. Particularly when figures fall under heavy criticism (i.e. Fellini) the text becomes a turn off instead of being informative.

Totally void of not-so-obvious figures, Thomson is also not bashful about leaving out important contributors to cinema to include seasonal celebrities that were mostly popular in the early nineties. This makes the book already terribly dated.

Limited in information and obnoxiously opinionated, Tomson's book has quickly become useless after a few years of it's publication. The paperback edition may be out of print but it's easily available used. Avoid it like the plague.

Knopf please don't publish an updated edition.

The most comprehensive and unbiased volume on film biographies remains Katz's Film Encyclopedia.