Customer Reviews

John Carradine: The Films

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great book by two great writers. I just checked out reviews for all the rest of Greg Mank's books - 5 stars all the way. Guess other people besides me consider him an excellent writer. McFarland must be happy with this guy! As for Weaver, there are too few of his books now available. Get on the stick, McFarland!

John Carradine's career spanned six decades and films thatranged from acclaimed classics (The Grapes of Wrath) to undisputedstinkers (can anyone say anything positive about Billy The Kid Vs. Dracula?). In John Carradine: The Films, author Tom Weaver deftly documents each and every film of the multi-talented actor. Complete cast and credits listings, synopsis and author commentarty for each film are included, as are remembrances from various co-stars, directors, Carradine's sons and even Carradine himself.

Weaver's commentaries on the films spices up the usual dryness found in many "Films Of" books, due to their rather strict cast/crew/summary formula. An opinionated reviewer/critic, Weaver doesn't pull his punches in offering up his takes on Carradine's films. Whether or not you agree with his views, it's nice to hear definite opinions for a change in a book like this, instead of the oft-times "take-no-controversial-stand" approach which, while certainly objective, doesn't always make for the most fascinating or interesting reading.

And for regular readers of the author, not to fear...the classic puns are here in good abundance, and will not fail to make one groan and shake one's head on occasion.

Rounding out this tribute to the "thin" Dracula are recollections of Carradine from directors Joe Dante and Fred Olen Ray, and a mini-biography by Gregory Mank. Carradine's flamboyance, lust for life, and love of Shakespeare, as well as his regrets and resignation to the many poor roles he either chose or was forced to accept in order to "feed the family" are just a few of the many sides to the actor that are captured by Mank.

In all, Tom Weaver has assembled an extraordinarily fine and fitting tribute to a too-long overlooked personage of classic horror history. Par for the course for the author, John Carradine: The Films is thoroughly researched, hugely informative, frequently amusing, and most importantly: simply a must-have book.

Everyone recognizes his face, but few can name him. John Carradine was a memorable character actor who gave rich performances in big and small budget pictures. Finally, a book has been written about him that not only explores his life via anecdotes and interviews interspersed throughout, but his vein of work that stretched innumerable decades and genres. Author Tom Weaver has crafted a fun and lively chronological read, putting together little-known information and revealing asides to enhance our knowlegde of the work of an aspiring actor. Perhaps now, more people will seriously reappraise Carradine's work and give him the consideration he's due.

He's the actor everyone knew, but few knew anything about. Here - finally - is the definitive look at the horror icon's hundreds of films, and his surprising life, including the strained relationship with his sons. Best of all, it's by two of the brightest lights in the field.

According to the book, the number one actor who has the most videos available is John Wayne, guess who is number 2! Writing a review of nearly every one of his films seems impossible but its done, and in a very well done fashion. Peppered throughout each review is interviews and details on Johns life. Many of the quotes are from John himself! So you get a pretty decent biography and filmography in one book. My only complaint would be it does not cover the multiple TV episodes, but then, the book would have to be twice its size. Perhaps a sequel would be in the works. He was in Thriller, Twilight Zone, Lost in Space, Land of The Giants, even FAME and many many others. Too much has been written on Karloff, Lugosi, Chaney, etc. Its time we had more on the great John Carradine and this book was a wonderful start!

Probably the hardest actor in Hollywood to write a FILMS OF book about would be John Carradine. This book does a remarkable job of covering every movie, with quotes from over 100 of Carradine's friends and associates. Gregory W. Mank's intro is the icing on the cake. I especially enjoyed the introductions by Fred Olan Rey and Joe Dante. Obviously a labor of love.

If you are a fan of John Carradine, you must have this book. If you're a fan of Greg Mank's work, and/or Tom Weaver's, you must have this book.

This is an indispensible book from two very gifted writers (I highly recommend Mank's Hollywood Hissables and Karloff and Lugosi: A Haunting Partnership) and an enterprising publishing house. Carradine was one of the greats, a versatile character actor and a tremendous villain. He also possessed one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard. This book will help you seek out great films you have missed, as well as entertaining you with stories about a very colorful man. It clears up some mysteries (I always wondered why Carradine underplays too much in his one classy horror film House of Frankenstein), offers tantalizing surprises (what became of that Carradine audio Bible?), and is simply lots of fun. We are left to wonder why one of the greats was so underused in his later years. Thanks are due to Fred Olen Ray for treating old veterans with respect in his films. I'm so glad Christopher Lee hasn't met the fate of all the other old horror stars. Nearly 80 and doing Lord of the Rings! Will Amazon carry his Jinnah movie soon?

In a career spanning hundreds of movies from "Tolerable David" in 1930 up until literally his death in 1988, John Carradine blessed this world with his many florid theater, film, and television performances. His greatest role(in his opinion) was split between major parts in the classics "Stagecoach" and "The Grapes of Wrath", both directed by John Ford. He loved to work. He loved Shakespeare. He loved women. The book details his three marriages, his drunken parties with John Barrymore, and his jail time for late alimony payments. And here, for horror fans, is a detailed breakdown of every film, from "House of Dracula" to "Satan's Cheerleaders". The large hardcover tome is complete with a myriad of pictures and posters. John Carradine is truly part of American cinema legacy. He died in Milan, Italy, attending a special screening of "Stagecoach".

All the other big names of horror-movie-actors have been covered: Karloff, Lugosi, Chaney, Lee, Cushing, Price ... Here is finaly the first book about John Carradine and all his films (and not only the B-Movie-Horrorfilms !)It was time !

German: Endlich ein Buch über den grossen John Carradine. All seine Horrorfilm-Schauspielkollegen sind ausreichend gewürdigt worden, von Lugosi, Chaney und Karloff über Price, Lee und Cushing. Nun endlich gibt es ein Werk mit vollständiger Filmograhie (und nicht nur die Horror-B-Filme) über diesen Altmeister. Wie alles aus dem McFarland-Verlag teuer aber in jeder Beziehung in Topqualität !