Customer Reviews

MEMORABLE FILMS OF THE FORTIES

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What makes a film memorable? Awards? Stars? Publicity? All three, I'd suggest. Plus movies with a considerable reputation based on contemporary reviews, and movies with a present-day cult following. Plus our own recollections and the continued availability of the film concerned on cable or DVD. So I'd expect to find in a book of this title, pictures like "Casablanca", "Belle Starr", "Laura", "Yankee Doodle Dandy", "Cobra Woman", "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein", "All About Eve", "The Breaking Point", "Easter Parade", "The Egg and I", "Forever Amber", "Gentleman's Agreement", "The Ghost Breakers", "The Glass Key", "The Heiress", "Hold That Ghost", "Meet Me in St Louis", "The Paleface", "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "The 3 Musketeers", "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", and "Without Reservations". But I want much more from a book than merely a recount of what I'd expect to find. How about entries to jog my memory of big pictures I'd half-forgotten like "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", "The Black Swan", and "The Captain from Castile"? How about the popular series pictures like Blondie, Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes and the Falcon that often played as supporting features on Saturday nights? And how about a few surprises? Maybe a fine film noir like "The Lost Moment" or "The Unsuspected" or "He Walked By Night"? Or an unappreciated western like Henry King's "The Gunfighter" which everyone disliked at the time for the frivolous reason that Gregory Peck wore a mustache. That's everything that I personally would expect to find in a book like this, and that's exactly what I as an author have tried to provide.

Someone agrees with me anyway. Entitled "One for Film Buffs", the following review by Doug Kennedy appeared in "The Gold Coast Bulletin" on February 6: Why pay $19.95 for a movie book when you can obtain some (but by no means all) of its information free on the net? "Memorable Films of the Forties" is by no means as comprehensive a survey as the net, but not much about the films it covers is left out. In addition to the information the net provides, such as a synopsis, detailed cast and crew lists, release dates, title changes and running times, this book provides fascinating titbits and production information that cannot be found elsewhere. Furthermore some of these details are more complete. For instance, this book also provides not only the USA general release date, but the New York date (which was several months before the general release) and the New York showcase (for example, the Radio City Music Hall). Another important date the net never provides and this book always does, is the copyright date. Of course, detailed information is not the only thing. This book's strongest points lie in its interesting reviews of the movies themselves. Furthermore, "Memorable Films of the Forties", doesn't just concentrate on the headliners, but also focuses on popular pictures. All in all, this is a book that is bound to find a wide audience.