Orson Welles (Pocket Essential series) [Paperback]

Paul Duncan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1903047048 | ISBN-13: 978-1903047040 | Publication Date: March 1, 2000

Pocket Essentials is a dynamic series of books that are concise, lively, and easy to read. Packed with facts as well as expert opinions, each book has all the key information you need to know about such popular topics as film, television, cult fiction, history, and more. Orson Welles shocked Broadway with his all-black voodoo version of Macbeth, challenged the US government with his production of The Cradle Will Rock, terrified America with his spoof radio broadcast of The War Of The Worlds, and then at the tender age of 26, directed what many consider the greatest American film ever made: Citizen Kane. The popular myth is that it was all downhill from there, that Welles became a fallen genius yet, despite overwhelming odds, he went on to make great film noirs like The Lady From Shanghai and Touch Of Evil. Far from being down and out, Welles became one of the first cutting-edge independent film-makers. As well as having an introductory essay, in this book each of Welles' films is analyzed, and there is a handy multimedia reference guide for further study.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The Hollywood Icon series: People talk about Hollywood glamour, about studios that had more stars than there are in heaven, about actors who weren't actors but were icons. Other people talk about these things, TASCHEN shows you. Hollywood Icons is a series of photo books that feature the most famous movie icons in the history of cinema. These 192-page books are visual biographies of the stars. For each title, series editor Paul Duncan has painstaking selected approximately 150 high quality enigmatic and sumptuous portraits, colorful posters and lobby cards, rare film stills, and previously unpublished candid photos showing the stars as they really are. These images are accompanied by concise introductory essays by leading film writers; each book also includes a chronology, a filmography, and a bibliography, and is peppered with apposite quotes from the movies and from life. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Martin Fitzgerald has written Pocket Essential Guides to Hong Kong's Heroic Bloodshed and Woody Allen.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 78 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Essentials (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1903047048
• ISBN-13: 978-1903047040
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,777,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful visual history., August 18, 2008

By 

PokerBen (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orson Welles (Movie Icons) (Paperback)

I'm a big fan of Orson Welles after recently watching the movie "Citizen Kane". I was blown away by the movie, but also by the great actor.

I decided to delve deeper into his career, and I chose this book for a great starter.

I found the book to be very good. It goes through the career of Orson Welles from movie #1 (Kane), throughout his death.

The book is filled with great photos, and movie stills, each with a short caption.

Please be aware though, this is a visual history, with very little text.

It does include a bibliography,filmography, and a short roundup of his career, including a time line.

I really enjoyed this book for the broad overview. I will now probably dig deeper with other books.

For the price, I would not hesitate to pick this book up. As they say a picture is worth 1,000 words, and this book is chocked full of them!

I will be picking up more books in this "Movie Icons" format.

Happy reading/viewing!