The Universal Story - The Complete History of the Studio and its 2,641 Films [Hardcover]

Clive Hirschhorn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 1987

They sent chills down your spine with Dracula; made you laugh with Abbot & Costello and cry with ET; and nearly scared you to death with The Birds, Jaws, and Jurassic Park. Universal Studios' phenomenal success didn't come easily, and theirs is a tale worthy of a movie itself. Founded in 1912 by the legendary Carl Laemmle, Universal struggled hard in the early days to compete with its rivals, finally succeeded in the 1920s, and then began a roller coaster of ups and downs that climaxed in the new millennium with its status as a true industry leader. The major players included directors Hitchcock, Ford, Scorsese, Stone, and Lee and actors De Niro, Pacino, Streep, and Sarandon. Through an analysis of each movie, from the golden silents to Schindler's List, the exciting history of one of the world's greatest studios comes alive.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Film and theater critic Clive Hirschhorn tells the stories behind two major motion picture studios that epitomized the Golden Age of Hollywood in The Columbia Story and The Universal Story; he studies the works of these studios' tycoons and chronicles each film made, with numerous pictures and facts. Each year of the companies' existences is displayed showing the movies produced and reviews of the major films of that year. All the films that earned or were nominated for an Oscar appear in a timeline at the end of each book with specific award distinctions for the studio, from Columbia's It Happened One Night, Tootsie and The Shawshank Redemption to Universal's Dracula, ET and Jaws. These two volumes stand as excellent references for the powerhouses of American film.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The resurgent popularity of independent filmmakers in recent years makes it easy to forget the colossal movie-making empire created by the original Hollywood mega-studios, of which Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios are prime examples. Hirschhorn (formerly film and theater critic for the London Sunday Express), who pioneered the glossy, lavish studio history with his groundbreaking The Warner Bros. Story (LJ 3/1/80), here offers revisions of two works published in the 1980s, maintaining their exceptional quality. The logistical dilemma of how to cram into a volume of manageable size photos and critiques for every film produced by a studio since the silent movie era (over 3000 for Universal) is cleverly overcome by the judicious use of tiny arrows to match text with illustrations, omitting captions as well as cast and production credits. Hirschhorn's virtuoso command of cinema history and the motion picture industry is demonstrated throughout, a typical example being his critique of His Girl Friday, in which he relates the film to the original Broadway play, identifies the overlapping dialog technique as having been borrowed from an earlier Frank Capra film, and provides an articulate and entertaining critique of the plot. Not only are there a multitude of black-and-white photo stills, but they are especially well selected and capture the films' mood and impact. In addition to the main, year-by-year section featuring the films, there are excellent narrative histories of each studio. Highly recommended for all libraries and essential for cinema collections. Richard W. Grefrath, Univ. of Nevada Lib., Reno
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 399 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1st Ed.(U.S.) edition (November 22, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517550016
• ISBN-13: 978-0517550014
• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 9.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #442,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work, June 30, 2011

By 

Markku Ojanen (Lempäälä Finland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Universal Story - The Complete History of the Studio and its 2,641 Films (Hardcover)

One can only admire the quality of this book. The pictures are wonderful and the text is full of great comments. Where one can found all these pictures? How one can make the quality so even? This is an excellent way to tell the history of film studio.