Customer Reviews

Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors

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

 

 

The title was suggested by Howard Hawks who once observed, "...I liked almost anybody that made you realize who in the devil was making the picture...Because the director's the storyteller and should have his own method of telling it." Hawks is one of the 16 "legendary film directors" represented in this volume. It is important to keep in mind that these are conversations rather than interviews such as those conducted by Robert J. Emery in The Directors: Take One and its sequel, The Directors Take Two, as well as interviews conducted by Richard Schickel in The Men Who Made the Movies. It is also worth noting that Bogdanovich is himself a distinguished director of films such as The Last Picture Show, What's Up, Doc?, They All Laughed (a personal favorite of mine), and Texasville. As a result of his own background, Bogdanovich's questions and comments reflect somewhat different interests and perspectives than do those of Emery and Schickel.

I rate all of these books Five Stars but probably enjoyed reading Bogdanovich's book the most because the conversations ramble along somewhat messily, as most of my own conversations tend to do, and also because Bogdanovich is more actively involved in the interaction than Emery and Schickel are. As a reader, I feel as if I were really an eavesdropper as 16 directors casually share their opinions, information about specific films and actors, gossip, "war stories," and overall evaluations of their careers' various successes and failures. At no time does Bogdanovich seem intrusive or manipulative. Moreover, perhaps to an extent he did not realize when writing this book, he also reveals a great deal about himself...much of it endearing and some of it admirable. His passion for film making and his appreciation of the great directors are almost palpable. Readers' interests about various directors and their respective films obviously vary. I include myself among those who are die-hard film buffs and so I enjoyed reading every chapter and every word in each chapter. Indeed, each conversation was for this amateur "gourmet" a feast to be consumed with delight and, yes, gratitude.

I wonder if we (the movie fans) appreciate that we have two of the greatest film historians ever still with us today? Peter Bogdanovich and Martin Scorsese not only make movies, they also have gone to great lengths to give us insight into those who came before them in filmmaking - Scorsese with his personal journey through American films and Bogdanovich with his insightful interviews of Welles, Ford and the long list of pioneers he included in this massive volume. Here we are given more than 800 pages of interviews, some of which are fully developed and others which are but snipets of interesting careers. We should be thankful he included the snipets with the others, because in many cases these are the only true looks we have into these men who led today's young filmmakers to find their way. From Allan Dwan to Chuck Jones, Bogdanovich explores with his interviews what was behind the eyes of the men who did many things in filmmaking for the first time and with distinction. He includes some who were there when filmmaking was in its infancy, and some who started in television and moved to movies. The length and some of the lesser-known names among the subjects at first gave me pause in tackling this book, but I surprisingly found each of the interviews interesting and now count this among the best (among many) reference books I own about movies. I've gone back to it several times when viewing some of the films these men have made, and that, for me, makes this a valuable posession.

You can spend years going to film school, or you can read this book! Bogdanovich does a great job with this collection of interviews of great film directors. Not only does the book give you a good inside view of the craft of cinema, but it also acts as a history book of the film industry.

This book would be good for the serious indie director who has bet his/her credit cards on their dream or even the special person in your life who stays up until 4am watching the Turner Classic Movie channel.

There is something here for everyone as there is a wide range of directors who work in a wide range of styles. There isn't a genre that isn't touched in this book - from Hitchcock on Horror to Chuck Jones on cartoons. What's great is that Bogdanovich captures insight into directors that are no longer with us (like Fritz Lang who directed Metropolis). Since the directors tell their own stories, you don't get the Hollywood hype filter.

If you had to buy one book on film this year, this would be it!

Bogdanovich's book has joined Bach's "Final Cut" and Dunne's "The Studio" among the dozen or so absolutely essential books on film, whether for the professional or the casual fan. It's a treasure trove of opinion, technique, and just plain gossip, and even the most ardent film lover will close the book at the end with a double-handful of movies they haven't seen and now can't go another day without. Bogdanovich is kind of a strange authority for this, but the respect he gives his interviewees, coupled with extensive knowledge and a clear desire to give equal space both to the heavyweights (Hitchcock, Hawks) and the now-forgotten (Dwan, Louis) makes this a hands-down MUST READ.

Peter Bogdanovich is a film director who loves cinema, and enjoys talking about it. "Who the Devil Made It" is a book that includes conversations between him and 16 renowned film directors. These interviews are quite different and were made at diverse times, but have in common one uniting theme: cinema. I already knew something about some of those directors, for example Alfred Hitchcock or Fritz Lang, but I hadn't heard a thing about others that aren't so well-known to the general public nowadays, for example Josef von Sternberg. In all cases, though, after reading these interviews I ended up learning more about their lives, experiences, and general philosophy regarding cinema.

The name of this book is taken from a reflection made by one of the directors Bogdanovich interviewed, Howard Hawks, who when asked what kind of movies he liked, promptly and passionately answered "I liked almost anybody that made you realize who the devil was making the picture... Because the director's the storyteller and should have his own method of telling it."

I cannot help but agree with him, and that is the reason why I recommend this book to you. It will teach you more about the old masters, and maybe motivate you to pay attention to "who the devil made it"...

Belen Alcat

Regardless of one's feelings about the egomania of author Bogdanovich (and it certainly bleeds through every page), he provides the creative world a great service by sharing his many years of interviews with some of the masters of American Film.

Contained within these pages is a critical access to the creative process. Each director interviewed (obviously some more than others) provides invaluable insight into the nuts and bolts of film directing. Bogdanovich has compiled with this book, an indispensable historical document that does much to inspire, educate and guide any aspiring film director.

I particularly valued Alan Dwan's insights into the importance of communicating character relationships into the narrative. I have incorperated much of the late director's invaluable advice into my attempts at stage direction.

All in all a must have for anybody interested in directing or gaining insight into the creative process.

Bogdanovich interviews film directors from across the spectrum. The one common element is that all these artists left a distinct stamp on the films with which they were involved. I particularly got a lot out of the interviews with Hitchcock, Leo McCarey, and Chuck Jones. Worth a read or several, definitely.

I have to give this book only 4 stars due to the overbearing writing voice of Peter Bog. The guy tries so hard to make sure the reader knows that he's had a close personal relationship with the great directors that it's painful to read. He also tries to put himself in this group as a director, for example, when he remarks on a play that a few of the directors in this books have staged, noting that he, too, has staged this play.
Really, it's not what he's saying, it's how he's saying it.

Anyway, if you can tune out Bogdonovich, the rest of the book is okay.