Customer Reviews

You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story

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

 

 

No doubt about it-this is a gorgeous book and a must for classic film fans. However, I'm getting increasingly annoyed at how major errors are slipping through the cracks.. For example, it's listed that Bette Davis WON the Oscar for "All About Eve." Maybe in her own mind she did but not in reality. Also, did you know that "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" only won two Oscars? Not true.Im sure there are more errors of this nature. I'm not certain which author to blame, but I have a feeling it's not Schickel.

YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS certainly fulfills its role as a coffee table book: there are a ton of photos and many of them are very interesting. The poster art and lobby stills are gorgeous, and the quality is top-notch. However, if you want to sit down and read it from cover to cover (as I did) you'll be very dissapointed. The book begins as a legitimate "biography" of Warner Brothers, telling the story of the studio's creation. It quickly turns into a hagiography, however, lionizing the greatness of the studio and forgetting to tell any remotely negative stories. Basically, the book feels like The History of Warner Brothers as written by Warner Brothers.

While this coffee-table sized book has some great photos, especially of stars from the forties, and fascinating history of the early movie business, it did not have an editor or an organizing principle. Schickel writes some pages covering a period in movie history, then his co-author writes the story of the SAME PERIOD and the SAME MOVIES with some other details, as well as some of the SAME DETAILS. Then they do it again, and again. What was going on here? Didn't an editor read it all at the end and notice the repetition? Was there some organizing principle that escaped me?

Aside from the early history, there is very little depth in the book and not even very much gossip about either movies or movie stars. Not recommended, even for dyed in the wool fans like me.

It is fair to say that "You Must Remember This..." is chock full of information, but what information is the important part. I was expecting more detailed history of the studio and instead got more of a movie by movie overview. The short introductions to each chapter by Richard Schickel are great but then the book fades into a very brief explanation of each movie the studio made. I think it would have been great to have a more detailed history of the studio.
The book does include many, many great photos that really pull it together nicely. The pieces by Schickel are also great. I think 3 1/2 stars may be more appropriate. This is definitely for the true Hollywood fan.

We do remember this and that, and all the great hits (and some flops) the Brothers Warner made. This coffee-table tome is chockfull of publicity stills, lobby cards, candid photos and movie-star portraits that prove, once and for all, they really did have faces then. The first half of the book is devoted to the classics, with more recent flick fare (and some of it hardly "classic") following. The companion to the five-part PBS documentary, it's a five-star feast for film fans. Worth the price of admission: the great shot of Hitchcock on the set of Rope and Bogie playing chess between takes on Casablanca! It's not all the stuff of which dreams are made, but it comes awfully close.

Purchased from Amazon
This is a great book. So many photos and back ground stories. Happy with purchase and it came very quickly. I had seen this book in a book store so I knew what was in the book. Happy that it came wrapped well so there was no damage. It is very important to get the order in good shape, when the seller does not protect the item it is very disappointing to get damaged goods. Thanks good service! I have had good luck buying at Amazon.

Length:: 0:54 Mins

This is a large book, I was very surprised when I got it just how big it was. It must weigh more than any other film book of it's kind. In case you want to know if it will fit on your bookshelf, it is 10 inches long and 12 inches tall.

Now, on to the most important part - what is inside the book? The book opens with a very interesting introduction by author Richard Schickel and a foreword by Clint Eastwood. What follows is a complete history of Warner Bros, starting with The Jazz Singer in 1927. This book is up-to-date through 2008, including recent releases such as the Harry Potter series and Christopher Nolan's Batman films. You will recognize many movies and stars in between. The text is loaded with facts and information about the studio and its films - it took me more than a week of steady reading to get through it all, and I'll admit that I skipped a few sections that I had little interest it. But after reading this book, you do gain an appreciation of what this studio has accomplished and their many contributions to the film business over the years.

For the casual reader, the text may feel repetitive and boring in certain parts. For those who would just prefer to scratch the surface of Warner Bros, work but not dive into the text, the book does include many quality pictures (including scans of movie posters).

If this subject interests you, I would also recommend the companion DVD: You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story

This is an excellent companion book to the PBS miniseries.It's an instant classic among books about Hollywood-thorough,well-written,and beautifully
illustrated.OK,like another reader said,there are a couple of mistakes in the text-but they are things that most film lovers know anyway.And to Peter Wu-these movies have been available on TV and video for decades,
so the authors are assuming that you've already seen them.But none of this takes away from the viewer's or reader's enjoyment.This wonderful book is a joy from start to finish.Sit back and enjoy!

Featuring a foreword by Clint Eastwood, You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story is the jam-packed, coffee-table book history of the media giant Warner Bros. Studios, from the decisions that made them stand out from competitors such as MGM, Paramount, and 20th Century Fox, to the shift that had Warner Bros. create grittier and more socially conscious movies during Hollywood's golden era, to what Warner Bros. stands for in today's multi-media conglomerates. Filled with black-and-white and color photographs, movie stills and posters, and more on virtually every page, You Must Remember This balances the wealth of illustrations with a deep and thoughtful analysis, accessible to lay readers yet sure to be appreciated by film studies students and scholars as well. Highly recommended.

The Warner studio has always been my favorite,and this book is a wonderful testament. Lavisly illustrated with great text,this book is truly a movie lover's dream. Try to see the accompanying film series that was run on T.C.M.(also available on dvd). Don't miss out on this great opportunity. You'll be glad you did.