From Publishers Weekly
"Hollywood, the Versailles of Los Angeles" Memorable one-liners, famous throw-aways and iconic statements by filmmakers and actors (speaking in character and off-screen) are lavishly arrayed in Cassell's Movie Quotations, a compendium of more than 4,000 quotations about all aspects of the movie industry, edited by Nigel Rees. Easy to navigate and illustrated with 50 dynamic black-and-white photos, Rees's book also parses the facts behind frequently misquoted sayings (e.g., Greta Garbo never said, "I want to be alone," in any of her interviews, but rather, "I want to be let alone" presumably by the press). ( Mar.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Author and BBC radio veteran Rees has put together a pleasing amalgam of what keeps us watching movies the glamour and the grit, the fluff and the savvy. The attractive graphic design and 50 black-and-white photos (mostly movie stills) complement over 4000 citations. Quotations and common misquotations, from the silent era up to the present, are listed under movie titles, and statements by or about stars, directors, and other movie people are listed by name in the same alphabetical sequence. A few special sections such as catchphrases, clich s, and slogans are also included. A keyword index provides some subject access to the quotations. Most entries stand on their own, but occasionally Rees gives perspective on items, such as Greta Garbo's apocryphal "I want to be alone." While combining movie dialog with filmland quotes makes for enjoyable browsing, it diminishes the book's value as a reference source. The number of references to movie dialog is negligible compared to Robert A. and Gwendolyn W. Nowlan's We'll Always Have Paris (HarperPerennial, 1995), while Leslie Halliwell and John Walker's Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion (HarperCollins, 1997) has as many or more celebrity quotations and a wealth of details on countless more films. Recommended for libraries with large film studies collections. Vivian Reed, California State Univ., Long Beach
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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