The New Biographical Dictionary of Film
- ISBN-10
- 0375411283
- ISBN-13
- 9780375411281
- Series
- The New Biographical Dictionary of Film
- Category
- Performing Arts / Film / Reference
- Pages
- 963
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2002
- Publisher
- Knopf
- Author
- David Thomson
Description
For twenty-five years, David Thomson’s Biographical Dictionary of Film has been not merely “the finest reference book ever written about movies” (Graham Fuller, Interview), not merely the “desert island book” of art critic David Sylvester, not merely “a great, crazy masterpiece” (Geoff Dyer, The Guardian), but also “fiendishly seductive” (Greil Marcus, Rolling Stone).
Now it returns, with its old entries updated and 300 new ones—from Luc Besson to Reese Witherspoon—making more than 1300 in all, some of them just a pungent paragraph, some of them several thousand words long. In addition to the new “musts,” Thomson has added key figures from film history—lively anatomies of Graham Greene, Eddie Cantor, Pauline Kael, Abbott and Costello, Noël Coward, Hoagy Carmichael, Dorothy Gish, Rin Tin Tin, and more.
Here is a great, rare book, one that encompasses the chaos of art, entertainment, money, vulgarity, and nonsense that we call the movies. Personal, opinionated, funny, daring, provocative, and passionate, it is the one book that every filmmaker and film buff must own. Time Out named it one of the ten best books of the 1990s. Gavin Lambert recognized it as “a work of imagination in its own right.” Now better than ever—a masterwork by the man playwright David Hare called “the most stimulating and thoughtful film critic now writing.”
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2010-10-26
- 1168 pages
- Paperback
- Knopf
Similar books
-
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
By Thomas S. HischakHollywood's Greatest Year Thomas S. Hischak. Published by Rowman & Littlefield A ... British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Hischak, Thomas S. author.
-
A Biographical Handbook of Hispanics and United States Film
By Gary D. Keller... II , 93 Kolb , Keith , I , 198 Korda , Alexander , II , 69 Kosloff , Theodore , I , 76 ; II , 76 Kotero , Apollonia , II , 93 Kramer , Stanley , I , 128 , 136 , 187 ; II , 161 Krantz , Jacob , see Cortez , Ricardo Kristofferson ...
-
I Want to See This Annie Mattygraph: Cartoon History of the Coming of the Movies
By Stephen BottomorePer tale motivo , nel 1908 in America la Germantown sullo schermo , e mettendosi a cantare sul filo dell'accompagna- Citizens ' Association mise al bando questi copricapi da " vedova mento musicale . Un simile coinvolgimento era ...
-
International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers: Actors and actresses
By Tom Pendergast, Sara PendergastContains over two thousand entries, arranged alphabetically within four volumes, that provide information about significant films, actors and actresses, directors, and writers and production artists in North American, British, and...
-
Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film: Academy Awards - Crime Films
By Barry Keith GrantBarry Keith Grant. | ! . i I 1 CENSORSHIP WILL H . HAYS b . William Harrison Hays.
-
Guide to the Silent Years of American Cinema
By Donald McCaffrey, Christophe P. JacobsSilent film's most complete reference guide, focusing on American actors, directors, and screenwriters, with an emphasis on the 1910's through the 1920s.
-
Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film: Romantic comedy - Yugoslavia
By Barry Keith GrantA black porter stops at the door of his compartment and asks Rockne if he would like his suit brushed off before they arrive . The presence of the porter ironically recalls the boy who had run over little Knute in the football legend's ...
-
Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film: Independent Film - Road movies
By Barry Keith Grant... 3 : 288-289 See also Sexuality Porten , Henny , 2 : 176 , 310 Porter , Cole , 2:38 ; 3 : 186 Porter , Edwin S. adaptations , 1:37 , 365 British cinema , 2 : 328 cinematography , 1 : 285 credits , 1 : 386 direction , 2:67 documentary ...
-
Silent Screens: The Decline and Transformation of the American Movie Theater
By Michael PutnamHere is what has become of the Odeons, Strands, and Arcadias that existed as velvet and marble outposts of Hollywood drama next to barbershops, hardware stores, and five-and-dimes.
-
The Queer Encyclopedia of Film & Television
By Claude J. SummersHis collaborator and longtime friend Kay Thompson described him as “a darling man,” and Michael Morrison, another friend and the business partner of gay actor William Haines, commented that “all sorts of people were drawn to him.