stellabluegrl Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 I was wondering if anyone could recommend a book that gives information (minutia if you will) on classic movie stars. I realize no one book could cover ALL of the wonderful actors of the past; but is there one (or more) that covers many? Thanks! ~*~ SteLLa ~*~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moviejoe79 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 I remember a book in my High School library that was called "The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema." It was a big hardcover book that gave info and a picture of every star since the beginnings of film right up to when the book was published, which I think was sometime in the early 80's. It was a great book, and I wish I could find a copy today. Luckily I've found similar books at used bookstores. They're really the best places to find great film books. Also garage sales, fleamarkets, and of course ebay are also good resources. There is another book called "The Film Encyclopedia" which I think is printed on a yearly basis, and it covers a lot within the history of film. I have another book that was a great find called "The M.G.M. Stock Company," which covers all of the major M.G.M. stars, giving bio info, pictures, and filmographies. But aside from books, I find one of the best resources for film info is imdb.com - the internet movie database. It has info on just about everything within the film world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeedan1927 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 Pick up any book with Leonard Maltin's name on it, particularly his Movie Encyclopedia. You will not be disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 They are good references, but such books tend to be less than favorable to Hedy Lamarr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellabluegrl Posted November 7, 2003 Author Share Posted November 7, 2003 Thanks so much for replying to my post. I've just written down the titles and plan on looking into them right away. Oh, and I agree with you coffeedan that ebay, used bookstores etc. are great places to look for this type of book; but since so many of you seem so knowledgeable on the classics and the classic stars I really wanted an opinion from you guys before I went out on my trek. I'll also keep what ya said about Hedy Lammar in mind antarctic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellabluegrl Posted November 7, 2003 Author Share Posted November 7, 2003 Drat! Screwed up my last post. Got your names messed up.....lol. Should have typed moviejoe when mentioning the ebay-used bookstore thing. OOPS!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellabluegrl Posted November 7, 2003 Author Share Posted November 7, 2003 OMG!! I just realized that not only did I type the wrong person's name in that post I misspelled Hedy Lamarr's name!! Obviously got up on the "stupid" side of the bed today!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feaito Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 For classic film lovers , David Shipman's The Great Movie Stars...is a very good book...I highly recommend it....also all the books written by James Robert Parish: the Fox Girls, The RKO Gals, The Paramount Pretties, Hollywood Players of the thirties....and well Ephraim Katz's The Film Encyclopedia..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moviejoe79 Posted November 9, 2003 Share Posted November 9, 2003 Ephraim Katz! Thank you feaito - he's the author I was trying to think of when I mentioned "The Film Encyclopedia" in a previous post. I thought that it came out on a yearly basis with updates, but perhaps I'm wrong. Another series of books that are highly informative are the "Films Of" books. I don't think they are in print anymore, most are from the 70's up until the late 80's. These books focused on the particular movies that a Golden Age star made, and not only gave biographical information on the star, but they focused on each movie in detail, giving plot descriptions, cast lists, and photos. I have found many of these at used bookstores, and as always, ebay is a good source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellabluegrl Posted November 9, 2003 Author Share Posted November 9, 2003 Can't thank you guys enough for the recommendations. I'm happy to announce that I found a few of the books on ebay. Each for a GREAT price! My mom, grandma & aunt are also classic movie lovers...so not only are ya helping me find a good book for myself, you are helping me out with my Christmas shopping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feaito Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 i don't know really if katz's film encyclopedia comes out on a yearly basis...i've got the 1993 edition...i'm sure there are later editions, i've seen them...the author died in 1992, so the additions to the newest editions do not belong to him....anyway being a classic fam film buff....the 1993 edition is enough for me...Another wonderful book if you like stills and photos, is "The Astoria Studio and its fabulous films" by Koszarski (Dover)....with great stills from early paramount talkies, among other stuff...also Complicated women by Mick LaSalle, From Scarface to Scarlett by Roger Dooley...very good historic...review af almost all the important 30s films....there are so many really!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellabluegrl Posted November 26, 2003 Author Share Posted November 26, 2003 I'm happy to announce that I now have in my possession "The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema", Leonard Maltin's "Movie Encyclopedia" & David Shipman's "The Great Movie Stars"! I found all of them for under ten bucks. Now I have to make the tough decision of deciding which one/ones to give for Christmas and which one/ones I should keep!! Oh, and thanks again for the recommendations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moviejoe79 Posted November 29, 2003 Share Posted November 29, 2003 stellabluegrl - Where did you find "The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema?" I've been looking for this book for awhile, and can't seem to find it. And I think I can help you with the gift giving problem - I'd be more than happy to get that book for Christmas! But in all seriousness, I'm very glad you've found some of these books, and a couple more that you might want to look for are "The Films of the 30's" and "More Films of the 30's." These books are just like the "films of" books for the stars, only they focus on the most important films of that decade. There were also editions for the important 40's and 50's films. But I'm partial to the books about the 30's movies, since it's my favorite era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellabluegrl Posted November 29, 2003 Author Share Posted November 29, 2003 Moviejoe~ I found "The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema" on ebay! Got it for $8! I just love it. Oh, and I don't think that one's goin' anywhere...lol. Gonna keep it for myself! And thanks so much for giving me some more suggestions! I'll be sure to check into 'em! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feaito Posted November 30, 2003 Share Posted November 30, 2003 MovieJoe....you're right!!! I had forgotten those two citadel press films of the '30s and its "sequel" more films of the thirties....I love them....I use them as constant refference all of the time...they're great!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catcarson123 Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 Besides the wonderful books already mentioned I also like the series of Hollywood studio histories where they give details about every film released by each studio, year by year. Most films listed will even have a photo. THE PARAMOUNT STORY, THE UNITED ARTISTS STORY, THE COLUMBIA STORY, THE UNIVERSAL STORY, THE WARNER BROS. STORY, & THE RKO STORY are all very good. (There is also THE FILMS OF 20TH CENTURY FOX that I don't like as much). My favorite is THE MGM STORY by John Douglas Eames. I've looked at that book so many times! It's interesting to look at a movie stars career while at a studio. When TCM shows a film I'm not familiar with I'll look it up in one of those books, and also allmovie.com & imdb.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feaito Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 right catcarson...i only have paramount story and mountain of dreams (paramount movie posters in black and white)...also MGM POsters and MGM when the lion roars...all the others you mention, I'll die to have them!!!...ahhhh also very good is eTHAN mORDEN'S Hollywood Studios Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feaito Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 AAhhh...and for musical lovers The Hollywood Musical by Clive Hirschhorn and Gotta sin gotta dance, a history of movie musicals by john kobal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moviejoe79 Posted December 2, 2003 Share Posted December 2, 2003 catcarson - You're right about the Movie Studio books. I have M.G.M., Warners, and Fox, and they're all great, however they are VERY hard to come by. I found mine in used bookstores. Rarely do they come up on ebay. I wish these books would have another printing - they're a film buffs dream! Another book that I wanted to mention that I don't think was mentioned before is "David O. Selznick's Hollywood." It's the ultimate in film books, and could really be considered a coffee table book because of its size. It is filled with lavish illustrations and information about all of the films that Mr. Selznick was connected to, with special attention going to "GWTW," and "King Kong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feaito Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 And what about Bob Thomas' Irving Thalberg biography??...also liked Luis B. Mayer's "Merchant of Dreams" biography....George Cukors "A Double Life"....too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinemetal Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 Lemme see if I can recommend any film-oriented books for yas... Frank Capra's The Name Above the Title Josef von Sternberg's Fun in a Chinese Laundry Peter Bogdanovich's Who the Devil Made It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinemetal Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 Oh my, how could I forget A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film, by my friend Richard Barrios? It's a much-acclaimed book which I think many of you could very much get into, basically tracing the birth of musicals from the advent of sound up to the 1934 enforcement of the Production Code? A lot of rare films are discussed therein, from DeMille's Madam Satan to the notoriously Golden Dawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
path40a Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 I don't think my library has any of these studio books :- ( However, the Universal Story is still available on Amazon and B&N for $50. I opted to order AFI's Everything book for $28 (on sale from $40) instead. Hope I'm not disappointed. Anyone know anything about it? Did I just waste my money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
path40a Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 catcarson, I want to thank you for clueing me in re: these studio books. Unfortunately, our library system only had The United Artist Story. However, I just finished it and LOVED it! I'll try to find the others somehow, seems both B&N and Amazon have copies listed used from various dealers. Has anyone ever purchased a used book this way? I'm not sure if it's safe or risky;- ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellabluegrl Posted December 18, 2003 Author Share Posted December 18, 2003 path, I have purchased used books and various other items from Amazon dealers. It's very simple and safe. You just check-out as you would if you were buying something from Amazon--Amazon charges your credit card you have on file with them (or you create an account if you don't already have one)and they (Amazon) pays the dealer. You will receive an e-mail from Amazon about the transaction, and then an e-mail from the seller when they have shipped your item. Every item I have purchased this way has arrived promptly and there has never been a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now