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Not Just Batman's Butler
In January 1966, Alan Napier became a household name on ABC's hit series Batman (1966-1968) as Alfred Pennyworth, loyal butler to the show's title character. This "overnight success" came after 16 years of stage work (and the occasional film) in his native England and 26 years of film and television work (and the occasional play) in the United States. In the early 1970s, Napier wrote an autobiography, detailing his childhood as a "poor relation" of the famous Birmingham political family the Chamberlains (Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was a cousin), and his collaborations over the years with the likes of John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward, Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger and Alfred Hitchcock. Almost 30 years after Napier's death, James Bigwood, who first read the manuscript in 1975 when interviewing the actor for a Films in Review profile, has prepared it for publication. This is Alan Napier's story in his own words, annotated and updated, with dozens of rare photographs.
Monsters in the Closet
Monster in the Closet is a history of the horrors film that explores the genre's relationship to the social and cultural history of homosexuality in America. Drawing on a wide variety of films and primary source materials including censorship files, critical reviews, promotional materials, fanzines, men's magazines, and popular news weeklies, the book examines the historical figure of the movie monster in relation to various medical, psychological, religious and social models of homosexuality. While recent work within gay and lesbian studies has explored how the genetic tropes of the horror film intersect with popular culture's understanding of queerness, this is the first book to examine how the concept of the monster queer has evolved from era to era. From the gay and lesbian sensibilities encoded into the form and content of the classical Hollywood horror film, to recent films which play upon AIDS-related fears. Monster in the Closet examines how the horror film started and continues, to demonize (or quite literally "monsterize") queer sexuality, and what the pleasures and "costs" of such representations might be both for individual spectators and culture at large.
The Law Times
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A Heart at Fire's Center
No composer contributed more to film than Bernard Herrmann, who in over 40 scores enriched the work of such directors as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, François Truffaut, and Martin Scorsese. In this first major biography of the composer, Steven C. Smith explores the interrelationships between Herrmann's music and his turbulent personal life, using much previously unpublished information to illustrate Herrmann's often outrageous behavior, his working methods, and why his music has had such lasting impact. From his first film (Citizen Kane) to his last (Taxi Driver), Herrmann was a master of evoking psychological nuance and dramatic tension through music, often using unheard-of instrumental...
Movie Roadshows
This work examines a film distribution system paralleling the rise of early features and persisting until 1972, when Man of La Mancha was the final roadshow to require reserved seating. Synonymous with Hollywood's star-studded premieres, roadshows were longer and cost more than regular features, making the experience similar to attending the legitimate theater. Roadshows, often epic in subject matter, played selected (usually only one) theaters in major urban centers until demand decreased. De rigueur by the 1960s were musical overtures, intermissions, entre'acte and exit music and souvenir programs for sale in the lobby. Throughout the text are recollections by people who attended roadshows, including actor John Kerr and actresses Barbara Eden and Ingrid Pitt. The focus is on roadshows released in the United States but an appendix identifies international roadshows and films forecast but not released as roadshows. Included are plots, contemporary critical reaction, premiere dates, production background, and methods of promotion--i.e., the ballyhoo.
Pine-Thomas Productions
Dubbed "The Dollar Bills," William H. Pine and William C. Thomas made 1940s Hollywood take notice with their B movies for Paramount that gave solid entertainment while cutting costs to the bone. In the 1950s, with television looming, Pine-Thomas Productions began making bigger-budget films with stars including James Cagney and Jane Wyman, and incorporating trends like 3-D. "The public is Hollywood's boss," Pine said, and the company gave moviegoers what they wanted. Written with the assistance of the Pine and Thomas families, this book draws on Thomas' never-published memoir, interviews with colleagues and relatives, and rarely seen photographs to document the story of Pine-Thomas and its founders. An annotated filmography covers their 76 feature films and five shorts. Appendices give biographical sketches of such actors as Robert Lowery, Jean Parker and John Payne, as well as the directors, cinematographers and other crew members who made movies at top speed with more ingenuity than money.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
A fun and fascinating deep dive for "devoted and loyal MST3K fans" (Library Journal) that reveals the impact and creation of the cult-hit television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Few television shows can boast the long-term cult popularity and cultural influence of Mystery Science Theater 3000—or MST3K to its legions of devoted fans, known collectively as MSTies. Created by quirky standup comic Joel Hodgson and producer Jim Mallon, Mystery Science Theater 3000 was a low-budget and altogether unconventional comedy series about a man trapped in space and forced to watch the worst movies ever made alongside a pair of homemade, wisecracking robots named Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot. In M...
