Douglas Fairbanks
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 384

Douglas Fairbanks

"Douglas Fairbanks takes the full measure of the star's remarkable life. Jeffrey Vance bases his portrait on a rich array of sources, including Fairbanks's personal and professional papers and scrapbooks, newly available documentation and rediscovered films, and his own extensive interviews with those who knew or worked with Fairbanks. Engagingly written and sumptuously designed, with 237 photographs, the book goes beyond Fairbanks's public persona to thoroughly explore his art and his far-reaching influence."--BOOK JACKET.

Room 1219
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 495

Room 1219

Part biography, part true-crime narrative, this painstakingly researched book chronicles the improbable rise and stunning fall of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle from his early big screen success to his involvement in actress Virginia Rappe’s death, and the resulting irreparable damage to his career. It describes how during the course of a rowdy party hosted by the comedian in a San Francisco hotel, Rappe became fatally ill, and Arbuckle was subsequently charged with manslaughter. Ultimately acquitted after three trials, neither his career nor his reputation ever recovered from this devastating incident. Relying on a careful examination of documents, the book finally reveals what most likely occurred that Labor Day weekend in 1921 in that fateful hotel room. In addition, it covers the evolution of the film industry—from the first silent experiments to the connection between Arbuckle’s scandal and the implementation of industry-wide censorship that altered the course of Hollywood filmmaking for five decades.

The Valentino Mystique
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 306

The Valentino Mystique

  • Type: Book
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  • Published: 2014-06-24
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  • Publisher: McFarland

The circumstances surrounding the death of legendary star Rudolph Valentino have been a constant source of fascination for admirers worldwide. This work examines every aspect of his passing, analyzing the circumstances and gathering information into one convenient source for the Valentino scholar and enthusiast. The first part examines every moment of the last days of Rudolph Valentino, his illness and operation, the reactions of such intimates as Pola Negri, and all controversy such as riots, suicides, and fights over his funeral and estate. Part two gives tours of Valentino-related sites in New York, Hollywood and West Hollywood, downtown and suburban Los Angeles, and Beverly Hills, explai...

Silent Film Comedy and American Culture
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 334

Silent Film Comedy and American Culture

  • Type: Book
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  • Published: 2013-05-14
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  • Publisher: Springer

This absorbing study of early 20th Century American Culture interprets the anarchic absurdity of slapstick movies as a form of collective anxiety dream, their fantastical images and illogical gags expressing the unconscious wishes and fears of the modern age, in a way that foreshadows the concerns of our own celebrity-obsessed consumer culture.

You Won't Believe This, But ...
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 217

You Won't Believe This, But ...

Jane McCulloch was once dubbed a ‘Renaissance woman’ by the great American soprano Jessye Norman, and her long career as a playwright, theatre and opera director, producer, lyricist, poet and latterly novelist is certainly testament to this. Jane’s has been ‘a life not without incident’ – to quote her husband, the theatre director Toby Robertson. Growing up with fiercely gifted but troubled parents, she found herself with a front-row seat during a golden age of British theatre before forging her own career, running theatre companies both in the UK and abroad and working with the likes of Derek Jacobi and Judi Dench. Inheriting her father’s ability to ‘collect’ celebrities (to the occasional exasperation of her children), Jane proves a born raconteur, describing, amongst other things, how she met Jackie Kennedy Onassis in an accidental Valium haze or managed to charm both Noël Coward and John Betjeman while still a teenager. Beyond the clear-eyed, often moving stories, however, what emerges is an inspirational tale of a woman’s fight for her survival in a very tough profession.

Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 301

Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase

An American icon, Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton is easily acknowledged as one of the greatest filmmakers in early cinema and beyond. His elaborate slapstick made audiences scream with laughter. But, his stone face hid an internal turmoil. In BUSTER KEATON: CUT TO THE CHASE, biographer Marion Meade seamlessly lays out the life and works of this comedy genius who lacked any formal education. “Buster” made his name as a child of vaudeville, thrown around the stage by his father in a cartoon pantomime of very real abuse. The lessons he carried forward from that experience translated into some of the greatest silent films of all time. Keaton wrote, directed, performed, and edited dozens of...

Breaking Faith: The Complete Set
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 1079

Breaking Faith: The Complete Set

In the small town of Smoke River, Washington, everyone knows the Elect of God. They’re good religious people similar to the Amish, honest, hardworking—and they’re hiding some dreadful secrets. Included in this collection are four novels, all inspired by true events: Grounds to Believe, in which a cop specializing in cult investigations must infiltrate the Elect with the help of a desperate insider who fears something dreadful is happening in her family. Pocketful of Pearls, where a homeless man and an abused young woman find freedom when they unexpectedly join forces. The Sound of Your Voice, in which a cop investigates a charismatic preacher who seems too good to be true, and the young woman who learns the difference between truth and illusion. Over Her Head, where a mother must face the possibility that her daughter has been involved in a terrible crime. "A brave and talented author who looks at the darkness as well as the light.” —Mary Jo Putney The books can be read as standalones, though the characters all know one another and appear in each other's stories. No strong language, just a dollop of suspense, a loving kiss, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

Summary of Dana Stevens's Camera Man
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 59

Summary of Dana Stevens's Camera Man

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The basketball was a Keaton prop for years to come. In 1899, the family’s first paid engagement as a trio at the Wonderland Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, Buster got laughs by bouncing the ball off his father’s head. #2 Buster’s life as a performer and creator was extremely successful for the first three decades of the new century, catapulting his family from the greenhorn fringes of the entertainment industry to its topmost tiers in a remarkably short span of time. #3 As the nineteenth century came to an end, child development was becoming more and more of a concern for governments and private organizations. Children were beginning to be seen as small, still-growing beings who were entitled to some degree of protection from both industrial and domestic harm. #4 The moral contiguity between the suffering of children and that of animals was heavily emphasized in the media coverage of the Mary Ellen Wilson case. The girl was seen as both a helpless little girl and a homeless beast, and was given the same rights as a domestic animal.

Buster Keaton
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 833

Buster Keaton

  • Type: Book
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  • Published: 2022-02-15
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  • Publisher: Knopf

**One of Literary Hub’s Five “Most Critically Acclaimed” Biographies of 2022** From acclaimed cultural and film historian James Curtis—a major biography, the first in more than two decades, of the legendary comedian and filmmaker who elevated physical comedy to the highest of arts and whose ingenious films remain as startling, innovative, modern—and irresistible—today as they were when they beguiled audiences almost a century ago. "It is brilliant—I was totally absorbed, couldn't stop reading it and was very sorry when it ended."—Kevin Brownlow It was James Agee who christened Buster Keaton “The Great Stone Face.” Keaton’s face, Agee wrote, "ranked almost with Lincoln�...

Sounds in the Night: A faith-based domestic suspense novel of forbidden love
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 263

Sounds in the Night: A faith-based domestic suspense novel of forbidden love

“Readers will appreciate that things are a little topsy-turvy, with spiritual insights coming from unexpected places.” —Publishers Weekly Who do you listen to when every word might be a lie? Brought up in a strict religion in the small town of Smoke River, Washington, Chloe Montoya has seen the leaders she trusted disgraced and watched helplessly as her best friends rejected their faith. When radio evangelist Luke Fisher is invited to headquarter his ministry in town, Chloe is drawn to him. Against her church’s will, she joins the staff at the station as bookkeeper and, while she’s totally behind Luke’s vision for the community, she begins to realize that under the message is a s...