Blood on the Stage, 1950-1975
Discussing more than 120 full-length plays, this volume provides an overview of the most important and memorable theatrical works of crime and detection produced between 1950 and 1975.
Discussing more than 120 full-length plays, this volume provides an overview of the most important and memorable theatrical works of crime and detection produced between 1950 and 1975.
This work covers Bronson's entire output in film and on television, and includes many film stills and photographs. Alphabetical entries list film or episode, complete cast and credits, and year of release. Accompanying each entry's plot synopsis and discussion is a survey of the critical responses to the work. The great Charles Laughton once said Bronson "has the strongest face in the business, and he is also one of its best actors." Pretty high praise for an actor who, though loved by fans worldwide, has been consistently underestimated by critics. Bronson's career has spanned five decades, from such television appearances in The Fugitive, Rawhide, Bonanza and Have Gun, Will Travel as well as the telemovie A Family of Cops (1995) and its two sequels. He will long be remembered for his role as urban vigilante Paul Kersey in the Death Wish films. Bronson is one of the most enigmatic, and also most recognizable, of all film stars.
For more than a decade, Gianakos' comprehensive chronicles of American television dramatic programming have been considered classic references. Following a descriptive and critical review for each period, an exhaustive Days and Times section includes detailed listings for all dramatic specials. Program sections for all seasons provide writer and director credits. This is the fifth volume in the 6-volume series.
The free-standing radios of the middle decades of the 20th century were invitingly rotund and proudly displayed--nothing like today's skinny televisions hidden inside "entertainment centers." Radios were the hub of the family's after-dinner activities, and children and adults gorged themselves on western-adventure series like "The Lone Ranger," police dramas such as "Calling All Cars," and the varied offerings of "The Cavalcade of America." Shows often aired two or three times a week, and many programs were broadcast for more than a decade, comprising hundreds of episodes. This book includes more than 300 program logs (many appearing in print for the first time) drawn from newspapers, script files in broadcast museums, records from NBC, ABC and CBS, and the personal records of series directors. Each entry contains a short broadcast history that includes directors, writers, and actors, and the broadcast dates and airtimes. A comprehensive index rounds out the work.
Live theatre was once the main entertainment medium in the United States and the United Kingdom. The preeminent dramatists and actors of the day wrote and performed in numerous plays in which crime was a major plot element. This remains true today, especially with the longest-running shows such as The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and Sweeney Todd. While hundreds of books have been published about crime fiction in film and on television, the topic of stage mysteries has been largely unexplored. Covering productions from the 18th century to the 2013-2014 theatre season, this is the first history of crime plays according to subject matter. More than 20 categories are identified, including whodunits, comic mysteries, courtroom dramas, musicals, crook plays, social issues, Sherlock Holmes, and Agatha Christie. Nearly 900 plays are described, including the reactions of critics and audiences.
Think you know everything there is to know about Hammer Films, the fabled "Studio that Dripped Blood?" The lowdown on all the imperishable classics of horror, like The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and The Devil Rides Out? What about the company's less blood-curdling back catalog? What about the musicals, comedies and travelogues, the fantasies and historical epics--not to mention the pirate adventures? This lavishly illustrated encyclopedia covers every Hammer film and television production in thorough detail, including budgets, shooting schedules, publicity and more, along with all the actors, supporting players, writers, directors, producers, composers and technicians. Packed with quotes, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, credit lists and production specifics, this all-inclusive reference work is the last word on this cherished cinematic institution.
There has been a tremendous amount of renewed interest in the output of Britain's Hammer Films. But there remain a great number of worthwhile British horror films, made at the same time by other companies, that have received little attention. The author provides a comprehensive listing of British horror films--including science fiction, fantasy, and suspense films containing horror-genre elements--that were released between 1956 and 1976, the "Golden Age" of British horror. Entries are listed alphabetically by original British title, from Vincent Price in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) to Zeta One (1969). Entries also include American title, release information, a critique of the film, and the film's video availability. The book is filled with photographs and contains interviews with four key figures: Max J. Rosenberg, cofounder of Amicus Productions, one of the period's major studios; Louis M. Heyward, former writer, film executive and producer; Aida Young, film and television producer; and Gordon Hessler, director of such films as The Oblong Box and Murders in the Rue Morgue.
For millennia people have held folk beliefs about the existence of the doppelganger--"double walker" in German--a look-alike second self that is often the antithesis of one's identity and is usually considered an omen of misfortune or death. The theme of the double has inspired works by E.T.A. Hoffmann, Poe, de Maupassant, Dostoevsky and others, and has been the basis for many classic mystery, horror and science fiction movies. This critical survey examines the double in more than 100 films by such acclaimed directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Mario Bava, Roger Corman, David Cronenberg, George Romero, Fritz Lang, James Cameron, Robert Siodmak, Don Siegel, John Frankenheimer, Terry Gilliam, Brian De Palma and Roman Polanski.
Those tales of old--King Arthur, Robin Hood, The Crusades, Marco Polo, Joan of Arc--have been told and retold, and the tradition of their telling has been gloriously upheld by filmmaking from its very inception. From the earliest of Georges Melies's films in 1897, to a 1996 animated Hunchback of Notre Dame, film has offered not just fantasy but exploration of these roles so vital to the modern psyche. St. Joan has undergone the transition from peasant girl to self-assured saint, and Camelot has transcended the soundstage to evoke the Kennedys in the White House. Here is the first comprehensive survey of more than 900 cinematic depictions of the European Middle Ages--date of production, country of origin, director, production company, cast, and a synopsis and commentary. A bibliography, index, and over 100 stills complete this remarkable work.
Since the beginning of television, Westerns have been playing on the small screen. From the mid-1950s until the early 1960s, they were one of TV's most popular genres, with millions of viewers tuning in to such popular shows as Rawhide, Gunsmoke, and Disney's Davy Crockett. Though the cultural revolution of the later 1960s contributed to the demise of traditional Western programs, the Western never actually disappeared from TV. Instead, it took on new forms, such as the highly popular Lonesome Dove and Deadwood, while exploring the lives of characters who never before had a starring role, including anti-heroes, mountain men, farmers, Native and African Americans, Latinos, and women. Shooting...