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"This volume covers 30 western film series produced from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. Included are such long-running series as Hopalong Cassidy, The Durango Kid and The Three Mesquiteers as well as those that had moderate or brief runs. The book contains a plot synopsis and an analysis of each series' place in cinema history"--Provided by publisher.
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.
This revised and greatly expanded edition of a well-established reference book presents 5105 feature length (four reels or more) Western films, from the early silent era to the present. More than 900 new entries are in this edition. Each entry has film title, release company and year, running time, color indication, cast listing, plot synopsis, and a brief critical review and other details. Not only are Hollywood productions included, but the volume also looks at Westerns made abroad as well as frontier epics, north woods adventures and nature related productions. Many of the films combine genres, such as horror and science fiction Westerns. The volume includes a list of cowboys and their horses and a screen names cross reference. There are more than 100 photographs.
From the beginning of the sound era until the end of the 1930s, independent movie-making thrived. Many of the independent studios were headquartered in a section of Hollywood called "Poverty Row." Here the independents made movies on the cheap, usually at rented facilities where shooting was limited to only a few days. From Allied Pictures Corporation to Willis Kent Production, 55 Poverty Row Studios are given histories in this book. Some of the studios, such as Diversion Pictures and Cresent Pictures, came into existence for the sole purpose of releasing movies by established stars. Others, for example J.D. Kendis, were early exploitation filmmakers under the guise of sex education. The histories include critical commentary on the studio's output and a filmography of all titles released from 1929 through 1940.
Britain has long been obsessed with its own history and identity, as an island nation besieged by invaders from beyond the seas: the Romans, Vikings and Normans. The long saga of prehistory is often forgotten. But our understanding of our past is changing. In the last decade, astounding archaeological discoveries have shed new light on those who have gone before us, radically altering the way we think about our history. This book presents ten of the most exciting and surprising of these discoveries. Mike Pitts leads us on a journey through time from the more recent and familiar to the most remote and bizarre, just as archaeologists delving into the earth find themselves moving backwards thro...
Icon of the New Stone Age, sculptural and engineering marvel, symbol of national pride: there is nothing quite like Stonehenge. These great sarsen and bluestone slabs, arranged with simple, graphic genius, attract visitors from across the world. The monument stands silent in the face of the questions its unlikely existence raises: who built it? Why? How? There has been endless speculation about why Stonehenge was built, inspiring theories ranging from the academically credible to the improbable, but far less investigation into how. In the millennia since its creation, pieces of Stonehenge have been knocked over by heavy machinery, found their way to Florida (and back again), and been exposed...
Between 1952 and 1977, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation released over 80 feature films with horror, science fiction and fantasy themes, several of them featuring such genre stars as Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, John Carradine and Lon Chaney, Jr. Among Allied Artists' contributions are the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the William Castle productions House on Haunted Hill and Macabre. Allied also released the camp favorites Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster, From Hell It Came and Queen of Outer Space, and imported European efforts such as Blood and Black Lace and Caltiki the Immortal Monster. Included here are detailed plot synopses and critical analyses of all of the films. Also covered are 22 features, including Little Shop of Horrors, made by other companies and released to television by Allied, and the studio's theatrical double-feature reissue of Paramount's The Blob and Universal's Dinosaurus!
Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Rudy Vallee—these cultural icons whose fame spanned all the important mass media, also played a vital role in the origin and development of the crooning tradition. Crooning represented one of the most important musical styles of the twentieth century, intermingling with jazz and fronting the big band craze of the thirties and forties. Crooners spurred the rise of radio as home staple and the Golden Age of film musicals. When commercial television became a viable commodity, crooners anchored perhaps the first TV programming innovation, the variety show. It took the cataclysmic aesthetic and cultural changes ushered in by rock 'n' roll in the 195...
Founded by Robert M. Savini in 1933, Astor Pictures Corporation distributed hundreds of films in its 32 years of operation. The company distributed over 150 first run features in addition to the numerous re-releases for which it became famous. Astor had great success in the fields of horror and western movies and was a pioneer in African-American film productions. While under Savini's management, Astor and its subsidiaries were highly successful, but after his death in 1956 the company was sold, leading to eventual bankruptcy and closure. This volume provides the first in-depth look at Astor Pictures Corporation with thorough coverage of its releases, including diverse titles like La Dolce Vita and Frankenstein's Daughter.
Long before European empires came to dominate the Middle East, Britain was brought face to face with Islam through the activities of the Barbary corsairs. For three centuries after 1500, Muslim ships based in North African ports terrorized European shipping, capturing thousands of vessels and enslaving hundreds of thousands of Christians. Encountering Islam is the fascinating story of one Englishman's experience of life within a Muslim society, as both Christian slave and Muslim soldier. Born in Exeter around 1662, Joseph Pitts was captured by Algerian pirates on his first voyage in 1678. Sold as a slave in Algiers, he underwent forced conversion to Islam. Sold again, he accompanied his kind...