Film History

"This is a fascinating book. It will educate you. Schwartzel has done some extraordinary reporting." — The New York Times Book Review “In this highly entertaining but deeply disturbing book, Erich Schwartzel demonstrates the extent of our cultural thrall to China. His depiction of the...

The Beati Paoli’s unrelenting campaign to restore justice is compromised by an act of betrayal and a plot that threatens its very existence. Set against the backdrop of the island’s increasing disillusionment with its new rulers from Savoy and a yearning for the return of the formerly...

A thrilling Sicilian saga about the legendary secret sect purported to be forerunners of the Mafia, translated into English for the first time. Emerging from the dark streets and subterranean caves of Palermo, the Beati Paoli, masked and hooded, mete out their own form of justice to counter the...

In Marilyn Monroe Day by Day: A Timeline of People, Places, and Events, Carl Rollyson provides a documentary approach to the life and legend of this singular personality. With details of her childhood, her young adult years, her ascent to super-stardom, and the hour-by-hour moments leading to her tragic early death, this volume supplements - and, in some cases, corrects - the accounts of previous biographies.

Celebrate the greatest saga ever told: All of us who are deeply influenced by the epic saga of Star Wars have our favorite moments. Each time the screen goes black and you see those words - "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" - the music blasts through you, and you're a kid again. Ken Napzok, expert appreciator of Star Wars, counts down each one of those special moments that makes this series not just the best movies of all time, but the greatest saga ever told.

As the 100th anniversary of the fateful night approaches, Palmer follows up innumerable conflicting stories and theories that still, to this day, surround the doomed liner. Charles Herbert Lightoller, Palmer’s great uncle, was the highest-ranking surviving officer from the disaster. It was only after the great man’s death in 1952 that his sister, Gertrude, Palmer’s eccentric grandmother, began to hint to her young grandson of the contradictory accounts of both her brother’s supposed heroism and his suspect testimonies at the investigations into the sinking.

She is one of the most recognizable women of our time. America knows Jane Fonda as an actress and an activist, a feminist and a wife, a workout guru and a role model. Now, in this extraordinary memoir, Fonda reveals that she is so much more. From her youth among Hollywood’s elite and her early...

Throughout this audiobook's various chapters, listeners will explore the historical context of the Joker's creation, delve into the character's symbolic and iconic qualities, examine the psychological profile of the Joker, and analyze his relation to various philosophical theories such as Carl Jung's trickster and Nietzsche's will to power.

Avengers assemble! Tackling intriguing dilemmas and issues that no single great philosopher can withstand, this powerful book enlists the brainpower of an A-list team of history's most prominent thinkers to explore the themes behind the action of Marvel Comics' all-star superhero team.

Some Like It Hot occupies a unique place in American culture. This beloved classic showcases five comic geniuses: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, I. A. L. Diamond, Billy Wilder, and Marilyn Monroe. It has been honored by the American Film Institute as the funniest film of all time. It has contributed quotes, styles, and stories to film lore. Yet the full story of its making has never been told - until now.

Défier les lois de la physique avec "Ant-Man", et celles de l'anatomie avec "Godzilla". S'aventurer aux abords d'un trou noir... et y plonger avec "Interstellar". Communiquer avec les aliens comme dans "Premier Contact". Se retrouver seul sur Mars et tenter d'y survivre. Étudier Prometheus et s'interroger sur l'origine et l'évolution des espèces extraterrestres.

In a career that spans over seven decades, Roger Moore has been at the very heart of Hollywood. Of course, he's an actor who has starred in films that have made him famous the world over; but he is also a tremendous prankster, joker, and raconteur. Despite the fact that he is widely known as one of the nicest guys in the business, on and off the screen he has always been up for some fun.

Academy Award-winning director Michael Curtiz—whose best-known films include Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mildred Pierce, and White Christmas—was in many ways the anti-auteur. During his 27-year tenure at Warner Bros., he directed swashbuckling adventures, Westerns, musicals, war epics, romances, historical dramas, horror films, tearjerkers, melodramas, comedies, and film noir masterpieces. In the first biography of this colorful, instinctual artist, Alan K. Rode illuminates the life and work of one of the film industry's most complex figures.

“A roaring getaway car of guilty pleasures” (The New York Times Book Review), Glen Weldon’s The Caped Crusade is a fascinating, critically acclaimed chronicle of the rises and falls of one of the world’s most iconic superheroes and the fans who love him—now with a new afterword. Since...

A film legend recalls his remarkable life of nearly eight decades—a heralded actor who's played the roles he wanted, from Brian’s Song to Lando in the Star Wars universe—unchecked by the racism and typecasting so rife in the mostly all-white industry in which he triumphed. Billy Dee...

Here, for the first time, is the complete history of Saturday Night Fever. From the New York magazine article that inspired the film—"Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night" by Nik Cohn—to the on-and-off-set dramas of Travolta, director John Badham, and producer Robert Stigwood, this deep dive into the making of a movie classic also includes special interviews with actors Donna Pescow and Joseph Cali, among others. It explores the huge impact of the film on the industry—including a "Death to Disco" backlash—as well as on American culture itself.

From the ashes of World War II, Rome was reborn as the epicenter of film, fashion, creative energy, tabloid media, and bold-faced libertinism that made "Italian" a global synonym for taste, style, and flair. A confluence of cultural contributions created a bright, burning moment in history: it was the heyday of fashion icons such as Pucci and Brioni. Rome's huge movie studio, Cinecitta, attracted a dizzying array of stars, like Charlton Heston, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, and Frank Sinatra.

On December 22, 1953, Mort Sahl took the stage at San Francisco's hungry i and changed comedy forever. Before him, standup was about everything but hard news and politics. In his wake, a new generation of smart comics emerged - Shelley Berman, Mike Nichols, and Elaine May, Lenny Bruce, Bob Newhart, Dick Gregory, Woody Allen, and the Smothers Brothers, among others.

Discover the Epic Story of Cinema—From Flickering Frames to Streaming Screens. In The Global History of Film, acclaimed author Oliver Greyson delivers an engaging and comprehensive narrative of the world’s most captivating art form. Spanning over a century, this book traces the evolution of cinema from its earliest experiments in light and motion to the groundbreaking films of today.

A hilarious look at what life was really like inside Saturday Night Live When 21-year old Jay Mohr moved from New Jersey to New York City to pursue his dream of stand-up stardom, he never thought the first real job he'd land would be on Saturday Night Live. But, surprisingly, that's just what he...