HOLLYWOOD DIRECTORS, 1941-1976

by Richard--Ed. Koszarski ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1977

Another loose grab-bag plucked from yellowing issues of trade magazines (The Screen Writer, Films in Review, Sight and Sound, Films and Filming) by Richard Koszarski, who brought you Hollywood Directors, 1914-1940. As Koszarski observes in his introduction, this ""pragmatic"" period's later crowd of directors no longer has to defend film as a viable form, so the rare excursions into print (action directors Ford, Hawks, and Walsh apparently never wrote anything at all) tend to be more nuts-and-bolts--either ""how I made such-and-such"" or ""now you can make such-and-such""--than theoretical. But, like the pieces in the first volume, these 50 essays run a ridiculous gamut, from neophyte Orson Welles' notorious put-down of Hollywood to historical footnotes (Chuck Jones on the potential for music in animation) to the most ephemeral ephemera: Ida Lupino chatting about how ""I practically lost my lunch"" during Night Games, Gene Kelly's passing bit of advice to dancers re film. Still, Loszarski's diligent prefaces are compact and helpful, and buffs will probably want to wade through what's dated and what's drippy--just to be able to commune with Hitchcock, Kazan, Fritz Lang, Jean Renoir (saluting Chaplin), von Sternberg, and Kubrick.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Oxford Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1977

Categories: NONFICTION