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HITCHCOCK'S NOTEBOOKS

Name: HITCHCOCK'S NOTEBOOKS
Author: Dan Auiler
ISBN: 0-380-97783-4

AN AUTHORIZED AND ILLUSTRATED LOOK INSIDE THE CREATIVE MIND OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK

by Dan Auiler ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 9, 1999

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From The Mountain Eagle to Lifeboat to the never-produced Kaleidoscope, a rare and invaluable (yet also sometimes clumsy) fly-on-the-wall look at Hitchcock at work. Drawing on his authorized access to Hitchcock’s files and notes, Auiler (Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic, 1998) has assembled a fascinating trove of materials illuminating the master director’s creative process. Hitchcock has always mattered immensely to auteur theory, for few directors have exercised his kind of control (or “authorship”) over so many aspects of the movies. Here we can almost see him shaping and refining all the stages of production. From script changes to publicity stills to story boards to Hitch’s notes on scoring, and even including his conversations with actors regarding character development (traditionally thought to have been one of his few weaknesses), the range and breadth of this collection is as astounding as the genius it so clearly reveals. Auiler has had to do a lot of culling to get the mass of material down to a manageable size; one only hopes that he hasn—t omitted too many gems (a few of his selections are so perfunctory as to be nearly worthless). He largely and deliberately skims over most of Hitch’s early career in England, and he completely ignores such films as Vertigo and Psycho (their creation has already been chronicled in other books). Auiler’s own explanatory efforts are usually clunky and unremarkable. Like scratches on a film print, though, they may irk yet don—t intrude too much. Still, you have to be familiar with Hitchcock’s oeuvre for much of this to make sense. Scene-by-scene comparisons of various script versions, for example, are only worthwhile if you are already reasonably familiar with the movie in question. For fans and film buffs, then, a no-questions-asked must-have. (photos and illustrations)

Pub Date: March 9, 1999

ISBN: 0-380-97783-4

Page Count: 576

Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.