A yeomanlike study of one of the few deserving films not yet granted an entire book. Carefully and thoroughly (and with the cooperation of Hitchcock’s daughter), film collector Auiler’s first book traces Vertigo to its start as a pesky alternative to another Hitchcock plan for a more studio-agreeable extravaganza called Flamingo Feather. Auiler then details Hitchcock’s interest in the authors of Vertigo’s novel source (their first novel became Les Diaboliques) and reports the screenwriting process, spanning playwright Maxwell Anderson, Angus MacPhail, and credited authors Alec Coppel and Samuel Taylor. The book brims with behind-the-scenes material, all presented matter-of-factly. Unintoxicating (and pregnant) Vera Miles was replaced by “heat”-carrying Kim Novak, who attracted problematic paramours Sammy Davis Jr. and Rafael Trujillo Jr. and who said she understood her character Madeleine/Judy’s desire to be loved. Jimmy Stewart was a pro and an avuncular counselor to Novak; Hitchcock did shoot efficiently, except for the troubling post-rescue encounter. The film’s crew considered Vertigo “just another Hitchcock project,” and on release, the movie was generally praised but panned by Time as “another Hitchcock and bull story.” And maybe the movie showed that Hitchcock never recovered from losing Grace Kelly to Monaco. Yet even more interesting is the author’s noting how Vertigo has grown in stature over the past 40 years, through a survey of Hitchcock scholarship, interviews with those involved in its restoration for 1996 rerelease, and speculation that it reveals a “longing for what we can never have again.” This book assumes the film’s worth and through well-researched explication of its subtleties leads even skeptics to understand it, too. (50 b&w photos, 8 pages color photos, not seen)
Pub Date: June 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-312-16915-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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