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WHO THE DEVIL MADE IT

Name: WHO THE DEVIL MADE IT
Author: Peter Bogdanovich
ISBN: 0-679-44706-7

by Peter Bogdanovich ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1997

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This massive collection of lengthy, in-depth conversations with 16 of Hollywood's greatest directors is a film buff's delight. Before he became a director in the late 1960s, Bogdanovich (The Killing of the Unicorn, 1984, etc.) enjoyed a notable career in film criticism. He ceaselessly promoted American film's neglected achievements and sought out the directors he admired for interviews. Some of these interviews were first published in the '60s. Many more, compiled over the course of more than a decade, are previously unpublished. Bogdanovich has a first-rate understanding of the difficult and elusive craft of directing. Among the accomplished and diverse figures included here are Robert Aldrich, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Sidney Lumet, Otto Preminger, Don Siegel, Josef von Sternberg, and Raoul Walsh. As becomes clear in the course of these interviews, most of them learned their craft from the ground up in the wildly innovative days of silent film. They explain to Bogdanovich how they gradually learned to fight for and preserve their individual styles in a studio system that increasingly viewed movies as product and art as an irritant. If there is one thing that all of these men held in common, it was a belief in the primacy of the image. They were always trying to tell their stories in a highly individual visual style so that, as one producer said to director Joseph Lewis, ``every foot of film has your signature on it.'' While there are plenty of revealing anecdotes and thorough discussions of movies and stars, the level of detail here can be daunting. Elaborate dissections of how shots were set up and theories of lighting will delight cinephiles but may be a little too much for the average moviegoer. A fine achievement that helps illuminate the art and craft of some remarkable directors. (62 b&w photos, not seen)

Pub Date: April 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-679-44706-7

Page Count: 832

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1997

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
WHO THE HELL’S IN IT
by Peter Bogdanovich

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST AMERICAN MOVIE WRITING 1999
edited by Peter Bogdanovich

- IN THE NEWS
Director Peter Bogdanovich Is Dead at 82

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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.