James Curtis (2)Rezensionen

An exhaustive account of the great silent and sound film actor, director producer’s life and career. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is close to 1,000 pages, more if you include the notes. I taught a film class several years ago, and, of course, Keaton was part of my course. That drew me to this biography. However, I probably bit off more than I could chew. Let the record show, though, that I finished it. More for a Keaton scholar than a casual reader merely wanting to learn more about the great man, the amount of information about movies, personalities, Hollywood politics and scuttlebutt is mind-boggling. At times the volume of information distracts from the pleasure of reading the book. One important thing I found out having read this book was that Buster Keaton’s late career, his career in the late 1950s and 1960s was not the pathetic pity I thought it was. He was actually busier than he needed to be. The beach movies and even his final role in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum seemed a sad addition to his career, but in all of those films, he was treated as the institution he was, and he was well paid for the roles. My impression of Buster Keaton after finishing this book was greatly enhanced for having read it. One final observation. All of Keaton’s films, the shorts and the feature length films are now on YouTube, so as I read about individual films or even specific scenes, I was able to find them in a matter of seconds on YouTube. It made my appreciation of author James’ description of those films and scenes that much more meaningful. Thank goodness forYouTube.

Well researched biography of silent comedian Buster Keaton. Of the three silent comedians (Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd), Keaton was the only one who worked to the end of his life - although he had a dry spell when sound came on board for several decades. His early stage work with his family in vaudeville was discussed as well as the films. The author provided the right mix in providing the plot summaries and did not get bogged down in the details. My only complaint is the author did not provide an update, at the end of the book, as to what happened to Keaton's two sons.

Great biography of production designer, William Cameron Menzies, who paved the path for a new look in tilms from Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad to Gone With the Wind He essentially invented the storyboard to show the look and camera angles of a film. He contributed so much and while so many producers and directors were well aware of his significant contributions, he did not receive a great deal of recognition. He wanted to be a director and did several films but had a hard time relating to actors. The book contained a lot of quotes from those who had worked with him as well as interviews with his daughter. Well done.

William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come by James Curtis is a definitive biography of a frequently overlooked filmmaking original whose artistry contributed to such films as "The Thief of Bagdad" (24 & 40), "Things to Come", "Gone with the Wind", "Kings Row", "Invaders from Mars'', and "Around the World in 80 Days" among many others. Curtis could not believe a work on the life and career of Menzies had not been written, so he set out to correct that oversight with the good fortune to find Menzies surviving daughter Suzanne Menzies Antles who in addition to her vivid memories of her father had a treasure trove of materials from his long and varied career as a Director, Producer, Art Director and as the first credited Production Designer. Curtis quickly covers Menzies youth in New Haven, Connecticut and his pride in his Scottish roots followed by his artistic education in New York City where he both met his wife Mignon and started his professional career. After some work on theatricals his connections led to his first film work in the late teens in New Jersey where studios where based in the Fort Lee area during the silent era. Eventually he migrated west to Hollywood where Menzies big break came when he created lavish production illustrations for "The Thief of Bagdad". Douglas Fairbanks the star and producer of 'Thief' insisted that everyone on the production adhere to Menzies designs. With his reputation established Menzies worked steadily developing his illustrated scripts where he would create brief sketches before creating more detailed designs for sets which he advocated would support both the goals of the artists while reducing costs by limiting the amount of set that needed to be built. During this period Menzies won the first Academy Award for Art Direction for his work on the films "Tempest" and "The Dove". In transitioning to the sound era Menzies sought to establish himself as a director with mixed results in features while one of his most notable successes was a musical short for "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" which clearly influenced and predated by 10 years Disney's own version in "Fantasia". One of Menzies personal failings was alcohol on which he apparently got drunk very easily and in the mid-30s resulted in a car accident which caused him not to get work for a period. Just as he was considering a career change to support his family Menzies received an invite from Alexander Korda to come to England and work on a film of "The Shape of Things to Come" by H. G. Wells which was realesed as "Things to Come". The film was the largest and most expensive in British history up to that time and while Menzies was the director and in control of his visuals he was saddled with a didactic wordy script that Wells insisted be adhered to. Despite it's flaws today the film is recognized and celebrated with "Metropolis" as one the greatest early science fiction and special effects films. A return to Hollywood led Menzies into working for David O. Selznick just as he was initiating production of "Gone with the Wind" where similar to Fairbanks he insisted that Menzies shot designs be followed explicitly. "Gone with the Wind" had Victor Fleming credited as director while Menzies, George Cukor & Sam Wood directed scenes and sequences, yet maintained its unified look across the entire hectic production due to Menzies illustrated screenplay which essentially storyboarded the entire film. To recognize Menzies unique and critical contributions Selznick had him credited as Production Designer which was the first time this designation was ever used in a Hollywood film. For the Academy Awards this actually led to a problem since there was no such category as Production Designer, so instead Menzies received a Special Award. One of the results of Menzies work on "Gone with the Wind" was his introduction to director Sam Wood who was noted for his work with actors while not having a strong feel for visuals. With each bringing his own strengths to their productions they brought out some of the best in their talents with a run of pictures including an adaptation of Thorton Wilder's "Our Town", a comedy "The Devil and Miss Jones", a bestseller considered unadaptable "Kings Row", the Lou Gehrig biopic "Pride of the Yankees", an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" as well as "Address Unknow" where Menzies directed Wood's daughter and finally "Ivy". Unfortunately for Menzies the film "Address Unknow" was the only film he directed during the partnership, so the credit and larger salaries on their successes went to Sam Wood. During the last 10 years of his career Menzies made several forays into television as well as two notable films involving one his smallest budgets and one of his largest. The low budget film is actually one of the most iconic and most closely associated with the name William Cameron Menzies as he designed and directed "Invaders from Mars". A classic of the 50s science fiction films Menzies maximized the story as the fever dream of a young boy who believes Martian invaders buried their space ship in the sandpit behind his house and turned his parents into soulless slaves. Menzies makes a virtue of his limited resources with vivid colors, unique camera angles, and creatively minimalist sets. While a small success in its day the film's lasting impact came from endless reruns on television feeding the nightmares of a generation of kids. Menzies career finished as an Associate Producer on Michael Todd's globe trotting star-studded adaptation of Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days". Todd was the definition of a showman entrepreneur jumping from project to project including theatrical spectacles, launching the Cinerama format & company and producing his massive film one step ahead of his creditors. Todd considered Menzies an invaluable contributor to the production as the film would be both an enormous financial success and win Best Picture and sadly be the last for both men as each died prematurely in the next few years Todd in a tragic plane crash and Menzies falling in the wake of a lifetime of smoking, drinking, and stress. James Curtis has done a wonderful job with this encompassing volume in illuminating the filmmaking talents and contributions of William Cameron Menzies in a welcome celebration of his visual genius which is richly illustrated with photos, black & white sketches, and color illustrations.
#classicfilmreading

Absorbing and informative biography of the major figure in 20th century popular culture, whose career spanned the decades from the dawn of the Edwardian era to the end of World War II. Profusely illustrated, it makes an interesting contrast to "W.C. Fields, His Follies and His Fortunes," which now seems to be discredited. Curtis does a much better job of it, including discussing where some of Fields' early work (as a "tramp juggler") may have come from. Strongly recommended for cinema buffs.

He was more than a gin-besotted juggler and movie funnyman. W.C. Fields was a tragic figure who worked hard for his career, even though the movie studios didn't always cooperate.

Like many comedians, it seems, Fields worked through personal issues - drinking among them, yes, but also a loveless marriage, a series of affairs and continuing professional disappointments.

Fields went from vaudeville to radio, from love to loneliness, and from success to failure and back again. Along the way, he wrote many of the scenes and gags that made him a known quantity. But the legend of his drinking always outweighed the reality.

Throw in a wife he left but never divorced and a handful of skits from the formative days of vaudeville that he kept resurrecting in movie after movie and you'll see why he never quite rose up to the top until, ironically, after his death.

Fields is quoted extensively from his own memoirs and letters, and comes off as a much smarter man than I was expecting. He also was shrewd - he stashed away money at banks all over the world just in case.

One of the more amazing comedians of the era.

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I came to this book with high expectations and have to admit be underwhelmed. For an individual with as much fire and character as Fields, this biography was quite bland. Fields came off more sad than anything. The writing is capable and the author debunked some of the exaggerated tales. It is thorough, if uninspired. Mild recommendation.

A meticulous well researched bio of actor Spencer Tracy. At over 1,000 pages including the listing of film and stage works, bibliography, and index, each chapter left you wanting to go on and read the next right away. Author James Curtis has the cooperation of Tracy’s daughter Susie and had access to the journals Tracy wrote for his adult life as well as recollections of family members. The author spent a chapter pointing out the errors in some previously written books on Tracy as well as books on Hepburn. While Tracy seemed to be a tortured man, his screen presence is one of the most natural in the history of cinema. You feel like he is really listening to the opposing actor and saying the words for the first time. Tracy’s main advice to those who asked him how to act was to never be “caught acting”. However, as you can see from this book, he spent many, many hours while filming a role, to study lines and get the character just right. The book also contains many interviews with his wife, Louise, and describes her work with the John Tracy Clinic. I would have liked more interviews with his children as well as something at the end to let us know what his children (although I understand son John has passed away) and grandchildren are doing.