Just one more book!...

[aardvark]

Sorry if this exact question has been asked before...

As a newish admirer of old British films, I have just 3 wonderful books I love and browse through. An Autobiography of British Cinema by Brian McFarlane, The Encylopedia of British Film also by Brian McFarlane, and the British Film Catalogue - plus of course Halliwell etc. I love the laid-back tone of the first 2, and the lightness with which so many stars of earlier days took their callings. In a way these 3 seem enough for anything, but I just wondered if anyone reading has a special, much-loved favourite I could try?

I'm definitely not serious in my butterfly flutterings, just enjoy exploring and being led here and there. Many thanks if any ideas. It's a pleasure to be delving into all the expertise here.

Nick

[theuofc]

... I just wondered if anyone reading has a special, much-loved favourite I could try? ....

Nick

Hello and welcome, Nick,

Any of the following would be helpful in giving you background on Brit studios and many of the actors you will see in classic Brit films. They are also interesting reads. You can probably get them through interlibrary loan:

Charles Barr, Ealing Studios,

George Perry, Movies from the Mansion, a History of Pinewood Studios,

David Quinlan, British Sound Films-The Studio Years 1928-1959,

Patricia Warren's Elstree: The British Hollywood.

As you suspected, , there is an earlier thread(s) on this topic, which also will be helpful:
Best wishes,

Barbara

[Elaine]

I am thinking of getting Pinewood Studios, 70 years of Film making. I have it on my wish list at Amazon. Anyone own it? and if so, is it a good book to buy?

[aardvark]

Hello and welcome, Nick,

Any of the following would be helpful in giving you background on Brit studios and many of the actors you will see in classic Brit films. They are also interesting reads. You can probably get them through interlibrary loan:

Charles Barr, Ealing Studios,

George Perry, Movies from the Mansion, a History of Pinewood Studios,

David Quinlan, British Sound Films-The Studio Years 1928-1959,

Patricia Warren's Elstree: The British Hollywood.

As you suspected, , there is an earlier thread(s) on this topic, which also will be helpful:


Best wishes,

Barbara

Hello, and many thanks for the welcome, Barbara, also for your great recommendations. Really appreciate your help, and also the link to an earlier thread, which sounds just what I need. I'll now dig and delve, and hope to broaden my horizons a bit (and have fun).

Thanks again, and best wishes...if your avatar is the film I think, I enjoyed it enormously, twice.

Nick

[DB7]

English Gothic by Jonathon Rigby.

[A Pemberton]

Your mention of Halliwells guide brings back memories of the pre internet bible for the film fan,I too had his guide and the film goers companion,as a resource they were invaluable but his critique of some films were withering and Im sure he thought good filmmaking ended in the late sixties!(did it?!) .Im not sure its required reading these days but I stand to be corrected.
As for choices today its endless , I find reading autobiographies and biographies of actors far more revealing of the movie world than the encyclopedias of today there are some splendid titles out there,an example being of anything written by or on Kenneth Williams is a real window on the cinema of the 50s and 60s

[theuofc]

I am thinking of getting Pinewood Studios, 70 years of Film making. I have it on my wish list at Amazon. Anyone own it? and if so, is it a good book to buy?

Hi, Elaine,

I have it, a huge coffee-table book chockablock with colour photos of films and actors, but light on text. So buy it for the photos, not so much for information except for superficial information on major series of films, e.g. the Carry Ons or the Doctor films.

There are profile chapters on Kenneth More, Dirk, etc. The one on Dirk has a few paragraphs on him, general info you can get anywhere and then a main focus on the Doctor films. rather than a run through of some of his major films. But interspersed throughout the rest of the book are some pics of him and tons of pics other actors. Ken More's profile fares better with pages of fab pics of him.

I bought it in London when it first hit bookshop shelves and was on special with a promo add-on for £29 (£40 initially ), still very costly, but I was saving shipping and tax on a heavy book.

Bottom line: if someone wants illuminating text, look to one of the earlier film books suggested. But for gorgeous photos, this book is a good choice.

If you get a used copy, ask how the spine is: it's a heavy book and with rough use, the spine and pages can get wobbly. Ditto extra cost for shipping. If so, consider a seller with free shipping.

All best,

Barbara

[Rowdon]

Your mention of Halliwells guide brings back memories of the pre internet bible for the film fan,...Im not sure its required reading these days but I stand to be corrected.

May I? I still read the guide a lot. The Internet has far more information, obviously, but the imdb, for example, is full of rambling opinions by people who I don't necessarily trust or have any interest in, while the Halliwell has little synopses and pithy critiques that are more often than not very witty. Even when demonstrably completely wrong. In having to choose just the right verb or adjective, due to space restrictions, the Film Guide and the Who's Who become almost poetic in their use of language. Short, sharp and to the point, even if the point is wrong.

I found this website recently, in which many if the Halliwell reviews are reviewed or commented on ... addictive, as is so much on the Net.

http://www.lesliehalliwell.com/index.html

Anyway, anybody who doesn't have a fairly recent Halliwell's should remedy that situation now, because it is simply a nice thing to have.

The common criticism of Halliwell, as A Pemberton said above, was his simple dislike of modern movies. He reluctantly saw good bits in many modern films, but more often than not he just talked up their bad points and dismissed films recognised now as classics ... But if he was writing the same thing now, he would be regarded as an iconoclast; can you say nothing bad about Aliens or Jaws? Are they really perfect? Is it criminal to accuse Close Encounters of having padding? Or Being There of being overlong? I think he's often right, and I find much of my own opinion echoed in the quote by him below (from the website):

"…of today’s crop I have soon had my fill. Most of them are obscurely told; they tell me things I don’t wish to know, in language I find offensive; and they concern characters whom I would willingly cross the road to avoid. Cheap colour makes them unattractive to look at, and all the old studio crafts, so laboriously learned over a quarter of a century, appear to have been jettisoned in favour of obscenely large budgets which allow the film-maker to wander restlessly around the world crashing real aeroplanes and giving a distorted view of real locations instead of setting his own and the audience’s imaginations to work."

[Steve Crook]

Sorry if this exact question has been asked before...

As a newish admirer of old British films, I have just 3 wonderful books I love and browse through. An Autobiography of British Cinema by Brian McFarlane, The Encylopedia of British Film also by Brian McFarlane, and the British Film Catalogue - plus of course Halliwell etc. I love the laid-back tone of the first 2, and the lightness with which so many stars of earlier days took their callings. In a way these 3 seem enough for anything, but I just wondered if anyone reading has a special, much-loved favourite I could try?

I'm definitely not serious in my butterfly flutterings, just enjoy exploring and being led here and there. Many thanks if any ideas. It's a pleasure to be delving into all the expertise here.

Nick

I recently got a copy of "British Technicolor Films" by John Huntley. He's so proud of it that he puts his name on the front cover twice, at the top and the bottom

The cover also proudly boasts - with 23 illustrations. But those 23 illustrations of Technicolor films are all in B&W

But apart from that, it's a good book with a good summary of all of the early British Technicolor films and some good descriptions of the Technicolor process itself. It also has some good essays from people like Jack Cardiff ( ) and Chris Challis

Steve

[didi-5]

The David Quinlan books on stars (movie stars, character actors, comedy actors) are good for quick snippets as well. They supplement my Halliwell's Who's Who which I still return to constantly. I also like the series on British film genres (historical, crime, queer, etc) which was published a few years ago.

[aardvark]

I still read the guide a lot...Halliwell's....is simply a nice thing to have.
[[/LEFT]

Thanks so much to all for the exciting ideas. I've ordered about everything on this thread from the library, and may then buy some things from Amazon etc - always a bonus when books cost £0.01 rather than £134.78. Later I look forward to going a bit further, using the Essential and Top 5 threads as a jump-off point. Great to have personal tips.

I'll certainly look into (auto)biographies too, starting with Kenneth Williams, and Powell's A Life in Movies - so thanks a lot A Pemberton for the idea. The Kenneth W titles look a delight. I notice the McFarlane Encyclopedia lists a number of tantalising (auto)biographies, sometimes by lesser-known names. Going back to Brian McFarlane for a moment, I've found my 2 books by him really companionable and entertaining, with a love of the subject to rival his breadth of knowledge. Some amusing bits too - such as when Mr McFarlane tries (with no luck) to extract further memories from a spectacularly concise Miss Kerr. Steve, John Huntley, both of them, should have got Conductor 71 to help with the illustrations?

Agree very much with Rowdon about the 2 Halliwell books - and thanks for the fascinating link. Considering that the newer Halliwell covers the whole world of cinema reasonably even-handedly, and has to be all things to all people, I personally think it's a bit of a miracle. Probably like many here, I also use the Time Out and Radio Times Guides, each with a slightly different take, and then mix the 3 into a kind of mental sandwich filling with a dash of free spirit. (A follow-on from childhood poring over What's On, on dark rainy afternoons...in my case, my tomes are piled in a corner of my bedroom, so each consultaion's a little odyssey.) Thanks to a post here I've just found BFI's Screenonline, and I do think that looks wonderful, IMDb also, but I like the brief book entries as well.

Thnaks to all again. Will wait impatiently for library books.

Nick

[aardvark]

As a newish admirer of old British films, I have just 3 wonderful books I love and browse through...in a way these 3 seem enough for anything, but I just wondered if anyone reading has a special, much-loved favourite I could try?...

Thanks a lot for all the great book suggestions back in April...I've ended up getting many of them as a little beginner's nucleus.

Barbara, thanks so much for listing those 4 books, which I know you've done before...+ link to earlier threads. I asked for 'just one more book', and you've supplied it with David Quinlan's essential British Sound Films. I think the rating system based on contemporary opinion is very interesting...only trouble is the 3000+ synopses are so explanatory a whodunit could become a premature (s)hedunit! I'm finding the Ealing/Elstree/Pinweood books equally fascinating and readable, with lovely illustrations - a perfect start, and mostly inexpensive too.

DB7, English Gothic is magnificent I think (looked at American Gothic too) and I'll enjoy it as I watch more of the genre - my favourite so far Dead of Night.

APemberton (and Graeme and Captain Waggett from another thread), warm thanks for introducing me to the Kenneth Williams diaries/letters/autobiography etc - fascinating generally, and wonderfully good value! Also stocked up on a few other autobiographies/biographies - a nice little pile to explore as the months go by.

Steve, British Technicolor Films feels now like a much-loved old friend, though the technical bits are over my head. Jack Cardiff's description alone of filming Western Approaches makes it very evocative and stimulating to me. Luckily the watching homework is pretty light, as there were so few colour films by 1948! A book I'm very glad to have - thank you for this.

didi-5, thanks to you I now love, have and hold the David Quinlan foursome, stars, directors, comedy and character actors (several for 0.01p), to put beside British Sound Films. Have also just ordered his TV Times film guide for good measure, again at 0.01p. Have been much enjoying the excellent 6 volumes (unless there are more) of the British Popular Film Series and specially like the filmographies at the end. Glad to know you (and APemberton/Rowdon too) still enjoy the Halliwell books as I do.

Captain Waggett, many thanks indeed for suggesting David Kynaston's brilliantly detailed Austerity Britain and Family Britain, obviously a labour of love, on another thread. I've already browsed in these a lot, and look forward to reading them cover to cover in the winter months. One other book I like very much along with a couple of others is Mass-Observation at the Movies by Jeffrey Richards and Dorothy Sheridan.

Sincere thanks again for all these wonderful recommendations. My original 'library' of 3 has expanded a bit, and perhaps will expand a bit more!

Nick