Stanley Baker: A Life In Film

[batman]

Due out later this year .....



Stanley Baker: A Life in Film (Hardcover)

by Robert Shail (Author)



Publisher: University of Wales Press (28 Nov 2007)



Synopsis

This book offers the first in-depth, fully-researched analysis of the career of Stanley Baker, one of the most significant cinema figures to have come out of Wales and sheds considerable light on the image of Welsh national identity and masculinity which he projected. Stanley Baker is one of only a handful of Welsh-born actors to have become a major film star. Like his friend Richard Burton, his rise to fame took him from an impoverished childhood in the valleys of south Wales to international stardom in films such as Zulu and Accident. As well as being an important figure in front of the camera, he became a producer and film executive as well, whilst never losing his strong links with his Welsh background.



(info from Amazon.co.uk)



Bats.

[Lord Brett]

Fantastic -- I'll be getting that ASAP!

[mariocki]

Excellent, hopefully somebody will get around to releasing Robbery at long last.

[Joenoir]

Due out later this year .....

Stanley Baker: A Life in Film (Hardcover)

Looks like a good buy, just in time for Christmas!

[Lerica]

Mariocki - I take it you do know there are several copies on Ebay of Robbery going? Good film!

[batman]

Mariocki - I take it you do know there are several copies on Ebay of Robbery going? Good film!

I bought one ... VHS transfer but pretty good.



Bats.

[mariocki]

Thanks Lerica, I'd seen them but was unsure about the picture quality so I was holding out for an official release. With Bats saying they're OK though, I might not resist much longer!

[jezandliz1]

If anyone else is interested in this book, the author Robert Shail responded to an email I sent him recently advising that the release date for the book has been put back from November this year to late Spring as a result of "personnel changes" at the publisher. He is hoping this means late April early May...

[Windthrop]

Just finished Robert Shail's long-delayed bio of Baker. Not a hatchet job (never expected it to be) and there has been a lot of access to Baker's widow who is good at summing up what went wrong with his career after Zulu. His career is well presented in terms of historical context and Shail analyses Baker's career well and the shift from actor to producer which damaged his career. All in all a good read - bit briefer than I would have liked - that answers a few questions I have had about Baker's career. Pity there weren't any interviews with Richard Attenborough and Michael Caine for the book but this is a minor quibble in a book that serves its subject well and should serve to encourage future generations to sample Baker's best films.

[batman]

Thanks for that Windy .... Mrs Bat has banned me from buying it so I expect it's on my Xmas prezzie list.

[asiamiles]

Thanks for the reminder...I'll get that in my next amazon.uk order.

[orpheum]

I tried to get both biogs from the library but neither is stocked.the first bio by Anthony Storey sells for around 35pounds upwards.I am definately not buying that.

[Windthrop]

I tried to get both biogs from the library but neither is stocked.the first bio by Anthony Storey sells for around 35pounds upwards.I am definately not buying that.

Both books will be available to order at your library, either in county or out of county

[Steve Crook]

Both books will be available to order at your library, either in county or out of county

There speaks someone who knows, and appreciates, the inter-library loan schemes



I know that I've made great use of them in the past



orpheum, just ask the librarian (or assistant) if you can get them to do a search for a copy



Steve

[Lord Brett]

I've just checked and Leeds Libraries are getting two copies, one of which I've just reserved.



The Anthony Storey one isn't a biography as such, more a long and fascinating study of the man in his final few months of life by a journalist who had originally planned to write his official biography.

[orpheum]

thanks for that.I also want the biogs of Alastair Sim and laurence Harvey which it would appear are not available from the libraries in my area.So i will pop into the local library in the morning and put it to the test.

[Lord Brett]

We've got the Alistair Sim one in our stock at the library I work in.

[asiamiles]

I'm halfway through Shail's book, and it's a something of a disappointment. The author states from the outset he's more concerned with Baker's films than his private life which make this less of a biography (at least after it covers Baker's early life) and more of a study. But his observations on the actor's films are less than illuminating, quoting from other reviewers far too much. One of the main sources of info for the book appears to be the extras found on the HELL DRIVERS DVD, giving the impression the finished work is pretty much what anyone would come up with given the order, "Right, you've two months to have a book on Stanley Baker on my desk!" And when we start getting quotes from Richard Dyer's "Stars"...



The writing is not overly academic but is rather dry and there is no sense that the author has any personal involvement with his subject. I'd seen a fair percentage of Baker's films but didn't know that much about him as a man, but I don't think I'll know much more about him, or his work, when I eventually close the book. Maybe I sound rather harsh, as it's not a particularly bad book, but I guess I was looking for the kind of passion the actor invested into his work.

[orpheum]

Exactly my view asiamiles.I waited nearly 4 months for my library to get me this book.The worth was not worth it.It was as dry as dust and quite frankly i found it a bore.I was pleased in one way that it was so short so that i didnt have to read any more of that turgid rubbish.I have to say that i am of the opinion that you cannot discuss an actor without at the same time discussing his personal life.After all towards the end we are told he looks very ill on screen without even being told that he has cancer.An interminable amount of the book goes on about trips home to Ferndale and the rugby club about which i became very irritated.So my advice to anyone contemplating buying this book is dont bother.

[Lerica]

To be fair, there isn't alot out there on Baker's personal life, mostly as he didn't really discuss it much. However on the articles and reviews from magazines around his time I have, you get some insight on the man he was. He was away from home a great deal esp through the 60's, and being what's generally know as a 'man's man' even most his friends have now sadly passed away. I found (though I know its somewhat extreme) talking to the people in Ferndale who actually knew and met him, more insightul on what sort of man he was. And imho, he didn't disappoint.