Best Film Books for 2010

Frederica · Post by **Frederica** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 5:37 pm

Thomas Gladysz has posted his picks for Best Film Books for 2010 on HuffPo:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-gl ... ml#s194052

sc1957 · Post by **sc1957** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:00 pm

Guess you gotta be rich to buy new film books... only two were under $30.00.

boblipton · Post by **boblipton** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:08 pm

No libraries?

Bob

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:44 am

How gratifying to see so many books about silent film on the list!

I'm glad to see The Film Noir Encyclopedia listed; I've been looking at it in bookstores wondering if I should get it. Have not seen any reviews of it, which is surprising given that Laura Wagner is a major noir fan and just completed a two-part overview of noir books in Classic Images earlier this year. Maybe she's saving this one for her year-end best/worst list.

But I agree with sc1967 -- all except the Brownlow book are damned expensive, pretty well priced out of the range of fans saving their pennies to subsidize Kino and other silent DVD producers.

Jim

Post by **Mike Gebert** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:49 am

Although that may be pricey for a book on Vernon Dent (Vernon Dent! There's a book on Vernon Dent!), it's not too pricey to write a short note to your library suggesting that they buy it. This stuff works, and authors surely appreciate it.

rudyfan · Post by **rudyfan** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 8:54 am

Jim Roots wrote: But I agree with sc1967 -- all except the Brownlow book are damned expensive, pretty well priced out of the range of fans saving their pennies to subsidize Kino and other silent DVD producers.

Jim

Well, speaking for myself and as I documented here way back when, pricing is/was out of my control on The Silent Idol. For the record, I've not heard a single complaint regarding the price in relation to the value and quality of the book. Nobody has asked for a refund that I know of and the book is selling well. Would I have liked blurb to make it availble for $35, yes, that would have been great.

Brent's Sennett book is HUGE and well worth saving up some money for.

Brownlow's Chaplin book is well worth having, but, the quality of the publication is well beneath the quality of the writing. Image reproduction is bad PDF. It made me sad to see it, knowing how beautiful the reproductions were in the first edition of TPGB.

my 2 cents and ymmv.

thomas_gladysz · Post by **thomas_gladysz** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 10:23 am

Thank you for mentioning and for reading my Huffington Post piece on what I think are some of the best film books of 2010. It wasn't easy making a selection, and I felt it necessary to include books on talkies as I was writing this for a more general interest audience. I hope it shines a light on some deserving books which might not get proper attention.

I am working on a list of the best silent film books which I plan on posting to my silent film column on examiner.com at http://www.examiner.com/silent-movie-in ... as-gladysz

YES, these books are expensive. Admittedly, they are special interest books, though their subject matter may be near and dear to our hearts. I also agree with Donna Hill's comments, but felt that the subject matter and text in Brownlow's new Chaplin book trumped the less than excellent picture quality.

If you haven't already checked out my HuffPo piece - it started out as an article and got morphed into a slide-show - please do. It can be found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-gl ... ml#s194052

And be sure and cast your vote for your favorite books in the slideshow. The more people that read and comment and "like" these sort of pieces, the better!

HandofOrlac · Post by **HandofOrlac** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 10:24 am

If you can get it, get Brownlow's In Search for Charlie Chaplin which was published in Italy (the book is in English the other side of the book); the stills inside the book are perfect AND at the sametime, you get a free copy of the Unknown Chaplin DVD inside the book.

Here's an online review of the book:
http://ednapurviance.org/brownlowgill/fanreview.html

It usually is best to try and get the first edition of Brownlow's books as they have the quality when it comes to stills; the 2005 UKA press of Brownlow's book How It Happened Here is a clear example of this. The original has far better stills than the later 2005 edition.

sc1957 · Post by **sc1957** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:15 pm

To follow up on my price complaint, I'll say that I've found ebay to be an excellent resource... I recently found a hardback copy of Jeffrey Vance's Harold Lloyd book there for less than $1. I've found other Vance books, Silent Clowns by Kerr, and books on Keaton, Chaplin, Clara Bow, and Theda Bara on ebay for good prices, and in good shape. And yeah, I did lay out $100 for the new Keystone book as a Christmas present to myself.

R Michael Pyle · Post by **R Michael Pyle** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:18 pm

I recently finished the Warren William bio, and it was definitely worth the read and the money. Extremely neglected actor deserves this book! I finished only this morning another that's not on the list, but it may hold some interest, too: More than a Dream: Re-Discovering the Life and Films of Vilma Banky, by Rachel A. Schildgen. Its only drawback is that, though it's a well-written book, it's badly edited, with some glaring errors that have nothing to do with facts!

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:17 pm

Has there actually ever been a Hitchcock book that betters the Truffaut book?

Has anyone read the Crawford? How is it?

thomas_gladysz · Post by **thomas_gladysz** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 3:16 pm

My revised list of the "Ten best silent film books in 2010"

http://www.examiner.com/silent-movie-in ... books-2010