A smart study of star quality as an industrial process, written by an academic who still understands Hollywood’s cheap,...
A cinema archivist digs into the vaults of Golden Era Hollywood and comes up with a treasure trove of goodies.
In this epochal study on how the Hollywood studio system manufactures stars (sometimes out of little but a cute smile, and other times molding and channeling that indefinable stardust quality), Basinger (Film Studies/Wesleyan Univ.; Silent Stars, 1999, etc.) demonstrates a delightful ability to mix a formidable knowledge of film history, both as business and art form, with a fan’s appreciation of what film is all about. Despite the book’s title, only the first 100-odd pages really cover the factory process—both its winners, like tap sensation Eleanor Powell, and forgotten misfires like Anna Sten, whom Samuel Goldwyn tried to turn into the next Greta Garbo, only to find out that audiences didn’t want another Garbo (“If they had to accept some other exotic European, they’d take Marlene Dietrich”). In sections like “Problems for the System: The Human Factor” (subsections are titled “Disillusionment,” “Disobedience,” “Defection” and so on), Basinger does what she does best in turning out portrait after portrait of the great and not-so-great stars and workaday B-listers who churned out the product for the old bosses. Basinger understands that it’s not the star-machine process itself that is so fascinating, but rather the stars who are swallowed and spit out by the process. The author goes right to the heart of the matter in her examination of movie stars, those immortals walking the earth who define movie magic in all its baffling glory, like the ineffable, oft-ignored genius of somebody like Bing Crosby—“he’s got that meanness, plus a touch of larceny and the ability to con anyone out of anything.” Along the way, Basinger dissects the post–World War II collapse of the star system, which was replaced by the free-for-all age in which we currently live—no less interesting in its own regard, only more difficult to codify in all its slippery chaos. Basinger gives ample space to the qualities and typecasting of the likes of Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, never indulging in sepia-tinged nostalgia for its own sake.
A smart study of star quality as an industrial process, written by an academic who still understands Hollywood’s cheap, sensuous appeal.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4000-4130-5
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2007
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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