NEW FILM BOOKS BY JOHN HOWARD REID DETAILING CLASSIC FILMS AND VINTAGE MOVIES

featuring 

loads of Information

and heaps of Classic Movie Posters

LATEST GOOD NEWS:

Please check out http://filmindex.0catch.com for details of my new book, "SILENT FILMS & EARLY TALKIES ON DVD: A Classic Movie Fan's Guide". This is the first book of a new series in which I am reviewing classic movies that are now available on DVD. The second book in this series, MYSTERY, SUSPENSE, FILM NOIR AND DETECTIVE MOVIES ON DVD has also just been released. A bit late for Christmas, but here is the real good news: Amazon have reduced the price to only $22.05! With so many tempting titles now on the market, it's very easy to buy a poor quality DVD transfer. Some DVD releases are so bad that all you can see is a murky black screen! So don't be caught like I've been on many occasions. You see a great title, so you buy it, and it turns out to be of such bad quality you feel like throwing it away. All the movies in these initial books have not only been detailed and reviewed, but rated for DVD quality on a scale of 1 to 10. You'll save the $17.50 and the $22.05 retail prices of these essential books on just one or two DVD purchases (or non-purchases)! And there are even details of Ten Highly Recommended DVD Suppliers. "ANOTHER WINNER FROM JOHN HOWARD REID!" says Roy Salmons in the October 2009 issue of "International Movie Making". MYSTERY, SUSPENSE, FILM NOIR AND DETECTIVE MOVIES ON DVD is a mammoth, 468-page volume, describing, detailing and evaluating well over 700 movies in this category that are now available on DVD. Many of these classic films are available from more than one source. Don't waste your money on an inferior disc. The most expensive DVD version is not necessarily the best! Why pay $29.95 for a DVD when you can find a superior DVD of the same title in the $2 bin? Over 1,200 DVDs were examined, but only the best are recommended in this book. And talking of being caught, I've just noticed that one keen fan paid a used bookshop $70 for 'MORE MOVIE MUSICALS", even though this book is still in print ands can be purchased from Amazon for just $19.95!

And some real good news is that "Award-Winning Films of the 1930s" is now back in print. And it is selling for the normal $19.95 retail price. Would you believe that one store was advertising a copy for sale at over $100 (including postage)? You'd need to be a real keen collector to pay this sort of money because you can now again buy copies at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other stores. Also you can still buy proof copies at http://www.lulu.com/filmindex for only $19.95! Proof copies are actually better value than the trade editions you buy in retail stores, because proof copies are printed on far superior paper. Admittedly, collectors do not like them because the lay-out of the cover design is often slightly different to that of the trade edition. But who else is going to worry about the design? The pictures and text inside the book are exactly the same. Currently,would you believe, there is no BAD NEWS at all? All books on this page seem to be currently available. 

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE MUSICALS is a must for all movie musical fans. The cover is adorned with a stunning full color photo of Zsa Zsa Gabor in the original "Moulin Rouge", while the back cover features a color photo of Betty Hutton standing in front of a huge Annie Oakley poster. I loaned the book to a movie musical authority. He rated the book highly and thought the detail and comments were "superb!" In fact, there were even details that he was unaware of. All the actors for each of the book's 139 representative movies are listed, plus the production staff, release dates in various countries, story synopses, copyright dates, running times. In addition, John Howard Reid provides not only his own reviews, but several or more additional comments from other critics. I repeat: This book is a must for the movie buff. -- Ross Adams in "Dress Circle" magazine, Winter 2009.

"John Howard Reid's film books go from strength to strength. Ideal for the movie buff, DVD and film collectors, these books are crammed full of facts, with many excellent illustrations. A magnificent publication." -- Roy Salmons in International Movie Making (October 2006).

"HOLLYWOOD'S CLASSIC COMEDIES is a treat for movie lovers and collectors. It features a massive 200 entries and a great cover with a full color lobby card of Hold That Ghost. The detailed reviews read like a who's who of comedy films, which will provide the movie enthusiast with a wealth of information that cannot be found in any other publication. Fascinating! A must-have book!" -- Ross Adams in Dress Circle Magazine (August 2007).

HOLLYWOOD'S CLASSIC COMEDIES featuring Slapstick, Romance, Music, Glamour or Screwball Fun! 200 Films rated and reviewed by John Howard Reid. Yes, "Hold That Ghost" is one of the two hundred. So what do you expect in a typical entry? First, you'll find a comprehensive cast list, ranging from Bud Abbott (Chuck Murray) and Lou Costello (Ferdie Jones) through to Ronnie Rondell as the headwaiter (Ronnie was later an assistant director) and Harry Wilson (as Harry). Secondly, you get a comprehensive behind-the-camera listing from director Arthur Lubin through photographer Joseph Valentine (who was brought in to shoot the nightclub scenes) to producer Alex Gottlieb. Then we have a listing of the songs, starting with "Sleepy Serenade" rendered by the Andrews Sisters, and composed by Mort Greene and Lou Singer. Copyright and release details follow. New York premiere was held at the Capitol on 7 August 1941. Sydney opening was at the State on 14 May 1943. A brief synopsis and some background notes (the original ending was dumped in favor of a musical finale) lead into a review in which I claim that the whole movie is a constant delight. The vastly amusing script provides Abbott and Costello with an inexhaustible array of comic situations. The film has many memorable highpoints, the songs are great, direction and photography engrossingly imaginative, production values absolutely first-class. Finally, I provide some details of the DVD. Multiply this entry by 200 and you have the bulk of HOLLYWOOD'S CLASSIC COMEDIES. But there's more: An index of course, but also a listing of the book's comedians from Bud Abbott and Lou Costello through to Roland Young; plus my selection of "100 Highlights of Movie Comedy." What do I think is the funniest comedy ever made? It's in the book. Does "Hold That Ghost" figure on the list? It doesn't actually. Just misses out. However, there is one Abbott and Costello vehicle on the list. Number 69 actually. It's in the book!   

SCIENCE-FICTION & FANTASY CINEMA. When movie lovers think of science-fiction, fantasy and horror, titles that inevitably come to mind include "Metropolis", "Forbidden Planet", "The Creature from the Black Lagoon", "Frankenstein", "Dracula", "The Mummy", "The Wolf Man", "The Invisible Man", "The Phantom of the Opera", "The Day the Earth Stood Still", "Destination Moon" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". These movies, of course, are covered in detail in this large-format, 320-page book. But Fantasy Cinema is not only Frankenstein, Chanoc, Santo, Dr Mabuse and company. It's Cinderella and Francis, Peter Pan and Scrooge, Doctor X and Kong, Sindbad and Faust, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and "Cobra Woman", "The Thief of Bagdad" and "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "The Terror" and "Peter Ibbetson", "Pinocchio" and "The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu". It's "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Belle of New York", "Mr Peek-A-Boo" and "The Merry Widow", "Gorilla at Large" and "Star Wars", "The Time of Their Lives" and "The Horn Blows at Midnight." These films and many more are examined, with complete cast, credit and release details. Plus a listing of 130 Top Flights of Film Fantasy. Plus 25 reproductions of classic posters.  

GREAT HOLLYWOOD WESTERNS: Classic Pictures, Must-See Movies & "B" Films. A round-up of favorite westerns from "Aces and Eights" to "River of No Return", from "Colorado Sundown" to "Under California Stars", from "Big Calibre" to "The Yodellin' Kid from Pine Ridge". Featured stars include Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Bill Boyd, Charles Starrett, Buck Jones, Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele, Rex Bell, Tex Ritter, Ken Maynard, Tim McCoy, Jack Perrin, Johnny Mack Brown, Robert Mitchum, Randolph Scott. 35 great illustrations plus TEN Marilyn Monroe posters from "River of No Return".

GREAT CINEMA DETECTIVES: Best Movies of Mystery, Suspense and Film Noir. Providing an overview of the entire thriller genre, this book examines over 160 movies from classic Hollywood and British studios, including such essential film noir entries as "Murder, My Sweet", "The Dark Corner", "The Maltese Falcon" and "Afraid To Talk". Great cinema detectives are represented by William Powell (all six of his Thin Man pictures are detailed and discussed), Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes), Warner Oland (Charlie Chan), Sidney Toler (Charlie Chan), Peter Ustinov (Hercule Poirot), Margaret Rutherford (all four of her Miss Marple films are covered), and others including the Saint, the Falcon, Bulldog Drummond and Philo Vance. From director Alfred Hitchcock comes "Notorious", "Saboteur", "Number 17" and "Rich and Strange". A few comedies and spoofs, such as "Satan Met a Lady" (an amazing re-make of the original "Maltese Falcon" with Bette Davis and Warren William) and "Who Done It?" (with Abbott and Costello) round out the survey.

BEST WESTERN MOVIES: Winning Pictures, Favorite Films and Hollywood "B" entries. This grab-bag of movie westerns ranges from the best to the worst; from lavish, no-expense-spared Cecil B. DeMille epics to Poverty Row double bills; from big-budget John Wayne vehicles like "In Old Oklahoma", "The War Wagon" and "The Fighting Kentuckian" to the sort of bottom-drawer product delivered by Sherman Scott and Monogram; from prestige, star-studded westerns like "My Darling Clementine" and "How the West Was Won" to the depths of "The Toughest Man in Arizona"; from the expertly crafted, super-popular "B" stables of Gene Autry, William Boyd, Roy Rogers, Charles Starrett and company to the fly-by-night efforts of long-forgotten brands like "The Range Busters." All reviews carry detailed credits. The book is rounded out with a Hopalong Cassidy filmography and many reproductions of original film posters. The price: $19.95. Now available in the shops, and can also be purchased direct from Lulu at http://www.lulu.com/filmindex 

SUCCESS IN THE CINEMA: Money-Making Moves and Critics' Choices. This book examines over one hundred movies that have achieved success in the cinema. Each film is accompanied by detailed credits and release information. Basically, there are three measures of success. First off are pictures like "The Crowd" and "Applause" that achieve rave reviews from the critics and even go on to win awards, but do not recover their negative costs. Then there are the movies the critics hate, but the public take to their hearts. All three versions of "Back Street", for instance. Finally come the pictures everyone likes, perhaps for different reasons, but that does not matter. A picture that sets the whole nation cheering, like "From Here To Eternity" or "Sunset Boulevard", is the dream of every producer. And when you think of success in the Hollywood Golden Age, one name stands out above all others: Cecil B. DeMille. Pictures reviewed from this justly famous producer-director include "The Crusades", "Sign of the Cross", "The Story of Dr Wassell", "Union Pacific" and both versions of "The Buccaneer". However, the book also notes a "B" movie produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, a movie that cost a fair amount of money but that proved so unpopular it was released in some territories as a support. The book also covers some other disastrous Hollywood failures, including the M-G-M movie that cost over $4 million to make and returned almost nothing. The price of this book: $19.95. Now available in the shops. Copies can also be purchased direct from Lulu at http://www.lulu.com/filmindex   

MORE MOVIE MUSICALS. Many of your favorite movie musicals are sure to be represented in this book. Classics like "Rose Marie" and "Calamity Jane" rub shoulders with "Artists and Models", "Babes on Broadway", "The Bohemian Girl", "The Inspector General" and "The Kid from Brooklyn". Bing and Bob are off on "The Road to Singapore", Eddie Cantor is involved in "Roman Scandals", while Mitzi Gaynor enjoys her stay in "South Pacific". Will Rogers, Jeanne Crain and Alice Faye all have a go in the various versions of "State Fair" and we catch Deanna Durbin in "Three Smart Girls", "Three Smart Girls Grow Up", "It Started with Eve" and "Something in the Wind". And that is just a small sampling of the wonders in store in "More Movie Musicals".

HOLLYWOOD CLASSICS INDEX BOOKS 1-16: A-Z. This is not only a vital reference source, providing classic cinema fans with a comprehensive Index to all the movies detailed in the previous books (with all title changes meticulously cross-referenced, plus year of production), it also supplies a visual feast for admirers and collectors of vintage movie posters. Over 200 of these wonderfully striking works of art are reproduced in this large-format book.

CinemaScope Two: 20th Century-Fox by John Howard Reid: Where would we be without 20th Century-Fox? Still back in the Dark Ages, viewing postage-stamp movies on a postage-stamp screen. This luxurious, large-format paperback (256 pages) not only provides all the details of Fox's complete CinemaScope program, but all the background, cast and credit information on nearly 150 of the most important and most popular of the studio's CinemaScope releases. Plus 48 pages of photographs (reproduced in black-and-white), illustrating the text with such colorful posters as Anastasia, Garden of Evil, Last Wagon, The Deerslayer, Copper Sky, The True Story of Jesse James, The Adventures of Hajji Baba, El Greco, The Egyptian, Stagecoach, The Robe, Demetrius and the Gladiators, Daddy Long Legs, The Fly, Carousel, Good Morning Miss Dove, Cattle Empire, The Bottom of the Bottle, That Lady, The Virgin Queen, Warlock, Story on Page One, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Secret of the Purple Reef, The Best of Everything, Best Things in Life Are Free, Black Widow, Rains of Ranchipur, Seven Women from Hell, The Third Voice, Way to the Gold, Wayward Bus, Agony and the Ecstasy, Beloved Infidel, The Racers, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, Night People, Alligator People, House of Bamboo, The Sun Also Rises, The King and I, Hell and High Water, Lure of the Swamp, Kronos, On the Threshold of Space, etc.

BUY IN AMERICA, CANADA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY AND JAPAN FROM AMAZON & OTHER LEADING STORES. U.S. Bookshop price: $25.95.

BUY DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER IN NORTH CAROLINA: $24.95 http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

CinemaScope One: Stupendous in 'Scope by John Howard Reid: This introductory volume of 172 large-format pages, presents a general overview of CinemaScope and other widescreen innovations (including 3-D). Detailed reviews are provided of significant movies including "And God Created Woman", "20,000 Leagues under the Sea", "No Sun in Venice", "Inferno", "Comanche Station", "Tony Rome", "Three Faces of Eve", "Star Wars", "Strategic Air Command", "Marooned", "Manhattan", "Hombre", "Man of the West", "Lola Montes", "Inside Daisy Clover", "Love Is a Ball", "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?", "The Year of Living Dangerously", "The Yellow Rolls Royce", "Auntie Mame", "The Swan", "Ten North Frederick", "23 Paces to Baker Street". Poster reproductions, spread over 40 pages, include "The Barbarian and the Geisha", "Ten North Frederick", "The Tall Men", "You Lucky People", "The Man Who Knew Too Much", "Legions of Cleopatra", "Tess of the Storm Country", "Kiss Them For Me", "Gold of the Seven Saints", "Lady and the Tramp", "Love Me or Leave Me", "Green Mansions", "Green Fire", "A Kiss Before Dying", "East of Eden", "Hit the Deck", "House of Wax", "How To Be Very Very Popular", "Bus Stop", "River of No Return", "King Richard and the Crusaders", "Brigadoon", "Lucky Me", "How To Marry a Millionaire", "Arena", "Prince Valiant", "Son of Cleopatra", "Helen of Troy", "Morituri", "Gorilla at Large", "King's Rhapsody", "Valley of the Kings", "Manhattan", "Creature from the Black Lagoon", "Bullwhip", "Flame over India", "The Black Shield of Falworth, "Comanche Station", "Around the World in 80 Days".

BUY IN AMERICA, CANADA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY AND JAPAN FROM AMAZON AND OTHER LEADING STORES: U.S. bookshop price: $19.95.

BUY DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER IN NORTH CAROLINA: $19.95 http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge: PLEASE SCROLL RIGHT DOWN FOR DETAILS OF THIS MAGNIFICENT 368-PAGE BOOK! Only $24.50 from Lulu, or online booksellers.

"A magnificent publication." -- Rodney Bourke in International Movie Making (April 2006).

16. HOLLYWOOD MOVIE MUSICALS: Great, Good and Glamorous. As the name implies, this beautifully presented, large format, 270-page book, covers movie musicals, providing cast, credit and background details for such classics as "Annie Get Your Gun", "Blue Skies", "Dixie", "Duffy's Tavern", "The Firefly", "Flying Down To Rio", "Funny Girl", "Funny Face", "Go Into Your Dance", "Gold Diggers of 1933", "Gold Diggers of 1937", "Hips, Hips, Hooray", "I'm No Angel", "Kiss Me Kate", "Love Me Tonight", "Maytime", "Moulin Rouge", "My Wild Irish Rose", "One Hour With You", "On Moonlight Bay", "On the Avenue", "On the Town", "Poor Little Rich Girl", "The Red Shoes", "Road to Bali", "Road to Morocco", "Road to Rio", "Rose of Washington Square", "Roberta", "Shall We Dance", "Singin' in the Rain", "Sound of Music", "Stowaway", "Thoroughly Modern Millie", "Top Hat", "Where Do We Go From Here?", "White Christmas", and "Ziegfeld Follies". Here's a question for you: "Funny Girl" starring Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice is a re-make of what other famous musical in the above list? Hint: the original movie starred Alice Faye as the Fanny Brice character and Tyrone Power (one of his performances ever!) as Bart Clinton/Nicky Arnstein. Of course, the above list is a mere sampling. You'll also find the best "B" musical ever made (it starts with "M". You'll see it right after "The Mikado" and just before "Miss Sadie Thompson") and even one of the worst movies ever to come out of Hollywood: "Sensations of 1945". What a cast! What a disappointment! Around 140 movies all told are included in this book, plus some nice reproductions of original film posters. At $19.95, this lavish book represents a real bargain.      

FILMS FAMOUS, FANCIFUL, FROLICSOME & FANTASTIC by John Howard Reid. Remember Humpy, the Talking Camel? It's amazing how many people do, even though he made only the one movie. Trouble is, few of us remember the name of that movie. It wasn't "Humpy!" Or "Humpy and the Slave Girl". Anyway, Humpy proved so popular and made so much money for Universal, the studio embarked on its low-budget Francis, the Talking Mule, series just two years later. But Humpy's initial (and only) picture was this big, "A", Technicolor opus. Well, that's just one of the movies covered in FILMS, FAMOUS, FANCIFUL, FROLICSOME & FANTASTIC. Other pictures that qualify on all four counts include "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T", "Monsoon", "Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island", "The Return of Chandu", "Aloma of the South Seas", "Alice in Wonderland", "Arabian Nights", "The Band Wagon", "The Bribe", "Elephant Walk", "Fort Algiers", "Gulliver's Travels", "Jungle Jim", "Steamboat Bill, Junior", "Underwater!" and so on. Plus the movie that director John Farrow told me was his best picture! (Hint, it stars his favorite actor, Ray Milland). Three counts out of four movies are plentiful too: "A Foreign Affair", "Babes on Broadway", "The Barkleys of Broadway", "The Smallest Show On Earth", "Speak Easily", "Old Wives for New", "Miss Lulu Bett", "Beauty and the Boss", "The Fifth Chair", "Fun in Acapulco", etc. In fact, over 160 movies are detailed and reviewed in this 256-page book. Plus a monograph on director of Fred Zinnemann. 35 pages of illustrations, plus full-color covers. Only $19.95 from Amazon (please use link below) or Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

America's Best, Britain's Finest: A Survey of Mixed Movies by John Howard Reid. In this large, 330-page book, I examine nearly two hundred interesting movies with casts and/or production personnel of mixed nationalities. "Hot Millions", for example boasts a cast that includes Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, Karl Malden, Bob Newhart, Robert Morley and Cesar Romero; "Blind Date" is a British film, directed by America's Joseph Losey, starring Germany's Hardy Kruger, Britain's Sir Stanley Baker, and France's Micheline Presle; "Ferry to Hong Kong" is directed by Britain's Lewis Gilbert, starring Germany's Curt Jurgens, America's Orson Welles and Britain's Sylvia Syms. Can you name a very famous British film, starring William Holden, that was written by two Americans from a popular book by a French author? Hint: The film went on to win an extremely large number of worldwide movie awards. Now here's a hard question: This 1953 film (released by United Artists in the USA in 1954) stars Hollywood's Gene Tierney opposite an otherwise completely British group of players and behind-the-camera personnel. And now an easy one to finish: Name the 1960, multiple award-winning British picture, starring Robert Mitchum opposite a mixed British and Australian cast, directed by Hollywood's Fred Zinnemann for Warner Bros. Hint: The film was made at Associated British Studios in England. Exteriors were photographed in Australia. This book is now available at Amazon and other book stores. It can also be purchased direct from the publisher at http://www.lulu.com/filmindex Only $19.95 for a large-sized, 330-page book. Now that's a bargain!

MOVIE MYSTERY & SUSPENSE: His Kind of Woman, Angel Face, After the Thin Man, Act of Violence, Isle of Fury, To Have and Have Not, Crisis, Union Station, Confidential Agent, China Clipper, Spooks Run Wild, My Forbidden Past, Hit the Road, My Name Is Julia Ross, Johnny Allegro, The Man with a Cloak, Queen of the Amazons, Robot Monster, Among the Living, Island in the Sky, Betrayed, Born Reckless, Black Angel, The High Wall, Chicago Confidential, Bullets or Ballots, The Real Glory, Stolen Jools, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death are just some of the movies covered in this book. There even some comedies like "The Big Noise", "A Southern Yankee" and "Old Bones of the River". Plus a number of serials including "The Clutching Hand", "Last of the Mohicans", "Chick Carter, Detective", "Panther Girl of the Congo", "The Lost Planet", "Government Agents vs Phantom Legion" and "Manhunt of Mystery Island".  Plus the complete "Bomba" series, plus no fewer than six classic "Bulldog Drummond" adventures. In addition there are monographs on two masters of the genre: ROBERT SIODMAK and OTTO PREMINGER. 226 pages. Only $19.95 either direct from Lulu or online booksellers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.

 THESE MOVIES WON NO HOLLYWOOD AWARDS:

This selection of movies that won no Hollywood awards includes some that are famous like Queen Christina and A Woman of Affairs, both starring Greta Garbo; Carrie and Detective Story, both directed by William Wyler; Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang; California, directed by John Farrow; Young and Innocent, directed by Alfred Hitchcock; Wee Willie Winkie, based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling, and directed by John Ford; Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, a masterpiece from director Albert Lewin; She Done Him Wrong, written by and starring the incomparable Mae West; and the original version of The Ten Commandments, directed by Cecil B. De Mille, starring Richard Dix, Rod La Rocque, Nita Naldi and Theodore Roberts. Plus some movies that deserve to be famous like Tonight and Every Night, Sunnyside Up, Ambassador Bill, Diplomaniacs, The Nitwits, Fallen Angel and Rhythm on the Range. And even some that had no chance at all like The Noose Hangs High, Words and Music, The Bohemian Girl, and Wagon Wheels Westward. Special added feature: a monograph on one of the greatest directors ever to come out of Hollywood, Henry Hathaway. The normal price of $19.95 is a good bargain for this fascinating book.

"A great new book in this interesting series. Fascinating!" -- Ross Adams in Dress Circle Magazine (May 2006).

MOVIES MAGNIFICENT: 150 Must-See Cinema Classics: Few people would argue with the films selected for detailed notices and reviews in this book. Many of the movies are award-winners, and most chalked up impressive figures at the box-office. Who would dispute the inclusion of "Citizen Kane" or "Rebecca" or "The Best Years of Our Lives"? However, along with "The Yearling" and "Reap the Wild Wind" and "Hello, Frisco, Hello", I've also included a few surprises.

HOLLYWOOD "B" MOVIES: A treasury of Thrills, Spills and Chills: By the mid-1930s, cinema patrons insisted on value-for-money. Double feature programs became mandatory at all neighborhood cinemas. Usually the "A" feature film figured as the main attraction, and the supporting movie, the "B". Sometimes that role was reversed. On many occasions picturegoers felt the unheralded pre-Interval movie had actually proved more entertaining than the widely advertised main attraction. More than two hundred of these wonderful "B" film classics from the golden age of Hollywood are described, reviewed and detailed in this book. It ranks as a must-have for all film addicts, movie fans and nostalgia connoisseurs.

Hollywood Classics Nine: HOLLYWOOD GOLD: FILMS OF THE FORTIES AND FIFTIES by John Howard Reid. Hollywood's Golden Era? I'd pick the period from 1939 through 1960. Here are 144 classic movies from this Golden Age of the Cinema, ranging (alphabetically) from "The Admiral Was a Lady" to "You Were Never Lovelier". Other films discussed in comprehensive detail (and with full background and release information) in this book include "The Adventures of Mark Twain", "The Chase", "Daisy Kenyon", "The Ghost of Frankenstein", "Humoresque", "In Old California", "Joan of Paris", "Letter from an Unknown Woman", "Magic Town", "Nightmare Alley", The Paradine Case", "Roughly Speaking", "The Scarlet Claw", "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and "You'll Never Get Rich". Available direct from the publisher, Lulu Press, Inc. Only $19.95. Please click one of the Lulu Press links above. The book is also on sale in stores and is the same price, namely $19.95!

Hollywood Classics Eight: HOLLYWOOD'S MIRACLES OF ENTERTAINMENT by John Howard Reid: Packed with information, this volume in the "Hollywood Classics" series is an absolute mine of reading pleasure for all movie buffs, film fans and cinephiles. The films covered range from Fred Zinnemann's 1948 "Act of Violence" to Metro's commercially unsuccessful "Yellow Jack" (1938) which attempted to cash in on Sidney Howard's fame as the screenwriter of "Gone With The Wind". Familiar films like "Cover Girl" jostle for attention with movies that are half-forgotten like Richard Dix's spectacular western, "The Arizonian" (1935), which leads into a detailed examination of director Charles Vidor's whole career in the cinema. Similarly, a review of Lon Chaney's "Wolf Man" (1941) is followed by a comprehensive list of all the "Wolf Man" movies. $24.95 in stores. CURRENTLY ON SPECIAL FOR ONLY $13.06! $19.95 direct from Lulu.

Hollywood Classics Seven: YOUR COLOSSAL MAIN FEATURE PLUS FULL SUPPORT PROGRAM by John Howard Reid: Remember the days when no neighborhood cinema worth its salt would consider showing just ONE movie? Two features were the rule. Plus shorts. Plus cartoons. So, here are some famous main features like High Noon, Jezebel, The Great Ziegfeld, The Great Waltz, Road to Zanzibar and I'm No Angel, plus some no-so-famous supporting attractions like Mexican Spitfire, Mystery Mountain and His Private Secretary. Plus shorts. Plus cartoons. Usually $24.95 in stores. CURRENTLY ON SPECIAL FOR ONLY $19.95! Also $19.95 direct from Lulu.

Hollywood Classics Six: Popular Pictures of the Hollywood 1940s by John Howard Reid: The title says it all. A feast of movie data with full cast and technical credits, release information, etc. 20 of this book's 153 pages are devoted to poster reproductions of some of the films detailed and discussed in the text: Stage Door Canteen, Fantasia, Dumbo, Anchors Aweigh, How Green Was My Valley, Raffles, The Kansan, Tap Roots, South of Tahiti, Green Grass of Wyoming, Adam's Rib, Bells of Rosarita, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Sea Hawk, It's a Wonderful Life, Bright Leaf, Behave Yourself, Hotel Berlin, Lulu Belle, Black Magic, The Belle of New York, He Ran All the Way.       

BUY IN AMERICA, CANADA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY AND JAPAN FROM AMAZON AND OTHER LEADING STORES: U.S. bookshop price: $19.95. CURRENTLY ON SPECIAL AT AMAZON FOR ONLY $14.95!

BUY DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER IN NORTH CAROLINA: $19.95 http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

Hollywood Classics Five: Memorable Films of the Forties by John Howard Reid:  The title and front cover say it all. Your own private motion picture databank. 20 of this book's 170 pages are devoted to poster reproductions of some of the films detailed and discussed in the text: Casablanca, Laura, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Cobra Woman, Belle Starr, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, The Accused, Meet Me in Saint Louis, Gentleman's Agreement, The Glass Key, Angel on the Amazon, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Other movies featured in this book include "Adam Had Four Sons", "All About Eve", "The Black Swan", "The Breaking Point", "The Cat and the Canary", "Comrade X", "Dragonwyck", "Easter Parade", "The Egg and I", "Forever Amber", "The Ghost Breakers", "The Heiress", "Hold That Ghost", "The Lost Moment", "The Paleface", "Panic in the Streets", "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "Three Musketeers", "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", "The Unsuspected", "Whispering Ghosts", "Without Reservations", "The Yellow Cab Man". Plus four Blondie films including "Blondie Has Servant Trouble" and "Blondie Plays Cupid" which are the best of the entire 28-picture series. Plus four Falcon pictures, including "Falcon and the Co-eds" which is the highpoint of that series. Plus "Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum". Plus "House of Fear" with Sherlock Holmes...

BUY IN AMERICA, CANADA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY AND JAPAN FROM AMAZON AND OTHER LEADING STORES: U.S. bookshop price: $19.95.

BUY DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER IN NORTH CAROLINA: $19.95 http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

Hollywood Classics Four: MOVIE WESTERNS: Hollywood Films the Wild, Wild West. (Formerly titled "Westerns for a Rainy Saturday") by John Howard Reid: Yes, both titles say it all. WESTERNS, the staple diet of the long-vanished Saturday matinee, are here presented with complete credits and loads of fascinating information. Films detailed and discussed in the text include: The Mark of Zorro, Blue Montana Skies, Across the Badlands, The Vigilantes Return, The Searchers, Riders of Destiny, Montana, Paradise Canyon, Three Faces West, The Lucky Texan, Haunted Gold, The Trail Beyond, Tall in the Saddle, Angel and the Bad Man, New Frontier.

BUY IN AMERICA, CANADA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY AND JAPAN FROM AMAZON AND OTHER LEADING STORES: U.S. bookshop price: Normally $19.95. Special price at Amazon: only $14.00! Over 270 pages, including 44 reproductions of classic posters, a filmography of Charles Starrett's work, and a breakdown of the various "Zorro" movies.

BUY DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER IN NORTH CAROLINA: $19.96 http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

Hollywood Classics Three: Award-Winning Films of the 1930s by John Howard Reid: Yes, the title says it all again. A round-up of moving pictures that won awards and prizes in the 1930s and are still super-popular with film fans and movie buffs today. 20 of this book's 168 pages are devoted to poster reproductions of some of the great films detailed and discussed in the text: The Garden of Allah, The Hurricane, Underworld, Lives of a Bengal Lancer, San Francisco, Wings, Stagecoach, Lost Horizon, Charge of the Light Brigade, Naughty Marietta, In Old Chicago, The Awful Truth, Viva Villa, Cimarron, Cleopatra, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Good Earth, Grand Hotel, Kentucky. Other famous films of the 'thirties highlighted in this book include Anthony Adverse, The Broadway Melody, Captains Courageous, Dodsworth, Eskimo, A Farewell to Arms, Gone With The Wind, The Informer, It Happened One Night, Little Women, Sweethearts, Swing Time, Tabu, The Wizard of Oz, Wuthering Heights, You Can't Take It with You. 

BUY IN AMERICA, CANADA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY AND JAPAN FROM AMAZON AND OTHER LEADING STORES: U.S. bookshop price: $19.95.

BUY DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER IN NORTH CAROLINA: $19.95 http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

Hollywood Classics Two: "B" Movies, Bad Movies, Good Movies by John Howard Reid: Yes, the title says it all again. If you love "B" movies, you'll really groove on this selection. Mind you, not all the movies in the book could be described as "B", though many of them like The Brasher Doubloon did end up on the lower half of double bills. 28 of this book's 162 pages are devoted to poster reproductions of some of the films detailed and discussed in the text: The Outlaw, Three Texas Steers, The Falcon Strikes Back, Guest Wife, I Cover the Waterfront, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, Whirlwind Raiders, Charlie Chan and the Sky Dragon, Tarzan and the She Devil, A Yank in Korea, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Young Widow, Block-Heads, The Blue Dahlia, Dead Reckoning. 

BUY IN AMERICA, CANADA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY AND JAPAN FROM AMAZON AND OTHER LEADING STORES: U.S. bookshop price: $19.95. CURRENTLY ON SPECIAL FOR ONLY $9.62!

BUY DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER IN NORTH CAROLINA: $19.95 http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

Hollywood Classics One: New Light on Movie Bests by John Howard Reid: Yes, the title says it all again. This time I take a few leads from the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die edited by Steven Jay Schneider. It's a brave man indeed who nominates a list of essential movies, but this is such a silly selection. The book would be really laughable, but unfortunately it was obviously meant to be taken seriously. Besides, pointing out some very obvious and very incredible omissions, I provide my own list of 400 favorites. As I said, it's a contentious issue, but can you imagine a list of 1001 movies that excludes The Picture of Dorian Gray and contains not one single picture directed by such acknowledged masters of the cinema as Rex Ingram, Clarence Brown, John Farrow, Henry Hathaway, Henry King, Maurice Tourneur, Herbert Brenon, William K. Howard, Jules Dassin, Jean Delannoy, Jacques Feyder, George Fitzmaurice, Edmund Goulding, James Cruze or Alessandro Blasetti (to take just a few names at random)? 28 of this book's 164 pages are devoted to poster reproductions of some of the films detailed and discussed in the text: China Seas, Duck Soup, Another Thin Man, After the Thin Man, The Thin Man, The Old Dark House, Gilda, Cat People, City Beneath the Sea, The Bride of the Gorilla, Lisbon. Also pictured are posters from The Lady from Shanghai, The Bribe, The Bride of Frankenstein, Shanghai Express, The Maltese Falcon. Films discussed in the text (with full cast and technical credits, release details, prizes, awards and other background information) include Rose of Washington Square, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Anna Karenina, The Bat Whispers, The Big Clock, Cardinal Richelieu, Crossfire, Hips Hips Hooray, Hold Back the Dawn, I Found Stella Parish, I Remember Mama, I Walk Alone, The Last of Mrs Cheyney, Love on the Run, Odor in the Court [the funniest two-reeler ever made], Oil for the Lamps of China, The Shepherd of the Hills, Song of the Thin Man [which I regard as one of the best of the series], The Third Man, Tower of London, The Uninvited, Voice in the Wind, Young in Heart.

BUY IN AMERICA, CANADA, ENGLAND AND FRANCE FROM AMAZON AND OTHER LEADING STORES: U.S. bookshop price: $19.95.

BUY DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER IN NORTH CAROLINA: $19.95 http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

FOR COLLECTORS ONLY

CLASSIC MOVIE POSTERS: This beautiful, extra-luxurious, privately printed book of 166 large-format pages, featuring no less than 206 classic movie posters, all superbly reproduced in FULL COLOR, can only be obtained direct from Lulu Press. The price is only $29.95 for this magnificent, labor-of-love, large-format book.

http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

NOW AVAILABLE

CINEMASCOPE 3: HOLLYWOOD TAKES THE PLUNGE. It's been a long time coming, but I think you'll agree this wonderful book was well worth the long wait. The title has been slightly changed as the original idea has been expanded to include not just MGM but all Hollywood studios. Liz Taylor still figures on the color cover as her "Cleopatra" is one of the featured films. On the back cover (it's in full color too), you'll find Marilyn Monroe in "The Seven Year Itch".  This third collection of widescreen wonders photographed in CinemaScope, also focuses on such other popular movies as "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Bus Stop", "There's No Business Like Show Business", "Let's Make Love", "Peyton Place", "North to Alaska", "The Longest Day", "The Eddy Duchin Story", "Far from the Madding Crowd", "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit", "The Helen Morgan Story", "A Star Is Born" and "2001: A Space Odyssey". 367 big pages in all, including 60 pages of poster reproductions and photos. Use this link to buy from Lulu for only $24.95 (plus postage): http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

Here's the front cover of the book I'm working on right now. And you can help me! The idea is to list the best and worst in various categories such as Musicals, Westerns, Film Noir, Horror, Comedy, Romance, etc. Also best and worst from various studios, from movie series, from foreign films and even from shorts and cartoons. And of course from the stars themselves. Plus directors and producers who have a sufficient fan following like Hitchcock, De Mille, Ford, Lang, Hathaway, Farrow, Reed, Mankiewicz, Minnelli, Mamoulian, Preminger and Cukor. If you can suggest other categories, I'd be grateful. Some fun categories, for instance, like Best Pre-Credits Prologue ("Rommel"), Best Message Picture ("The Fountainhead" in my opinion, with "Intruder in the Dust" as a runner-up), Most Highly Promoted Disappointment ("The Chocolate Soldier"), Best 3-D Movie ("Hondo"). You can email me: johnreid at mail.qango.com. All who contribute something to the finished book will receive a FREE copy. And posted free of charge too if you live in the USA (including Hawaii and Alaska), Canada, France, Great Britain and Ireland.