Anybody who wants a thorough reference with bios and the life's work of the most productive Hollywood directors should buy this book. Second edition should be done. From early days, the importance of the director to a film is shown with fine acuity by this author. Better than any one work you'll find in print or online.

Reading this book is just like watching a classic Marx Brothers movie. There are the same hilarious jokes, the same wacky conversations between Goucho and Chico. In fact, some pieces of dialogue in this book made it to the movies! As you read, you will be amazed at these comic geniuses and their perfect sense of comedic timing. A definite must for all Marx Brothers and comedy fans.

If I hadn't been a merchandiser for WaldenBooks when this priceless gem was published, I probably never would have heard of it. What a loss that would have been for me. If you've seen any of the Marx Brothers' movies, you'll actually hear their voices (and honks) as you read these hilarious scripts. You'll love it. One word of caution, though. Make it a point to read it before you climb into bed with your significant other, or you'll soon find yourself ejected for disturbing their rest with your frequent outbursts of laughter.

My proposal for a better world: make a package of this book together with Gideons'Bible and stick it onto hotel drawers everywhere in the planet! No wonder this is the surviving marxism, the ideology and enchantment of insulting boredom and its favorite characters. The book's a gem, a nugget. No wonder, too, it is rare and shaped to match the conoisseurs. Waldorf Tecumseh Flywheel and Emmanuel Ravelli are but the finest profiles of the western finest comedy tradition, navigating from naïve and deliciously childish circumstances up to blasting chaotic humor inferno. This is a book to taste like the best wines: one entire case at the time and with no hang overs...never ever! Groucho and Ravelli are stowaways as the ship arrives in New York. They were caught by the Captain but are confounded with a famous adventurer, Sir Roderick by an unaware airheaded socialite (they've had stollen Roderick's luggage and his name was printed on the tags). As the captain wanted to apologyse he says:

Cap - Pardon me.... Groucho - Now what are you going to beef about, captain? Cap - I want to apologyze, sir. I had no idea you were Sir Roderick Mortimer, the explorer. Groucho - Well, it came as a surprise to me, too.

I wasn't quite sure what I was ordering, since at the time I ordered this book, no reviews had yet been written.

But I'm delighted I ordered it from Amazon!

It is a compendium of the most interesting, funny "pieces" about marriage, from marriage manuals of the 20's to movie posters that as stand-alone objects, are absolutely hilarious.....to songs about love and marriage...you name it, it's in here! The editors/authors really obviously had just a ball writing and collecting this, and their humor and enthusiasm carries, BANGO, right through to the reader.

If you've been reading too much heavy literature, as I had when I ordered this book, this will really lighten you up.

I nearly died laughing over the blurb about "OPEN MARRIAGE" by the O'Neils in the late 60's (or was it early 70's). In my first, most ludicrous marriage on earth, my first husband was a great believer in this, had me read it, and at the time, I took it quite seriously. What a hoot to read it again now and see how truly ridiculous it was! And it was such a sign of the times!

Each and every entry takes you back to the time it was written (even if you weren't around then), and really gives the reader a strong sense of the times.

The only things I'd have changed? I would LOVED to have read more deeply into the marriage manuals of old, would have loved to have read much more in detail on those....and I would have really loved to read at least a longish blurb from the "marriage/romance comic books" they mention only by title. I think lengthening these two aspects would have made me give this book a five-star rating.

No matter how you feel about marriage, you simply won't be able to resist being entertained by this book.

Wedding Bell Blues takes a refreshing look at marriage through a different angle than just another "how-to" or "this is what's supposed to happen" book. It has a vast compilation of movie posters, advertisements, and magazine covers that chronicle the marriages of fictional and real couples. If you are an entertainment buff like I am, you'll like this book as it has many quotes from entertainers and the like. One of the best parts of this book is reading through the obsolete sex/marriage manuals. This book is great for anyone, not just newlyweds or soon-to-be weds!

This text is a concerted effort to trivialize the opposition to the ruthless totalitarian system that took more than 100 million lives. Documents now available show that Lenin created the police state, which was imitated by Mao and Pol Pot. Readers are advised to read Gulag Archipeligo to find out what Communism was.
Barson and Heller would like us to forget the thousands of missiles created destroy not only America but the entire West

As the title suggests, this book deals with propaganda aimed at fighting the "Red Menace" (i.e. communism). Starting with the beginning of the Soviet state and going all through the Cold War, the authors, using a tongue-in-cheek style, show the variety methods used in the US to get the anti-communist message across. These methods ranged from pamphlets and posters to magazine articles and comic books. The book's only serious problem is the downplaying of how much of a menace the communist world was (and still is in the case of North Korea and the other Red holdouts).

The political cartoons published here would make this book worth five points. The political analysis given would make it worth zero. Hence the average is 3. As is the case with most liberals, the author Barson is blind to the nature of Communism and only condemns what he considers the "hysteria" produced by anti-Communism. This is rather like warning people to be afraid of firefighters and firetrucks while saying nothing about the dangers of house fires with people inside. Barson even asserts that the fear of Communism almost destroyed American free speech. That is utter nonsense. And, far from being a time of hysteria, the Fifties were a relatively quiet time in US history. Anyway, since when is fear of a mortal enemy a form of hysteria? Typical of liberals, Barson has more concern about McCarthyism, under which not a single person died than he does of Communism, under which tens of millions were murdered. And the involvement of Communists (mostly covert ones) in the US is well documented. The Hollywood Left is well known to this day. And it was the extensive network of Communists and fellow travelers in Roosevelt's administration that allowed Roosevelt to call Stalin "Uncle Joe" and to subject Poland and the other eastern European nations to a half-century of servitude under the Soviet Union. The chief flaw of McCarthyism was the fact that it came at least twenty years too late. One of the cartoons shows Nikita Kruschev saying "We will bury you." Does Barson suppose that Kruschev was only kidding? After all, to Barson, the threat of Communism was only imaginary.

i found this book to be amusing and i enjoyed its sarcastic tone... it is important to remembr it is not supposed to be informative, per se, but it's purpose is to look back on some of the more ridiculous things that america has been involved in. it is full of pictures and stories and stuff like that... it is great for people who look at the cold war and have to shake their heads, but it it is not for those who are patriotic. overall, it is a good oddity to have on one's bookshelf. too bad it's out of print...

With this book you can find domestic Cold War history as it really happened--from movie posters, comic books, magazine headlines, and so on. Was it paranoia or just normal precautions? See it and judge it for yourself. The author generally allows people to draw their own conclusions.

One of the most interesting things displayed in the book is a 1947 flier called "How to Identify an American Communist."
Some of the warning signs to watch out for:
-"The practice of criticizing only American, British and Chinese policies, and never criticizing Soviet policies."
-"Continually charging critics with being "Fascists," no matter whether the criticism comes from liberals, conservatives, reactionaries or those who are really Fascists."

This book features examples of both pro and anti-Soviet propaganda. It's interesting to see how the line shifted after the end of WWII.