Although most Ryan devotees focus on his more famous "film noir" vehicles as evidence of his skill, Jarlett illuminates his performances in scores of less known films. In Horizons West, Ryan's interpretation of a disgruntled ex-Confederate major achieves more in his portrait than the sum of the film's parts.
Return of the Badmen also featured Ryan's grim portrait of a cold-blooded bank robber that elevates an otherwise pedestrian horse opera to something nearly sublime. Other choice Ryan vignettes can be found in such early Ryan enterprises like Marine Raiders. Made in 1944 when America was fighting the Japanese, Ryan gives a stout performance that achieves real range, again raising a programmer to cult status. The author provides detailed film critiques from major publications (Time, The New York Times, Variety, etc.), providing readers with a glimpse at what critics of those time periods said about Ryan. I was pleased to note upon reading critical reviews of Ryan's character in Marine Raiders that film critic Manny Farber of Nation magazine compared Ryan with Gary Cooper, though in all honesty, Ryan easily outclassed Cooper as an actor. Perhaps Farber was referring to Ryan's quiet magnetism.
Jarlett addresses the question of Ryan's status as the cinema's epitome of the "noir" protagonist, noting his contributions in such "noir" gems as The Racket, Act of Violence, The Woman on the Beach, Beware, My Lovely, Caught, On Dangerous Ground (John Houseman lauded his portrayal of a disillusioned cop as a "disturbing mixture of anger and sadness"). I cannot think of another actor who deserved a book devoted to his life and works besides Ryan. Kudos to Franklin Jarlett for giving us his gift.
Jarlett illuminates the off-screen actor's life, noting that the actor and his wife founded the Oakwood School in California, which stills remains viable today as a solid, academically oriented institution of higher learning.
Besides the fifty or so movie stills, Jarlett's book features interviews with those closest to Ryan, and a glowing preface by John Houseman, who worked closely with Ryan on various stage productions before they became a fad.

When I saw this book at a local book store, I was ecstatic. I had long hoped that someone would write a biography on Ryan, and wondered why this amazingly talented actor never was recognized for his range, versatility, and talent. The picture on the book's cover grabbed my attention immediately: it was none other than Ryan's psychopathic Montgomery from the film noir gem, Crossfire. Oh great!!! I thought; someone finally decided to take on the task of researching material for a book about Ryan.

After purchasing the book, I rushed home to read it, along the way quickly perusing the scores of stills the author included. I was in my glory, since Ryan was my favorite actor growing up. The book is a fully researched tome that seems to have gotten to the heart of the matter. Yes, the book depicts a man whose performances seemed to exemplify the "art" of film-making, rather than the glitz of fame. Herein one can find definitive examples of Ryan's "art". Read Jarlett's reviews of early Ryan gem performances to understand just how great he was: Act of Violence, The Woman On The Beach, Caught, Beware, My Lovely were just a few examples of film as art, and the author seems to understand the ethos that drove Ryan.

I marveled at the author's ability to write with the same sort of artistic merit that Ryan endorsed: the book contains reviews culled from scores of cinema retrospectives on Ryan's films, including Cahiers Du Cinema, Films in Review, and so on. Jarlett's sources of information were first-rate. Who can deny the opinion of John Houseman, whose preface lauds Jarlett's acumen in discerning Ryan's talents?

I agree with one amazon reviewer who noticed Ryan's subtle touches of brilliance in The Racket, a film which portrayed him as a ruthless racketeer who nevertheless garners a degree of pity. The scene where Ryan's Nick Scanlon jauntily munches on an apple while trading words with Robert Mitchum's stalwart cop was a sublime melding of actor and prop.

But The Racket is just one of countless films in which Ryan lent his talents to make good films better. I wondered why Ryan never went after the blockbuster roles that contemporaries landed. Jarlett clarifies this point: Ryan simply didn't care about them, instead searching for artistic expression. The book discusses the great Hollywood directors with whom he worked, in classics such as House of Bamboo, The Naked Spur, On Dangerous Ground, Lonelyhearts, Odds Against Tomorrow, Billy Budd, The Wild Bunch, and his last most trenchant portrait in The Iceman Cometh. Who else but Ryan could have been better as Eugene O'Neill's anarchist Larry Slade?

The book is a one-of-a-kind, definitive exposition of Ryan's life and films, and I applaud Jarlett's commitment to finally bring the actor's life to the forefront. My only regret is that Ryan was not alive to have placed his imprimatur on Jarlett's superb biography.

Having seen most of Ryan's films when I was a child, I was again drawn to seeing them after purchasing Franklin Jarlett's authorized biography. I saw the book at a local book store, attracted by the book cover featuring the familiar scowling features of Ryan from 1947's "Crossfire", which earned him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor that year. Before purchasing the book, I perused the fifty or so stills from his films, and the detailed filmography, which convinced me that I had made a smart buy. I can happily report that the book is an inspired piece of writing: Jarlett's literary skills make one want to read more. He obviously has gotten to the quick of the man, drawing from scores of film critiques from Cahiers Du Cinema and other esteemed cinema circles.
I read Jarlett's book with fascination after many years of waiting for someone to write a book about Ryan, who was one of the most undervalued talents in Hollywood. I always found it curious that although Ryan came up through the ranks at RKO as one of its contract players from the forties, along with Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and Robert Mitchum, he never garnered the stardom that they achieved, as least with mainstream audiences. Jarlett amply elucidated the reasons for this phenomenon: Ryan simply didn't care that much about fame; he would rather appear in a film for artistic merit instead of for box office success. I only needed to look at Ryan's films from the forties, which Jarlett reviews in detail, to see what an amazing list of films there were. He obviously spent long hours researching the book, which contains behind-the-scenes stories that Jarlett elicited from Ryan's close circle of friends (John Houseman, John Frankenheimer, Lamont Johnson, Robert Wallsten, Arvin Brown and Millard Lampell).
I noted one Amazon reviewer to remark that the author captured the actor's essence in such performances as the racketeer in The Racket. I was likewise mesmerized by Ryan's quirky interpretation of the psychopathic ex-G.I. in Crossfire. I especially liked Jarlett's analyses of Ryan's other unsung gems, such as in House of Bamboo when Ryan says to his friend after killing him, "Why did you tip the cops, Griff?", or Beware, My Lovely, Act of Violence, The Naked Spur, to name a few. Another interesting fact that Jarlett brought out was that Ryan was the "film noir" king, with fourteen trenchant portraits in that genre over the years. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to delve underneath the surface of Ryan's screen presence since in real life he was the opposite of what he portrayed on the screen.

This book is an invaluable resource for lovers of American Theatre. I read it as part of a class on contemporary theatre history, and was fascinated. Hallie Flanagan has a great flair for writing entertaining and educational material. This is a long book which I devoured in a day and a half! I can't wait to read it again! You will love the detailed anecdotes, taking you through the Federal Theatre Project's inception as part of the WPA, it's amazing administrative feats (opening the same show in dozens of cites all on the same night), it's locally important play topics, its perception as a vehicle for communism, its investigation by HUAC, and its ultimate demise by an act of congress. This book will inspire people to rally for a true National Theatre in the US!

What a wonderful surprise when one stumbles upon a gem of a book. Miss Susie Slagle's is a wonderfully told combination of school-boy story (Johns Hopkins Medical School), history of medicine--the history of early Johns Hopkins hospital is the history of modern medicine in America--and early 20th century romance. I recommend it for all who love seeing the past through the eyes of its participants, even if fictional.

When I started this book, I had no idea who John Houseman was, other than that he was vaguely associated with theatre arts. From page one, I was hooked. I had just finished "Goldwyn" by A. Scott Berg, and was pleasantly surprised to find many similar names - people, places, movies, plays. The book is well written, with a novelist's pleasure in words and phrases. John Houseman, with no false modesty, but with no avoidance of the fame and honour that came later either, tells his own, remarkable and colourful story. A tale that chronicles, in a unique way, the history of American theatre since 1918 or so to the 1980s. What makes John Houseman's life interesting to read about is not only the famous people he worked with (and the famous collaboration with Orson Welles plays a significant yet overall only a small part in the complete story), but also Houseman's own personality: born of a Jewish-Alsatian father and a British (Welsh-Irish) mother, Houseman grew up in Europe and was educated in Britain before leaving for Argentina and then the US. He jumped at exciting opportunities throughout his life, and did not let facts like complete lack of experience or qualifications deter him! He produced, directed, managed, helped write scripts and screenplays, started theatres and theatrical programs, got into movies, radio, the Voice of America, and much later television and acting. He doesn't seem to have been much of a father or husband, but this does not detract from his fascinating and inspiring story. My only gripe was the large number of typos (in the Applause paperback 1989 version).

As an actor who worked in theater, films and television for nearly the entire 20th century, Houseman has seen it all, heard it all, experienced it all -- and knows nearly everyone. He has put it all in the pages of this modest little book - gossip, media moguls, lovers, wives, boards of directors and politicians. Beginning with The Mercy Theater, Houseman takes us to the Negro Theatre Project in Harlem then on the "Men from Mars," "Citizen Kane," "The Voice of America," "The Blue Dahlia," Brecht's "Galileo," "Playhouse 90," The American Shakespeare Festival, Juilliard, Paramount, Universal, MGM, the Acting Company and the Oscars. It's a broad picture of film and theater arts in America as well as a fine portrait of a successful actor.

Houseman's other books, RUN THROUGH, FRONT AND CENTER and FINAL DRESS have been praised by critics as some of the best memoirs extant about the American theatrical scene. UNFINISHED BUSINESS is a distillation of the essence of the more than 1500 pages of those volumes.

This complete collection of the three volumes of John Houseman's autobiography is one of the finest memiors that I have ever read. The book begins with Houseman's early life in pre WWI Europe and his post war experiences as a grain trader in Argentina, London and new York. For anyone interested in international business in the 1920's this provides a brief but facinating view into a somewhat closed world. The story becomes especially interesting with Houseman's career in the Theater, particularly following his fateful first meeting with the 19 year old dramatic prodigy, Orson Welles. Many biographers have tried to capture the relationship between these two talents, but for me no one has come close to Houseman for incite and sense of the dramatic in their relationship. He chronicles their triumphs and failures and his almost half century career following his professional separation from Welles.

Houseman reveals himself to be a brilliant writer and the book is a joy to read.

This is a thoughtful and scholarly look at the history of the Black Shakespearean actor - a topic that will seem to many people to be thin and inconsequential, but which in reality is rich and varied in a long and eventful history. Illustrated by period photographs and drawings, Hill outlines the beginnings with James Hewlitt and Ira Aldridge in the early 19th century, moves to surprising discoveries such as the native performer Takatanke, up to the late triumph of Orson Welles' Voodoo Macbeth in 1936.

A must for those who admire the depth and passion of such performers as Paul Robeson, Earl Hyman, and James Earl Jones, there is also a videotape available based on this book, information for which can be found... In the tape, Hill's talk is based on this book, published by the University of Massachusetts Press. Professor Hill's brief talk is then brilliantly illuminated by the performances of black actors of today. Each takes a famous scene from Shakespeare and enacts it, introduced with a sense of its context by Professor Hill. Scenes represented are:

Hal Scott - Prologue to Henry V & Puck's Farewell
Charles Dutton - Finale of Othello & the meeting with Anne from Richard III
Lorraine Toussaint - Queen Margaret's disgrace from 2 Henry IV and
Juliet's anticipation from Romeo & Juliet
Earle Hyman - Prospero's Farewell from The Tempest
At the end of the performance, members of the audience pose questions to the panel, giving further insight to the subject.