There are too few Powell books. This one is a solid contribution complete with reviews from publications at the time of the Powell flims' releases. I use it often.

Considering there are very few books that have been written or are still available about William Powell, this is book gives a decent (but small) biography and synopsis of all of his films.

What I most appreciate about this particular volume as a reference book on the film career of Katharine Hepburn is that it is richly illustrated with both professional and candid photographs, provides a complete list of the cast and crew for each of her films, and extensive excerpts from contemporary reviews. "The Films of Katharine Hepburn" is a wonderful companion volume to my almost complete tape collection of Katharine Hepburn films (Hey! I even tracked down "The Iron Petticoat"!).

The introductory "Rebellious Lady: A Biographical Capsule" is only two-dozen pages long but it covers Hepburn's professional career in a complete but concise manner. The photographs included in the essay are the best collection of Hepburn shots you are likely to find, including: a rare shot of Hepburn with her husband, FDR and her gibbon monkey Amos. There is also a watercolor of Hepburn by Ginger Rogers, a bust by Robert McKnight, Alexander Brooks famous 1938 painting, and even Hepburn's first appearance with Spencer Tracy...in the 1938 Mickey Mouse cartoon "Mother Goose Goes Hollywood" (he is one of the three men in a tub along with Charles Laughton and Freddie Bartholomew and she is Little Bo Peep, who has lost her sheep and doesn't know where to find them... "rheally I don't.")

The main portion of the volume is just what the title says, Hepburn's films. For each film Dickens provides the cast, credits, a synopsis, commentary from the "Critic's Circle," and notes on the film, along with at least a half-dozen photographs. The synopsis tend to run towards the short side, but that just underscores that this is a supplementary text and is not intended to substitute for the films. The excerpts from the reviews, which focus specifically on Hepburn for the most part, are the most fascinating part of the volume. In keeping with this you find that even in his own notes Dickens tends to use the words of others--Hepburn, her co-stars, her director--to provide insights into the film and her performance.

Dickens' book ends with a stage chronicle of Hepburn's career, a gallery of Hepburn in each of her film roles, and a list of not only Hepburn's Oscar nominations but her competition for Best Actress each year as well. This format serves Dickens well, not only in this volume but in the other ones he has produced.

What I most appreciate about this volume as a reference book on Katharine Hepburn is that it is richly illustrated with both professional and candid photographs, provides a complete list of the cast and crew for each of her films, and extensive excerpts from contemporary reviews. "The Films of Katharine Hepburn" is a wonderful companion volume to my almost complete tape collection of Katharine Hepburn films.

The introductory "Rebellious Lady: A Biographical Capsule" is only two-dozen pages long but it covers Hepburn's professional career in a complete but concise manner. The photographs included in the essay are the best collection of Hepburn shots you are likely to find, including: a rare shot of Hepburn with her husband, FDR and her gibbon monkey Amos. There is also a watercolor of Hepburn by Ginger Rogers, a bust by Robert McKnight, Alexander Brooks famous 1938 painting, and even Hepburn's first appearance with Spencer Tracy...in the 1938 Mickey Mouse cartoon "Mother Goose Goes Hollywood" (he is one of the three mem in a tub along with Charles Laughton and Freddie Bartholomew and she is Little Bo Peep, who has lost her sheep and doesn't know where to find them... "rheally I don't.")

The meat of the volume is just what the title says, Hepburn's films. For each film Dickens provides the cast, credits, a synopsis, commentary from the "Critic's Circle," and notes on the film, along with at least a half-dozen photographs. The synopsis tend to run towards the short side, but that just underscores that this is a supplementary text and is not intended to substitute for the films. The excerpts from the reviews, which focus specifically on Hepburn for the most part, are the most fascinating part of the volume. In keeping with this you find that even in his own notes Dickens tends to use the words of others--Hepburn, her co-stars, her director--to provide insights into the film and her performance.

Dickens' book ends with a stage chronicle of Hepburn's career, a gallery of Hepburn in each of her film roles, and a list of not only Hepburn's Oscar nominations but her competition for Best Actress each year as well. This format serves Dickens well, not only in this volume but in the other ones he has produced.

I just recently read this book on the beautiful and talented actress Norma Shearer. I learned a lot about her life and career. I highly recommend this book, to any fan of hers, or of classic films. There are many lovely photos of her in it as well.

IT'S AN ENTERTAINING, TELLING AND ACCURATE VIEW OF THE LIFE AND CAREER OF A FORGOTTEN FIRST MAGNITUDE STAR OF THE 1930'S (MGM's FIRST LADY OF THE SCREEN), ALTHOUGH LATELY IT'S BECOME A TREND TO RE-EVALUATE HER CAREER, OVERLOOKED FILMS AND UNDERRATED PERFORMANCES. GREATLY RECOMMENDED FOR ANY FILM BUFF.

Fantastic! Hard to believe the author could find so many super-rare photos of these early Gloria Swanson films - a large number of these films are sadly lost forever - and he is obviously a Swanson partisan (Cheers - tired of reading books by jealous writers belittling their subject's accomplishments.) Swanson was famous for saying in SUNSET BLVD - "In my day, we have faces." This book shows over and over how true that statement was.

This gem was originally published by Citadel Press in 1980 to coincide with Loy's 75th birhday. As the author states in the opening passage '...this diamond anniversary is a fitting time to recapitulate her extraordinairy life and her unique contribution to films.'. It is obvious from this statement that Quirk is an avid admireer of Loy's and that this book should not let her down in any way. The opening chapter is a brief biography charting Loy's childhood in Montana, her early years in Hollywood, her star years at MGM, her UNESCO days and her latter years as a character actress and features many wonderful and candid shots of Myrna dated from 1905 to 1980. Then starting on page 31 is a comprehensive list of all of her film appearances from 1925 onwards featuring cast and crew listings and the author's own essay (not to mention some great black and white stills). All of her classic roles are here, from her days as a chorus girl extra in 'Pretty Ladies' to Alan King's long suffering secratery in 1979's 'Just Tell Me What You Want'. Of course the last years of Loy's life are not included - she made her last screen appearance in the 1981 TV film 'Summer Solstice' and had her autobiography published in 1987. She was honored by the Kennedy Center in 1988 and finally won a much deserved special oscar early in 1991, less than three years before her death in December 1993. This makes a fitting tribute to a wonderful lady who became a great Hollywood star and humanitarian.

This is a collector book for anyone interested in movies from the silent era through the 40's-50's. This book represents a sampling of Ronald Colman's career, I believe it, also, represents a value of morality, non offensive movies, when movies meant something and were movies with a real story, touching, moving. This book has many numerous black and white photos of Colman's films and pictures of support actors/actresses and leading ladies. A real collector's item.

If you are a Robert Taylor fan as I am, you will love this book. The pictures are magnificent!! However in some areas Mr. Quirk shows a real bias. He gives lots of praise to the military films but gives little if any praise to most of the romances. Considering who the book is about this is unfortunate. Anyone writing a book on Mr. Taylor needs to appreciate the very strong romantic appeal that he had. Mr. Quirk criticized some films that women have traditionally loved. Also, Mr. Quirk got some of the names and dates wrong under some of the photographs. On the whole, however, this book would
delight any true Robert Taylor fan.

This is a book that will appeal to fans of Jack Finney's "Time After Time", Mark Helprin's "Winter's Tale", and Wim Wenders' angel movies. It's about a man who learns that a saintly, deceased man he has become interested in (due to a mystical experience, along with family records and various cultural affinities in his life) has become his guardian angel. This is very different from Quirk's non-fiction work, and is written in very literate and graceful turn-of-the-century prose. It seems almost like an artifact from the past, and it carries a strong emotional charge with it. This book is haunted (it has its basis in a true story), and it will haunt you as well.

I bought this book several years ago, and only just got around to reading it. I am a big fan of Bette Davis' and have read her autobiographies. I was dissapointed by this book. The writing isn't great, and the author goes into the lives and other movies of other actors and actresses too much. He goes movie by movie, and it does get tedious after awhile. While it is nice to read the behind the scenes info of each movie she was in, exhaustively going through each and every movie gets old.

I would have liked to have known more about her life with each husband, and with her sister, mom, and children. But the author seems to focus more on the films, rather than her personal life.

If you want to know about Bette Davis, best to read the books she wrote herself.

As an avid fan of Bette Davis, I was really excited to get my hands on a copy of this book because I'd been told it was one of the best biographies about her. The author (himself a film critic) takes you through her life, step by step, taking time to focus on the films (good and bad), the men, and the events that defined her career. From her outstanding performance as Mildred in Of Human Bondage to her slightly campy double role in Dead Ringer, the author covers them all. The book is impressive in the amount of research and personal interviews the author conducted with former co-stars and other Hollywood notables that helped frame this book. Bette had no shortage or enemies or admirers, that's for sure! Before I read this book, I always believed that Bette and her mother Ruthie were very close because that was merely the nature of their relationship; in reality, Ruthie was one of Bette's many hangers-on. I'd expected to hear more about Bette and B.D.'s relationship - or lack thereof - but it wasn't there. Bette cut her only natural child out of her will, and it was even mentioned that B.D. would have been prevented from attending the funeral (she wasn't going anyway). It would've merely added to the book to have heard more about B.D., but the author devotes only a few passages to her. This book represents a total of 43 years of researching, interviewing, and writing, and the author makes it clear how much admiration he has for Bette, as he frequently uses the first person and interjects his feelings about a film or an event. Bette Davis was a fireball on and off screen, and this book does good justice in illustrating that. Because of the author's comments about some of Bette's lesser-known films, I will be heading out to the video store in search of more Bette. Great book.

As a big Bette Davis fan, I looked forward to reading this biography of her, particularly as it had been written by an individual who had also been a film critic. I was not disappointed. This is a very well researched, extensive book of the life of Bette Davis, her relationships, and her body of work. The author takes the reader through her early beginnings in Lowell, Massachusetts to her last breath in Paris, France. It is evident that for the author this was a labor of love.

Given the author's own connection to the film world, as well as the fact that he, himself, is a big fan of Ms. Davis, much of his writing is peppered with interesting insider information. It is the culmination of an amazing forty three years of research. Being a member of the cognoscenti, the author provides a great deal of colorful background that fleshes out her life, grounding it in the context of the time in which she lived and developed as the great star that she eventually became. He does this through extensive interviews of the people who had played a role in her life, news clippings, film reviews, and his own interviews of Ms. Davis.

The author takes the reader through her relationships, many of which were rocky, with her family, her fellow actors, directors, writers, producers, and studio heads. The author discusses her marriages, of which there were a four, and her lovers. It is, however, when discussing her films, her highs and her lows, that the author's knowledge really comes to the forefront. Having seen most of the films of which he writes, I especially enjoyed and was totally fascinated by all the background information, skullduggery, and behind the scenes hoopla that went on in the making of these films. I will definitely go back and see some of these films again, as they are now couched in a new light.

This fascinating book is, without a doubt, the definitive biography of Bette Davis, warts and all. The author succeeds in painting a three dimensional portrait of a feisty, determined woman, who brooked no nonsense when it came to her craft, but who also had a softer side, wanting to love and be loved. This is a woman who asserted herself and refused to countenance anyone who would try to make her be something that she wasn't. While this may not have made her very popular with those who lived or worked with her, this quality shone through in her films, making her one of the most popular and enduring superstars of all time. Bette Davis eventually became more than the sum of her parts. She became a legend.

Until a more detailed and thorough biography of Claudette Colbert comes along, this will have to do. It's a serviceable book, a standard condensed bio, with a lot of rare photos indifferently printed. One wishes the text was by Barry Paris and the photos came in a separate edition, in the coffee-table format. Yet one can't have everything, and if you love Claudette, it's nice to have this on your book shelf.