I FINALLY GOT THIS 128 PAGE PAPERBACK BOOK, WHICH WAS PRINTED IN 1968. IT WAS WORTH THE TIME AND EFFORT. I GOT THE IDEA TO SEARCH OUT THIS BOOK WHEN I SAW IT MENTIONED IN THE CREDITS OF THE RECENTLY RERELEASED VIDEO OF THE SAME NAME. THE PAGES ARE FULL OF IMAGES TAKEN STRAIGHT FROM THE MOVIE IN ALL ITS GLORIOUS COLOR. THEY'RE ALL HERE... THE BEATLES, OLD FRED, JEREMY, MAX, THE BLUE MEANIES, THE APPLE BONKERS, THE SNAPPING TURTLE TURKS, THE BUTTERFLY STOMPER, THE HIDDEN PERSUADERS, THE FLYING GLOVE, AND, OF COURSE, THE YELLOW SUBMARINE ITSELF. WHILE THIS BOOK DOESN'T REALLY ADD ANYTHING TO THE STORY, IT'S GOOD TO HAVE THIS AS A VISUAL REFERENCE AND MAKES A GREAT BEDTIME STORYBOOK. AMAZON.COM'S OUT OF PRINT BOOK SEARCH DOES IT AGAIN !

Although any copy of this paperback you find will be invariably over 20 years old, it is well worth having. The book is 128 pages long, and every page displays full color pictures culled directly from the film itself. It is a brief re-telling of the movie plot, and includes images of every major character in the animated film. At the end of the book are a few fun items and also one live picture of the Beatles themselves.

Now that it seems certain that the acclaimed British revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA! is headed to Broadway, perhaps the publishers of this invaluable book will re-release it? Max Wilk has assembled facts, memorabilia (including original ads, costume designs, etc.) cast photographs, interviews with the authors...in fact, everything that has anything to do with this musical (including short, contemporary comments by no less than director/producer, Harold Prince and composer/lyricist, Stephen Sondheim) which became a theatrical, historical phenomenon.

Wilk has an easy, very readable style and the story of how this show came to be and how, in fact, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein ever came to work together (this WAS, remember, their very first collaboration), how the musical was cast, rehearsed, directed, choreographed, had its title changed from "Away We Go!", how theatre-goers begged and bartered for impossible-to-purchase tickets, and how this truly inspired musical "took off like a prairie wildfire" is exciting and a real page-turner.

If you have any interest in live theatre, in musicals, in America during WW2, I urge you to, somehow, find this fascinating and handsome book.

What makes the collection fascinating is that much of this book is in the voices of the songwriters, or in the voices of those who knew them well. And if anyone is an expert on the lore of America's music, it's Max Wilk. The book was originally written in 1971. When it was updated 15 years later, many of the songwriters Wilk had originally interviewed were gone, so reading these chapters in the colorful voices of talents like the late Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin, Dorothy Fields, and Harry Warren, who, cigar in his mouth, told him about his three Oscars ("Ah, I use 'em for doorstops!")-- it's irreplaceable. Even Irving Berlin, reclusive and rather irascible, offered his own glimpse into the man behind all those songs. "If it's a collection of gags about the music business," said Berlin, "don't bother talking to me. I'm not a comedian." All these stories are there, plus those of other show business legends like Robert Russell Bennett, Joshua Logan, and nonagenarian P.G. Wodehouse. Taking this wealth of ingredients, Max Wilk put it all together, gave it a stir, got the mix cooking, and then sat back to let the voices take over. For all those who love the heritage of American popular music, get this book, sit back, and read about the masters. Then put on your CDs and listen again to the familiar music they wrote for us.END

if you are an avid rodgers & hammerstein fan, you'll probably know 90% of the anecdotal information in this book, but if you're a casual fan who is desirous of learning more about the most influential writers of mid-20th century american musical theater, this book could serve as a perfect introduction.

wilk's writing, as usual, is crisp, and he is always a good reporter. would that he were a bit more into analysis of the overwhelming success of these 2 fine shows, and why they touch so many people and remain more popular than the (imho) artistically superior CAROUSEL, SOUTH PACIFIC, or KING & I...

one caveat to theater buffs: if you already own wilk's earlier volume on the making of OKLAHOMA, those chapters are a virtual rehash.

this is a worthy -- if not essential -- volume for the library of a fan of musicals.

Max Wilk is a superb storyteller, and this book is one of the most entertaining accounts of two theater immortals in the act of creation you will find in print currently. Alas, books on the theater are getting rarer--which brings me to an important point: The person who calls this a "rehash" of Wilk's former "Oklahoma!" book has it wrong. We can be grateful that the author has preserved that text in a slightly more concise form in this new book, because his "Oklahoma!" book went prematurely out of print. Essentially, it's still available here, and you now get it in the same volume with his enjoyable narrative of "The Sound of Music" as well. Bravo, Mr. Wilk!

Wilk takes readers back to the more innocent days of when television was in its infancy and creativity was the only way to develop ideas because there were no precedents to follow. The pioneers of the medium were the first to pave the way. In a sense there is a taste of that adventuresome spirit in the trial-and-error period of the internet. New ideas are being tested. Looking back at how television developed in the 1950s causes one to realize the principles of creativity are consistent regardless of the method of communication.