Book Review: THE FILMS OF MARLENE DIETRICH by Homer Dickens

Marlene Dietrich is one of the most celebrated and influential German actresses in the history of cinema.  She not only changed the face of cinema, but fashion, and the way in which female stars were perceived by the media with her take no prisoners attitude of living life to its fullest and showing a purity in her personal life and cinematic choices that influenced future generations.  In Homer Dickens book The Films of Marlene Dietrich audiences are given an overlook of Dietrich’s entire career from its humble beginnings when she first got started in her home country of Germany to how she eventually made her way to the United States where she had a long lasting and illustrious career not only in cinema but as a performer with the USO during the war. 

Dietrich was not just an actress and performer but she was socially conscious and wanted to change the world in any way that she can.  She spent three years performing for US troops throughout the world and repeatedly mentioned that period of time in her life as the most pivotal.  She even received several awards and accommodations for her selfless sacrifice during this time.  The book not only goes into details about this but spends a lot of time going through each and every film that she was ever in (no matter how small the role).

There is a treasure trove of posters and production stills from all of her films as well as behind the scenes still in order to give readers a look at the many films that she starred in.  Some films were more profitable than others but they all had an impact.  Fans of Dietrich will revel at the amount of details spent on the films and enjoy the stories in how she became the person she was.  There are even many family portraits contained in the book as well.

For Dietrich fans this is a must have book and for others this is a great book that will shed light on one of the most famous and influential actresses in cinema history.

Book Review: A SEPARATE CINEMA: FIFTY YEARS OF BLACK CAST POSTERS by John Kisch and Edward Mapp

 I know a little about African American cinema but I never had a clue about the amount of films that had been produced since the early days of cinema until I opened the pages of John Kisch and Edward Mapp’s book A Separate Cinema: Fifty Years of Black Cast Posters.  Being a poster book its aim is to showcase posters and artwork from long forgotten films (both shorts and features) from the ‘20s to present day (although mostly focusing on the early days of cinema) and well as present a glimpse into the evolution of African American cinema. 

The book is not only a document of history but also a look into the evolution of popular film with audiences.  The posters are broken up into sections based on these popular genres such as “Harlem Goes West,” “Comic, Coon, or Buffoon,” “Bronze Femmes Fatales,” “African Atrocity,” and “Pint-Sized Jesters,’ to name but a few.  The book also offers alternative posters from the more popular films as well as alternate posters from other countries.  It’s a treasure trove of artwork from different styles and different eras.

To add to the enjoyment of the book is a preface from Spike Lee – a hug advocate for African American cinema and its preservation.  Also Donald Bogle provides the introduction to the book which is a history lesson and background for African American cinema and its effect on a culture and the film industry as a whole.  Bogle’s introduction puts the whole book in perspective and adds to the enjoyment of the book.

With over a 150 pages of posters and artwork collecting all of this in one place was a massive undertaking and add to that that many of the early films have been lost and you have one of the best books of this kind.  This is not just a book for lovers of African American films and studies but for film historians and artist alike (as the posters represent some of the most interesting early African American artwork).

Book Review: Asian Pop Cinema: Bombay to Tokyo by Lee Server

 Asian cinema makes up a huge amount of the films produced every year (on average India alone produces over 300 films a year) and countries such as South Korea and the Philippines have been producing more films now than ever before in history while Hong Kong and Japan continue to set new trends in the market place and International cinema.  In Lee Server’s book Asian Pop Cinema: Bombay to Tokyo all of the film industries of these countries are given a historic overview.

Server allows each of the countries their own chapter (which includes all those previously mentioned as well as Taiwan and China) which recounts the history of the cinema and how it developed to its current state.  Hong Kong and Japan have some of the richest history in the cinema arts despite some years of no film production at all (especially during war times).  Some of the chapters also focus on key personnel within the industry such as an interview with film makers John Woo, Tomoaki Hosoyama, Eddie Romero, Jose Lacaba, and several others.

Server’s book is not a definitive book on any of these countries’ film industries but it is rather an overview of key events and people involved in the industry.  It is very useful for people who have very little or no previous knowledge about Asian cinema and can help differentiate between all the different countries and their industries.  Server also provides a plethora of production stills and posters from many of the films discussed which is extremely helpful if you have not seen the films that he has mentioned.

Book Review: Kamera Books “Silent Cinema” by Brian J. Robb

 Kamera Books’ series of publications on all genres of film has been an amazing revelation for film buffs and general audiences who want to know a little bit more about the historic significance of particular subjects in the film pantheon of which author Brian J. Robb’s “Silent Cinema” is but one.  Let me first say that these books were not designed for the proficient film historian but instead for the beginner or those just learning (or studying) about film genre and culture.  Robb’s book looks back at the beginnings of cinema itself by examining its first genre which is the silent film.

For many this will be a revelation on just how the film industry developed and how the techniques of the silent film came to be. Robb spends the first chapter on the development of the film industry as the evolution of the silent film is directly related to the development of the film industry itself.  He then spends an entire chapter on film innovator George Melies who took the new technology into a whole different direction and opened up the possibilities for future innovators.  This then opens the rest of the book to focusing on other aspects of the silent film industry which includes chapters on directors, both dramatic and silent actors, and even some of the scandals that threatened to bring down the film industry (or at least forced it to take a mirror to itself).

Because the film industry was not developed in a vacuum but had innovators from all parts of the world contribute to its evolution, Robb spends some of the book on the International silent cinema and its place in the industry as a whole.  The book ends by examining the coming of sound and how it brought an end to the golden age of silent cinema.

Robb’s book is a testament to the contributions of the silent cinema and the development of the film industry from its very beginnings.  Despite Robb’s dry sense of writing it does work for this “just the facts” style book which could have gone the direction of being too scholarly but doesn’t.  Robb hits all the right marks by taking a look at all the names and people that even the casual filmgoer may know such as Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Cecil B. Demille, Gloria Swanson, Lilian Gish and many, many more.  This is the history of the film industry.  This is the legacy of the silent film.