Lights, camera: reaction!

REVIEWS BY JULIE HALE

It's hard to imagine America without Hollywood, but the colorful corner of Los Angeles didn't exist as we know it until around 1915, when D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation debuted -- a premiere that made it clear the movies were here to stay. Eight years later, the unmistakable Hollywood sign appeared in Beachwood Canyon (although it was originally a real estate ad that said "Hollywoodland"). Since those early days, more than 20,000 movies have emerged from the distinctive district of California, shaping the nation's perceptions of itself, and the world's perceptions of America.

Just in time for the Oscars, the ultimate tribute to Tinseltown is offered in Hollywood: A Celebration!, a scrapbook of stills, studio portraits and classic movie posters -- some shown here for the first time -- taken primarily from the Kobal Collection, one of the top movie archives in the world.

Documenting 100 years of Hollywood history, the book contains more than 900 photographs, along with captions written by film critic David Thomson. From the exaggerated gestures and simpering mannerisms of the silents to the bombastic science fiction blockbusters of the present day, this colorful, comprehensive, visual account of the movies tackles the industry in all its trends and guises, decade by decade. Perhaps no image captures the gauze of fantasy that swathes the film biz better than the shot of Dorothy's ruby slippers at the beginning of the book. In the sequined sheen of those famous shoes, we see the magic of transformation, the message that makes the movies so irresistible -- that with the wave of a wand, anything is possible.


Counterbalancing the ubiquity of Hollywood, A World History of Film follows the long arm of cinema into the remoter regions of the world while touring the medium's international capitals. From Egypt to Turkey to Bolivia and beyond, the book provides a global perspective on one of the world's most beloved art forms. Combining unforgettable imagery with in-depth analysis of movements, methods and genres, this expansive volume, written by Robert Sklar, Professor of Cinema Studies at New York University and a member of the National Society of Film Critics, includes a glossary of terms, an invaluable filmography and historical timelines that introduce trends in the arts and sciences, providing a general context for global developments in cinema. Sklar's inclusive text gives equal measure to classic documentaries and special effects extravaganzas, to America's hot-shot auteurs and Europe's arthouse heroes. Turning a wide lens on the history of the movies, he looks at the roots of cinema overseas, the rise of Hollywood and its hold on the minds of moviegoers worldwide, the transitions from silence to sound, black-and-white to color, as well as the how's and why's behind these history-making developments. A comprehensive volume that's almost as good as a trip to the picture show.


Since 1914, Vanity Fair -- all glamour and gossip -- has provided the last word in celebrity culture. If the magazine is all about buzz, then Vanity Fair's Hollywood -- a collection of classic photographs culled from the magazine's archives -- positively hums. Compiled by Vanity Fair editors Graydon Carter and David Friend, with text by the inimitable Christopher Hitchens, this pictorial pageant, originally published in 2000, is now available in an elegant paperback edition.

Anything but unassuming, the book combines Hitchens' sly commentary with a century's worth of timeless celebrity photographs: Orson Welles standing atop stacks of the Daily Inquirer, a rain-soaked Robert Mitchum, Nichols and May, today. And, of course, there are the covers. Nothing says Hollywood quite like those famous foldout spreads.

Featuring up-and-comers, has-beens and always-will-be's, Vanity Fair's Hollywood takes an unforgettable look at fortune's favored, with photographs by the likes of Edward Steichen, Cecil Beaton, Herb Ritts and Annie Leibovitz. Here you will find splendor and its opposite -- youth and age, genius and frivolity, talent and, well. . . . The perfect way to celebrate Oscar season.


© 2002 ProMotion, inc.
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