September 2023 MBR The Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf

The Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf

John Wayne B-Westerns 1932-1939
James L. Neibaur
BearManor Media
www.bearmanormedia.com
9798887712390, $28.00, HC, 280pp

https://www.amazon.com/Wayne-B-Westerns-1932-1939-James-Neibaur/dp/B0CC4GGKXX

Synopsis: John Wayne is a true cinema icon, but the B-westerns he made in the 1930s after The Big Trail and before Stagecoach are often overlooked. With the publication of "John Wayne B-Westerns 1932-1939", film historian James L. Neibaur focuses on them specifically, film-by-film, and presents how they show the development of Wayne as both an actor and an image. These are the films that maintained his popularity throughout the 1930s until he was cast by John Ford in Stagecoach and his career quickly advanced. These B-westerns are an important part of The Duke's movie history.

Critique: Simply stated, unreservedly recommended for personal, community, college, and university library American 20th Century Cinematic History collections, "John Wayne B-Westerns 1932-1939" is a 'must read' selection for the legions of John Wayne fans. Information packed and illustrated throughout with b/w historical photos, "John Wayne B-Westerns 1932-1939" is also readily available from BearManor Media in a paperback edition (9798887712383, $28.00).

Editorial Note: James L. Neibaur is a film historian and scholar who has authored over thirty books on various aspects of cinema's history, as well as hundreds of articles for Cineaste, Senses of Cinema, Filmfax, Film Quarterly, Films in Review, Classic Images, and the Encyclopaedia Britannica. (https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/neibaur-james-l-1958)

Louis Joseph Vance and the Adventures of the Lone Wolf
Ian Dickerson
BearManor Media
www.bearmanormedia.com
9798887711959, $38.00, HC, 284pp

https://www.amazon.com/Louis-Joseph-Vance-Adventures-Lone/dp/B0C9SFXCQS

Synopsis: From his debut in a 1914 novel by Louis Joseph Vance, the adventures of Michael Lanyard, aka the Lone Wolf, have thrilled millions around the world. Lanyard was a reformed crook turned gentleman detective turned hard-boiled trouble-shooter and something of a private eye (depending on which incarnation you're familiar with) and his adventures were documented in nine books, twenty-four films, thirty-nine half hour television episodes, and a radio show.

Alongside a biography of his creator "Louis Joseph Vance and the Adventures of the Lone Wolf" by Ian Dickerson is a comprehensive look at the career of the Lone Wolf including details of the character's birth in print, his debut in silent movies as well as a full and detailed history of his subsequent film career, and an extensive history of the TV series that starred Louis Hayward.

Critique: Featuring a section of b/w historical illustrations, "Louis Joseph Vance and the Adventures of the Lone Wolf" is an impressively informative, exhaustively researched, and deftly organized/presented history of a popular literary, cinematic, and television series character that is a 'must' for the legions of Lone Wolf fans. While an original and very highly recommended pick for personal, professional, community, college, and university library collections, it should be noted that "Louis Joseph Vance and the Adventures of the Lone Wolf" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9798887711942, $28.00) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.95).

Editorial Note: Ian Dickerson is best known for his association with the adventures of The Saint. Dickerson has written books and articles on subjects as diverse as satellite links, mashed potatoes and Lord Grade. He was co-producer on the 2017 TV movie of The Saint and has written and directed a number of documentaries on the making of the 1960s and 70s TV shows that share the name. His books cover subjects such as The Falcon and Sherlock Holmes as well as various aspects of the work of Simon Templar and the adventures of Leslie Charteris. (https://app.thestorygraph.com/authors/571959ae-3b11-4856-a2f5-4b729973dd8d)

Stooges Among Us
Lon Davis, author
Debra Davis, author
BearManor Media
www.bearmanormedia.com
9781593939502, $19.95, PB, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Stooges-Among-Us-Lon-Davis/dp/1593939507

Synopsis: In this paparazzi-inundated world, it's hard to imagine that there was a time when genuine movie stars were accessible to ordinary members of the public. That was certainly the case in the 1970s with surviving members of the Three Stooges comedy team. Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly-Joe DeRita and Joe Besser routinely corresponded with their young admirers, invited them into their homes, and forged genuine friendships.

"Stooges Among Us" by Lon and Debra Davis is a record of these unique relationships told in the words of the fans themselves.

Also sharing their insights are Stooges' family members, colleagues and close personal friends. Leonard Maltin, the renowned film critic and historian, provides the foreword to this often candid, always affectionate tribute.

"Stooges Among Us" is a kind of back-stage pass to vaudeville theatres, movie sets, television studios and even a high school auditorium which featured performances by "The Boys." You will be there for touching, personal moments, as well as hilarious antics in which life mirrors the on-screen Stooge personas.

Critique: Featuring never-before published photographs and interviews with the Stooges, "Stooges Among Us" is impressively informative and essential reading for their legions of fans, as well as a core addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Cinematic History & Biography collection and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "Stooges Among Us" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.95).

Editorial Note: Lon & Debra Davis have been collaborating on writing projects since they first met in college in 1978. Their first major endeavor was penning King of the Movies, the authorized biography of silent screen legend Francis X. Bushman, which was published to critical acclaim in 2009. Their other book collaborations include Silent Lives: 100 Biographies of the Silent Film Era (2008), Stooges Among Us (2008), CHASE! A Tribute to the Keystone Cops (2020), and Ma and Pa Kettle on Film (2021). In 2021, their documentary film This is Francis X. Bushman was released on Blu-ray by Flicker Alley.

Bits and Pieces: Screening Animal Life and Death
Sarah O'Brien
University of Michigan Press
839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-3209
www.press.umich.edu
9780472076253, $75.00, HC, 210pp

https://www.amazon.com/Bits-Pieces-Screening-Animal-Death/dp/0472076256

Synopsis: "Bits and Pieces: Screening Animal Life and Death" by Sarah O'Brien gathers pivotal and more mundane moments, dispersed across a predominantly Western history of moving images, in which animals materialize in movies and TV shows, from iconic scenes of cattle slaughter in early Soviet montage to quandaries over hunting trophies in recent home-renovation reality TV series, to animals in Black horror films.

Sarah O'Brien carefully views these fragments in dialogue with germinal texts at the intersection of animal studies, film and television studies, and cultural studies. She explores the capacity of moving images to unsettle the ways in which audiences have become habituated to viewing animal life and death on screens, and, more importantly, to understanding these images as more and less connected to the "production for consumption" of animals that is specific to modern industrialization.

By looking back at films and TV series in which the places and practices of killing or keeping animals enter, occupy, or slip from the foreground, "Bits and Pieces: Screening Animal Life and Death" takes seriously the idea that cinema and television have the capacity not only to catch but to challenge and change viewers' regard for animals.

Critique: A seminal, original, and groundbreaking study, "Bits and Pieces: Screening Animal Life and Death" by Sarah O'Brien will have a special value for readers with an interest in how the cinematic and televised portrayal of animal life has impacted public perception. Exceptionally well written, organized, and presented, "Bits and Pieces: Screening Animal Life and Death" is unreservedly recommended as a unique addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Cinematic & Television History collections and supplemental Performing Arts curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Bits and Pieces: Screening Animal Life and Death" is also available in a paperback edition (9780472056255, $24.95).

Editorial Note: Sarah O'Brien (https://www.sarahobrienediting.com) is an academic editor.

As Deep As It Gets: Movies and Metaphysics
Randall E. Auxier
Open Universe
c/o Carus Books
www.carusbooks.com
9781637700082, $19.95

https://www.amazon.com/As-Deep-Gets-Movies-Metaphysics/dp/1637700083

As Deep As It Gets: Movies and Metaphysics belongs not just in media studies libraries and classrooms, but in collections strong in modern philosophy, using popular current movies and TV shows to explore philosophical insights. Auxier's discussion of moves goes beyond plot and character outlines to consider the deeper meanings and inspections in essays which go beyond education to invite discussion and debate. From political metaphors in movies to enlightening surveys of ethics, religion, and connections between modern media and ancient philosophers, Auxier draws seemingly disparate subjects together in a moving survey that is surprisingly lively for its title and subject. This will make As Deep As It Gets attractive to much more than a singular audience of modern-day philosophy students.

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