Screen Savers: 40 Remarkable Movies Awaiting Rediscovery

by John DiLeo

Spanning titles and eras from "The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg" (1927) to "Three Kings" (1999), Screen Savers: 40 Remarkable Movies Awaiting Rediscovery by John DiLeo is not the typical collection of nostalgia-minded movie reviews. DiLeo provides such detailed analyses and enlightening critiques that readers will finish the book eager to view all of the forty films featured in this book. Movie-goers of all persuasions will discover fresh spins on the careers of famous stars and new insights into the screen’s essential genres. Screen Savers unearths cinematic gems that haven’t been as praised or well-remembered as they deserve to be. The book also sets the historical context for the films and discusses the reasons why these movies may have been unjustly overlooked. Screen Savers restores and intensifies each film’s considerable merits, making the book a tribute to movies that even the most devout film fan may have missed.

By bringing new recognition to the artistry, vitality, and cultural significance of these forty diverse films, John DiLeo engages in a dialogue with his readers, enhanced by his compulsively readable style. The effect is that of a film encyclopedia in friendly conversation, as if the author were sitting down with an old friend. DiLeo has the gift of being able to share with readers what he has been lucky enough to discover within these movie treasures. Screen Savers is the perfect companion for those eager to widen their film-going horizons and whose idea of heaven is a rainy day, a bowl of popcorn, and a double feature.

360 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2007

About the author

John DiLeo is the author of eight books about classic movies: AND YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW CLASSIC MOVIES (1999, reissued in 2013), 100 GREAT FILM PERFORMANCES YOU SHOULD REMEMBER BUT PROBABLY DON'T (2002), SCREEN SAVERS: 40 REMARKABLE MOVIES AWAITING REDISCOVERY (2007), TENNESSEE WILLIAMS AND COMPANY: HIS ESSENTIAL SCREEN ACTORS (2010), SCREEN SAVERS II: MY GRAB BAG OF CLASSIC MOVIES (2012), TEN MOVIES AT A TIME: A 350-FILM JOURNEY THROUGH HOLLYWOOD AND AMERICA 1930-1970 (2017), THERE ARE NO SMALL PARTS: 100 OUTSTANDING FILM PERFORMANCES WITH SCREEN TIME OF TEN MINUTES OR LESS (2022), and NOT EVEN NOMINATED: 40 OVERLOOKED COSTARS OF OSCAR-WINNING PERFORMANCES (2024).

Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, John currently resides in Milford, PA. He went to Ithaca College and received a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts. After thirteen years of on-and-off stage acting, and one film credit (THE JERKY BOYS), he switched to writing about film.

John has been a contributing book reviewer for the Washington Post‘s Book World and frequently hosts classic-film series, appears on radio programs, conducts film-history seminars, and has been an annual participant in the Black Bear Film Festival in the Poconos where he conducted onstage interviews with Farley Granger (2005), Arlene Dahl (2006), Marge Champion (2010), Keir Dullea (2014), Jane Powell (2015), Rex Reed (2016), Tab Hunter (2017), Lorna Luft (2018), and Jane Alexander (2018). His website is johndileo.com and he's on Instagram at john.dileo.12.

Born in 1961 in Brooklyn, John was raised on Long Island and graduated from Ithaca College in 1982 with a B.F.A.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

O.K. - So, I went to high school with the author. And I think he is a great guy. So, I am a bit biased. But, this book is great for those of you who are real movie buffs. Or, as a gift for those of you who have friends who are real movie buffs. It is a fun and interesting read.

[Michael Samerdyke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book left me with mixed emotions.

I agreed with a lot of the author's opinions, but I wasn't all that taken with his writing.

For example, he is right that "It Started With Eve" is a delightful comedy, but his writing didn't really catch the joy of the movie. (His essay on "Hail the Conquering Hero," by contrast, was a real joy.)

I have seen and liked a number of the movies he covers, so I will try to track down the films he praises that I have missed, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped to.

[Hansen Publishing Group · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spanning titles and eras from The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) to Three Kings (1999), Screen Savers: 40 Remarkable Movies Awaiting Rediscovery by John DiLeo is not the typical collection of nostalgia-minded movie reviews. DiLeo provides such detailed analyses and enlightening critiques that readers will finish the book eager to view all of the forty films featured in his third and latest book. Movie-goers of all persuasions will discover fresh spins on the careers of famous stars and new insights into the screen’s essential genres. Screen Savers unearths cinematic gems that haven’t been as praised or well-remembered as they deserve to be. The book also sets the historical context for the films and discusses the reasons why these movies may have been unjustly overlooked. Screen Savers restores and intensifies each film’s considerable merits, making the book a tribute to movies that even the most devout film fan may have missed.