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Flickers
Book by Rock
313 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
7 people want to read
About the author
Phillip Rock
18 books29 followersPhillip George Rock was born in Los Angeles on 30 July 1927. He grew up in Beverly Hills and England, returned to America in 1940, and served in the U.S. Navy towards the end of World War II.
His first on-screen credit was for Escape from Fort Bravo (1953), directed by John Sturges and starring William Holden and Eleanor Parker. Rock then concentrated on writing novels and, in 1967, published his first: The Extraordinary Seaman.
MGM adapted The Extraordinary Seaman to the big screen in 1969. The film was poorly received and Rock is said to have vowed never to have another of his books made into a movie. Instead, Rock reversed the process and wrote a number of film novelizations for Popular Library and Bantam before turning again to writing novels.
Rock wrote a trilogy of novels — The Passing Bells, Circles of Time, and A Future Arrived — which followed the lives of the Stanmores of Abbingdo, an English family whose history Rock charted from the days of World War I to the Jazz era. The first novel was a Book of the Month Club alternate selection.
Rock died in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, on 3 April 2004, aged 76, of complications from cancer. He was survived by his son, Kevin, and two grandchildren.
His first on-screen credit was for Escape from Fort Bravo (1953), directed by John Sturges and starring William Holden and Eleanor Parker. Rock then concentrated on writing novels and, in 1967, published his first: The Extraordinary Seaman.
MGM adapted The Extraordinary Seaman to the big screen in 1969. The film was poorly received and Rock is said to have vowed never to have another of his books made into a movie. Instead, Rock reversed the process and wrote a number of film novelizations for Popular Library and Bantam before turning again to writing novels.
Rock wrote a trilogy of novels — The Passing Bells, Circles of Time, and A Future Arrived — which followed the lives of the Stanmores of Abbingdo, an English family whose history Rock charted from the days of World War I to the Jazz era. The first novel was a Book of the Month Club alternate selection.
Rock died in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, on 3 April 2004, aged 76, of complications from cancer. He was survived by his son, Kevin, and two grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 8, 2015
After being so deeply disappointed by The Passing Bells, I didn't hold out a lot of hope for Flickers, but gave it a chance simply because it takes place in an era I love - the dawn of the Hollywood era. Flickers is better. Though hampered by some stock characters and a few predictable story patterns, the novel as a whole is (mostly) satisfying and worth the time it took to get into.
E.P. Donovan is sharing his memories of his time as a big-time producer in the silent days. Thankfully, we have the rest of the story to tell us how things *really* happened. I couldn't help but be reminded of a certain director's memoirs, where every leading lady he ever worked with loved him passionately, or the many interviews in which Milton Berle claimed that he was every kid that was in every early silent movie.
Phillip Rock comes to this story with some provenance. His father was Joe Rock, who started out as a stuntman and eventually became a producer. Phillip clearly listened carefully when his dad told his stories, because there is inside information here that could only come from the source. I could have done without Billy's character being referred to as "fat guy" by every single person he meets, and I would have happily dispensed with the innuendo that came straight out of Hollywood Babylon, but it worked. As complete fiction, it worked.
A note about the publication itself. There are an appalling number of typographical errors throughout the edition I read. Starting on Page 2 and continuing to the end, there were many, many errors that a mainstream publisher (such as the one who released this) should be ashamed of. This came out in 1974, when publishers still invested in proofreaders and copy-editors, so there's really no excuse.
E.P. Donovan is sharing his memories of his time as a big-time producer in the silent days. Thankfully, we have the rest of the story to tell us how things *really* happened. I couldn't help but be reminded of a certain director's memoirs, where every leading lady he ever worked with loved him passionately, or the many interviews in which Milton Berle claimed that he was every kid that was in every early silent movie.
Phillip Rock comes to this story with some provenance. His father was Joe Rock, who started out as a stuntman and eventually became a producer. Phillip clearly listened carefully when his dad told his stories, because there is inside information here that could only come from the source. I could have done without Billy's character being referred to as "fat guy" by every single person he meets, and I would have happily dispensed with the innuendo that came straight out of Hollywood Babylon, but it worked. As complete fiction, it worked.
A note about the publication itself. There are an appalling number of typographical errors throughout the edition I read. Starting on Page 2 and continuing to the end, there were many, many errors that a mainstream publisher (such as the one who released this) should be ashamed of. This came out in 1974, when publishers still invested in proofreaders and copy-editors, so there's really no excuse.
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December 20, 2009Story opens in 1920 & WWI is over. The Victorian Age is dead & a new era is about to begin,'the jazz age'. In Hollywood, the silent screen movie industry is changing. Earl P.Donovan, professional hawker, & commentator gives the story its link with the past & the present toward the cinema pantheon. The stars of the silent screen are caught in the frantic pace of the times, years that are remembered only dimly now, like flickering images on a silent screen.
April 1, 2014
Story of silent film industry in its hey day. Features vaudeville stars that make the transition. Best part is that it is told as an interview with a former film great. His commentary is often in stark contrast to the actual story, told in tandem with the interspersed interview parts. Spin doctor at work!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews