Daniel’s Comments (group member since Aug 13, 2008)

Daniel’s comments from the Balconeers group.

Just finished this book which examines the making of the five Best Picture nominees for 1967: "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Graduate," "In the Heat of the Night," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," and "Doctor Doolittle." It's a pivotal year in Hollywood history with the old guard on its last legs and the next generation scrabbling for a toehold.

Well-researched and very entertaining. (I learned, for example, that Dustin Hoffman had been offered the part of Franz Leipkind in "The Producers" and turned it down to do "The Graduate. Smart move. :) )

I've got an order in for a new Claude Rains biography coming out in November. He's a fascinating character actor who never won an Oscar (though nominated twice) and whom Bette Davis loved to work with because he was intelligent, professional and presumably didn't try to upstage her.

WB is celebrating it's 85th anniversary. There'll be a series of TCM specials plus a big book tied into it going over the studio's history.

Yes, the Bogart book was written by two collaborators who never met. Lax is better known for his several books about Woody Allen.

Well, since you asked...

It's called "I'll Have What She's Having: Behind the Scenes of the Great Romantic Comedies." I tell the story of the making of fifteen movies from "Trouble in Paradise" (1932) to "Love Actually" (2003).

It's officially released on Sept. 12 but Amazon is already shipping.

I'm happy to talk about my book (of course!) but I really am interested in other movie books as well. I'm reading something right now related to my longstanding interest in the blacklist. It's called "A Shadow of Red" and focuses on the blacklist in radio and TV.

I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm a professional film critic and author (with a new book coming out next month on romantic comedies). I got into film books in college when I read Donald Spoto's "The Art of Alfred Hitchcock," his book about the films, not the director. It remains a touchstone for me.

Have the new book on Pixar on my to be read shelf and am looking forward to a biography of Claude Rains coming out in the fall, which I believe is the first on the actor.

Dan

Kind of surprised to see the knock on the Lancaster biography. I thought it was solid and fascinating.

Some bios I've found especially entertaining and/or useful are Sperber and Lax's book on Humphrey Bogart, Ed Sikov's books on Billy Wilder and Peter Sellers, David Robinson's "Chaplin," and an oldie, Bob Thomas's "King Cohn" about Harry Cohn. Lesser known is Will Holtzman's book "Judy Holliday," recommended for fans of the star.

Dan