This deft amalgam of biography, film history, and analysis is a superb portrait of a true pioneer who was critically important to the creation of cinema as the defining art form of the twentieth century. Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939) was one of the first film superstars, a screenwriter, a major independent producer during the early studio era, a cofounder of United Artists, a founder and the first president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and much more. The optimism, energy, and huge success during the 1920s of his best-remembered films The Mark of Zorro, Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood, The Thief of Bagdad, and The Black Pirate made Fairbanks a popular hero throughout the world and showcased his talents as a creative producer whose work set the standard for excellence. Douglas Fairbanks takes the full measure of Fairbanks's remarkable life. Jeffrey Vance, who had complete access to the star's personal and professional papers and scrapbooks, also incorporates 237 photographs, some unseen for more than seventy-five years. Extensively researched, engagingly written, and sumptuously designed, the book goes behind Fairbanks's public persona to thoroughly explore his art and his far-reaching influence. Copub: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Douglas Fairbanks

Humor & Entertainment

Jeffrey Vance

Movies

University of California Press

Wife of the Life of the Party is the memoir of the late Lita Grey Chaplin (1908-1995), the only one of Chaplin's wives to have written an account of life with Chaplin. Her memoir is an extraordinary Hollywood story of someone who was there from the very beginning. Born Lillita Louise MacMurray in Hollywood, she began her career at twelve with the Charlie Chaplin Film Company, when Chaplin selected her to appear with him as the flirting angel in The Kid. When she was fifteen, Chaplin signed her as the leading lady in The Gold Rush and changed her name to Lita Grey. She was forced to leave the production when, at the age of sixteen, she became pregnant with Chaplin's child. She married Chaplin in Empalme, Mexico in November 1924. The Chaplins stayed together for two years. Lita bore Chaplin two sons: Charles Chaplin, Jr. and Sydney Chaplin. In November 1926, after Lita discovered that Chaplin was having an affair with Merna Kennedy (Lita's best friend, whom she had persuaded Chaplin to hire as the leading lady in The Circus), Lita left Chaplin and filed for divorce. It was one of the first divorce cases to receive a public airing. The divorce complaint ran a staggering 42 pages and fed scandal with its revelations about the private life of Charles Chaplin. Lita's divorce settlement of $825,000 was the largest in American history at the time. Lita authorized the publication of another biography, My Life with Chaplin, in 1966. The book was mainly the creation of her co-author, Morton Cooper, who re-wrote her manuscript. Lita was never happy with the many inaccuracies and distortions of that book. Wife of the Life of the Party is not to be seen as a supplement to her early book, but rather Lita's own version of her life, told for the first time.

Wife of the Life of the Party

Lita Grey Chaplin

Reference

Scarecrow Press

Although many books have been written about Charlie Chaplin, most are the products of research gathered from second-hand sources and various archives. Eric James had the privilege of knowing and working with Chaplin as his Music Associate for more than twenty years, during which time he collaborated in the development of compositions and subsequent orchestral arrangements that became celebrated film scores. In Making Music with Charlie Chaplin, James details his relationship with Chaplin, from their auspicious first meeting, to his frequent visits to Switzerland when he lived with Chaplin and his family. The book chronicles James' decades-long collaboration and provides new insight into his protean musical genius. Alight with levity and behind-the-scenes anecdotes, James allows us to glimpse the artist behind the legend, a Chaplin too rarely seen.

Making Music with Charlie Chaplin

Biographies & Memoirs

eric-james

Arts & Literature

A heavily researched volume published to coincide with the release of the silent film innovator's major works on video and DVD examines his role in American cinema as well as every aspect of his creative output and processes, from his more than two hundred films to his pioneering efforts for the popular "thrill" comedy genre.

Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian

Suzanne Lloyd

Humor

Harry N. Abrams

Honoring the cinematic contributions of silent film comedian Buster Keaton, a personal look at an icon of American film traces Keaton's career, from vaudeville, through his early short films, to his later work on sound films, in an intriguing, anecdotal study of a great artist and entertainer at work.

Buster Keaton Remembered

Eleanor Keaton

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Books by Jeffrey Vance