The image of a lone hero, marked by a violent past and bound by honor, has exerted an endless fascination on film audiences the world over, but nowhere more than in Japan, where Samurai films have gained legions of passionate followers. Popularized and perfected by one of the greatest auteurs in the history of cinema, Akira Kurosawa, the themes of the Samurai film have consistently crossed over into western films, with blockbuster success in recent years of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Last Samurai. Long regarded as one of the world's most astute film analysts, Alain Silver deconstructs the key aspects of this vital film genre, from its focus on violence and death as a means of understanding life and the significance of swords and weaponry to key elements and motifs, such as hara-kiri, rebellion, and nostalgia for Japan's feudal past. With comprehensive filmographies of the major directors and films, a survey of the history and myths of the Samurai, a glossary of Japanese terms, and with more than two hundred photos, The Samurai Film is the ultimate resource for one of world cinema's most influential and compelling genres.

The samurai film

Humor & Entertainment

Silver, Alain

Movies

A.S. Barnes

Describes the making of a film including preproduction work and location work, and discusses the reports, contracts, budgets, production boards and call sheets with which directors must work

The film director's team

Ward, Elizabeth

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Arco Pub

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ORGANIZING AND MANAGING FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION

Film Director's Team

Arco Pub.

An encyclopedic reference guide to film noir

Ward, Elizabeth ( Edited by )

BLOOMSBURY

The behind-the-scenes story of the quintessential film noir and cult classic, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity--its true crime origins and crucial impact on film history--is told for the first time in this riveting narrative published for the film's 80th anniversary. &nbsp; From real crime to serial to novel to movie, the history of Double Indemnity is as complex and exciting as the plot of any to hit the screen during film noir's classic period. Born of a true crime that inspired reporter and would-be crime writer James M. Cain's novella, Hollywood quickly bid on the rights but throughout the 1930s a strict code of censorship made certain that no studio could green-light a murder melodrama based on real events. Then World War II loosened some strictures, and director-writer Billy Wilder--before his prime as director of sparkling comedies--could hire hardboiled novelist Raymond Chandler and revamp the story enough to pass the censors. Overcoming strong resistance, Wilder then lined up a star cast led by the incomparable Barbara Stanwyck in her unforgettable turn as the ultimate femme fetale, alongside Fred MacMurray, cast against type as her partner in crime, and Edward G. Robinson as a bloodhound claims adjuster. With these skilled actors set against a low-key look, Wilder's final film became one of the earliest studio noirs to gain critical and commercial success (nominated for 7 Oscars!), to influence the entire noir movement, and to impact filmmakers and audiences to this day. Authors Alain Silver and James Ursini tell the complete history of Double Indemnity in their latest and most provocative work on film noir: From the Moment They Met It Was Murder.

From the Moment They Met It Was Murder: Double Indemnity and the Rise of Film Noir (Turner Classic Movies)

Biographies & Memoirs

Ursini, James

Arts & Literature

Running Press Adult

Book by Silver, Alain, Ursini, James

The Vampire Film: From Nosferatu to Bram Stoker's Dracula

Limelight Editions

For centuries, perhaps from the beginning of time, people young and old have been drawn to the genre of supernatural horror, first on the printed page and then on the screen. From fairy tales to Freddy Krueger, the appeal of the genre rests on the all too human search for something above nature, something unkown and unnameable. This search has produced works as memorable as they are terrifying, and we feel their power once again in More Things Than Are Dreamt Of. The sweep of the book encompasses almost two centuries as it reconsiders in detail such classics of literature as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, tales of Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Henry James' The Turn of the Screw right up to contemporary novels of horror as Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist andd Stephen King's The Dead Zone. But what sets this book apart is that the authors go on to study the most significant feature films derived from these and many other works of fiction, from the silent era until today.

More Things Than Are Dreamt Of: Masterpieces of Supernatural Horror (Limelight)

Religion & Spirituality

“There was something about Robert Aldrich's artistic temperament that enabled him to transcend the apparent vulgarity of so many of his motion picutres. Besides the great films, such as Kiss Me Deadly which is certainly one of the finest examples of film noir, are several little-seen or underrated later works such as the revisionist Western, Ulzana's Raid, the gangster love story, The Grissom Gang, or the grim cop picture, Hustle. Aldrich's career has long deserved the detailed evaluation which this book provides.” – Andrew Sarris

What Ever Happened to Robert Aldrich?: His Life and His Films

Limelight

The Third and most recent edition of The Vampire Film featuring a new chapter, “The Vampire at the Millennium ” was released in October 1996 to coincide with the centennial of Stoker's novel Dracula. More vampire films have been produced since the First Edition of The Vampire Film appeared in 1974 than in the entire history of motion pictures prior to that year. The first completely revised and updated edition was published in 1993. The Third Edition insures that what began as the first book-length study of the subject in 1974 remains the most comprehensive available.

The Vampire Film: From Nosferatu to Bram Stoker's Dracula (Limelight)

Reference

These essays offer a broad overview of the horror film genre, from the silent screen to Scream 3, demonstrating how it remains defiantly, frighteningly alive.

Horror Film Reader (Limelight)

Literature & Fiction

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Books by Silver, Alain