Author Description

Product Description This companion is full of biographical profiles of film actors and actresses, directors, producers, editors and other key personnel, as well as notes on the major studios, foreign cinema, cinematic themes and definitions of technical terms. This edition also contains a history of the cinema from 1894 to 1995, lists of Oscar winners and nominations through the years and details of all the major film festival awards, as well as over 1000 new entries on the famous - and not so famous - names in the film industry. Amazon.com Review A standard directory of actors, directors, and film technicians, this book has since been superseded by more detailed one-volume guides such as Ephraim Katz's. Still,Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion--now in its 12th edition--continues to be updated and contains a number of special features the competition doesn't have. Most notable are its citations of quips by famous actors and directors (Errol Flynn: "My difficulty is trying to reconcile my gross habits with my net income"; Alfred Hitchcock: "The cinema is not a slice of life, it's a piece of cake"); its discussion of characters, events, and motifs as they play out in film history (e.g.Tarzan,The Gunfight at the OK Corral, "custard pies"); and its bestowing of special awards to the men and women who have produced significant work in the movies. The volume's appendices, which include guides to further reading, a brief history of the cinema, critical "best films" lists, complete notations of film festival prizes, and every Academy Award given through 1995 make it a terrific source of information. About the Author John Walker is one of Britain's leading film experts. His work on updating 'Halliwell's Film and Video Guide' and 'Who's Who in the Movies' has been acclaimed by film buffs and Halliwell fans alike.