No comments about Dance Technique of Lester Horton.

2 comments about Complete Films of Cary Grant.

1. In my opinion Cary Grant was one of the greatest actors to ever walk in front of a movie camera and this wonderful books covers all of his movies from his uncredited appearance in the 10-minute SINGAPORE SUE (1932) to WALK, DON'T RUN (1966) with hundreds of photographs, full credits, synopsis and much to my delight: vintage film reviews, even bad ones! Some of them are laugh out loud funny, brutal and full of venom. One even said that I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE was not for the "squeamish"! What the hell?
   
   Besides the films, there is a solid, but short, biography featuring dozens of great personal and behind the scenes photographs. And if that's not enough there's a listing of all of Cary's radio and television appearances and even a list of his special appearances in movies, including war effort shorts.
   
   I've read this book cover to cover many times and still pick it up just to browse and for reference. I really wish I could see some of the films that have never made it on DVD, especially the 1933 live action version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND where Cary wears a turtle outfit the whole time!



2. An invaluable resource.

   Covers every film from Sinners in the Sun to Walk Don't Run.

   Lots of nice pics.

No comments about Coral Browne: 'This Effing Lady'.

No comments about Our Late Night and A Thought in Three Parts: Two Plays.

1 comments about Cambridge Student Guide to King Lear (Cambridge Student Guides).

1. Good resource for the advanced student. This is full of excellent essays about Lear. However, the basic student might find them over-the-top and hard to read. Students interested in Shakespeare for major purposes will find that this is a great reference to keep on hand.

No comments about American Puppet Modernism: Essays on the Material World in Performance (Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History).

No comments about Caravaggio: A Play.

1 comments about Salò or The Hundred and Twenty Days of Sodom (Bfi Modern Classics Distributed for the British Film Institute).

1. 'Salo' is a prominent in that select group of 'scandalous' 1970s films (e.g. 'Straw Dogs', 'In the Realm of the Senses') which retains the power to shock, appal, unnerve today (although I personally found 'Salo' more numbing that anything). Pasolini's last film before his brutal murder in 1975, it is a transplanting of the Marquis de Sade's infamous 1785 novel to the dying days of Fascist Italy, in which four prominent figures (a bishop, an aristocrat, a banker and a judge) retire to an abandoned villa with soldiers, courtesans, collaborators and 18 slaves to indulge in a ritualised orgy of sexual excess, faecal banquets, storytelling, torture and murder.

   Gary Indiana's monograph starts well, with a number of apparent digressions effectively contextualising 'Salo': the author's first encounter with the film in the ... L.A. of the 1970s; 'Salo''s place at the culmination of Pasolini's career (with a clear-eyed appraisal of that career, and the personal and political biography that was inseperable from it); 'Salo''s status as the last major art-movie, released in the same year as 'Jaws' destroyed auteurism, independence and experiment forever (a development Indiana bracingly rants against).

   Indiana is very good on Pasolini's contradictions, his courage and frequent dislikability, his style of 'contamination' (e.g. interspersing 'real' actors in a predominantly unprofessional cast; his recourse to pastiche and allusion) and some of his major themes - the lingering fascism in the soulless corruption of consumerist society and its debasing of the human body; the superiority of pre-industrial rusticity etc.

   But when he gets to the film itself, Indiana opts for a lengthy description of its plot with occasional asides. As so often in this series (and the BFI classics), the lack of systematic criticism (from non-film-academic/critics)leads to a frustratingly bitty stu.

3 comments about Picture Chord Encyclopedia for Keyboard: Photos, Diagrams and Music Notation for Over 1,600 Keyboard Chords.

1. This book is just what I was looking for. A no fuss book with quality pictures showing recommended finger positions for common chords and their billions of variants! Well organised with a section for each chord note.
   I can't fault it.



2. This book is just about perfect! After buying grimoires, chord charts and all other manner of paraphernalia, I finally found EXACTLY what I was looking for in this book. For the basic modern guitarist, this is all you need. What more can I say?
   
   Oh, OK, fine, here are the details:
   
   There is a six-page introduction to the book which describes how to use the book (um, you have to be an idiot not to understand how to use the book, but just in case!); it also discusses briefly how to choose the best voicings, how to "read" chords, what all the voodoo symbology in chords actually MEANS (like you'll find out that "C+" is not just a computer language!), how to assemble each chord type (ie. "minor" means "first-flatted third-fifth"), and what an "inversion" means. This introduction is very clear, well thought-out, and only provides essential and useful information. BUT, this is not the meat of the book.
   
   The main part of the book consists of 264 pages of chords! Each very large page is divided vertically in half so that only two chords appear on each page. Each chord is given by its symbol at the top of the page in large type, below which is the English translation. Below that is the chord written out on a G-clef in standard music notation, with each note labeled and the root note labeled. Below this are five separate voicings for that chord. Each voicing is given in two separate ways: there is a large black and white photograph of a hand playing that chord; to the right of that is a six by six grid which sort of looks like you're looking down on the fretboard of a guitar. On this grid are black dots representing which frets and which strings you press down, along with the suggested fingering for that chord. Each note is labeled. The five voicings progress down the neck, allowing you to play that chord essentially anywhere you need to on the neck. These diagrams and pictures are BIG so you won't have to do a lot of squinting. Perfect size type, and all the information you will need.
   
   There are 44 separate chords given, for each of the 12 keys, with five chords voicings given for each chord. (For those of you counting at home, that is 2640 separate chords!) These 44 chords range from the basic major and minor chords that every beginner learns, to the esoteric stuff that you'll probably never need unless you play jazz (like Cmaj7#11 and C13sus4.)
   
   The book is well thought-out, planned, and executed, the perfect size and shape, and with a wealth of information--- but not TOO much information--which is a problem I was having with some of the grimoires. (Now, don't get me wrong. The grimoires are ALSO essential once you've reached a certain level. However, for the day-to-day guitar player, they are too complicated overkill.)
   
   In summary, until you start playing stuff like Wes Montgomery, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Frank Zappa or Robert Fripp, this book is all you will ever need!!!



3. the pictures and notes are excellent just what I have been looking for,for years thumbs up I recommend it to everyone you can not loose all to gain knowledge you will use for life!

5 comments about The Immortal Count: The Life and Films of Bela Lugosi.

1. This book is well researched and well written. It is very informative and very entertaining. I highly recommend this to any Bela fan or fan of the horror genre.



2. I loved this book.I read the first addition originally published in 1973.This revised edition is even better,with more photos.HOWEVER, I really am sick and tired of all of the Bela Jr. bashing in THIS edition.Mr. Lenning gives a very ONE SIDED account of the court battles that ensued after Lugosi's death between Bela Lugosi Jr.and his fathers widow, Hope.Aside from that, I recommend this book highly to fans of Lugosi's and those new to his work.



3. First off, I admit that it pains me to find fault in such an obvious labor of love. Mr. Lennig must certainly be the Greatest Living Bela Lugosi Fan, and it shows. The Immortal Count is painstakingly detailed in its accounts of both the content and construction of Lugosi's films. But for all its technical prowess, Lennig's writing vacilates between professional criticism and amateurish defensivness.
   
   For example: The author laments the he himself was maligned in another book, Universal Horrors. Like a child who's just been called a bad name, Lennig makes reference to "smart-ass critics." Does anyone reading this book CARE what other critics think of the author? It's a moment of self-indulgence that does not belong in what should be--by virute of volume alone--the definitive study of the films of Bela Lugosi.
   
   There is much concensus among film critics that Lugosi himself often bended the truth to his will, especially in interviews conducted during his final years. Reading THE IMMORTAL COUNT, one suspects Arthur Lenning has, himself, succumbed to the same malady. He appears ready to defend his subject's shortcomings at every turn. While such hero worship can be charming, in this context it seems unprofessional.
   
   The other, somewhat lesser, problem I found with the book is that the author often feels it necessary to give virtually shot-by-shot descriptions of the films. Lennig has many "behind-the-scenes" tales to tell, and these should make up the bulk of the material.
   
   If the film descriptions could be trimmed, and the irrelevant asides excised, I believe THE IMMORTAL COUNT would be very close to the defintive Lugosi history we fans have been waiting for. As it stands, it's a lovingly-crafted but highly-flawed work.



4. What can I say, this book is a great followup expansion of Lennig's earlier biography, which has been my favorite books since I purchased it in the early 1970s. Informative and loaded with pictures, you can tell the author idolizes the subject and won't skimp on the details. This book shows why Lugosi should be considered to be more than just a ham actor from the golden age of Hollywood which many reviewers do, but a bonifided talented star.



5. By now, everyone knows that Arthur Lennig has reworked his 1974 mini-cult classic THE COUNT. What I didn't know was the extent to which he did.
   
   THE COUNT was tough to come by when I was a kid trying to read about Lugosi, Karloff, and Chaney Jr. My public library had it, and my brother and I would check it out on alternative weeks to keep it in our possession (seemingly, no one else was clamoring for it). When Lennig released the rewrite, I kept waiting for the price to fall (it never really did), so a year later, I caved in and bought it.
   
   I'm glad I did. Lennig has expanded the book beautifully, utilizing the latest scholarship and revising entire chunks. He's also re-evaluated the credibility of some of his sources (Caroll Borland among them), and integrated some of the opinions of Gregory William Mank. The new book also softens some of the pot-shots he took at Karloff in 1974, and casts Chaney Jr. in a far less unfavorable light. The Epilogue is really interesting and up to date. In fact, the one fault is that Lennig may still have too much affection for Lugosi to be truly objective--but that's a "fault" easily excused if you have the same "fault" yourself!
   
   In all, THE IMMORTAL COUNT is a terrific read, nicely updated, and a great addition to your library.