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The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945 (Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism, 23)
Klaus Kreimeier Manufacturer: University of California Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0520220692 |
Amazon.com
This account of the first great European film studio, which came under the domination of the Nazis as World War II approached, should find a readership beyond students of movie history. From the Berlin soundstages of Universum-Film AG emerged classics such as "Metropolis" and "The Blue Angel" and Hollywood luminaries such as Marlene Dietrich and Billy Wilder. German journalist Klaus Kreimeier crafts a chilling drama of a hotbed of artistic expression gradually perverted by the Nazis into a fascist propaganda factory.Book Description
Universum-Film AG--best known by its signature logo, Ufa--was once the largest film company in Europe. Founded by the German High Command as a propaganda medium during World War I and always central to Germany's nationalistic big-business interests, Ufa was also home to the most innovative talents of the Weimar Republic. Fritz Lang, Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings, and Ernst Lubitsch were Ufa stars; Metropolis, The Blue Angel, and Dr. Mabuse were only a few of its finest works. From its dazzling theaters to its state-of-the-art studios and processing labs, from its comprehensive multimedia publicity campaigns to its avant-garde art films, Ufa challenged Hollywood for cultural dominance and market share in Jazz Age Europe. But the story grows darker after the simultaneous advent of sound films and National Socialism. The story of Ufa under Hitler, when technically suberb films continued to be made, is the story of the corruption and destruction of this vital company by the state that brought it into existence.Customer Reviews:
To really appreciate good films, know where they come from.......2000-06-02
According to this book, after H.G. Wells watched "Metropolis", he thought there wasn't much worth corrupting. Sot of gives you a different prospective of H.G. Wells; doesn't it?
Any Way there is tow parts, 30 chapters, Trailer, Epilog, and Fadeout.
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Travels With Cole Porter
Jean Howard Manufacturer: HNA Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0810934086 |
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Cole Porter
William Mcbrien Manufacturer: Vintage ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0679727922 Release Date: 2000-12-05 |
Amazon.com
It's not quite as witty as a Porter song (who could equal the incomparable Cole?), but this thorough biography honors the Broadway musical's worldliest, most intelligent composer by taking him seriously. Voluminous research buttresses William McBrien's portrait of a charmed life scarred by tragedy. Born in 1891, Porter left his wealthy family in Indiana to thoroughly enjoy himself at Yale University in Connecticut, where his sassy songs gave the Midwestern outsider social clout. Although exclusively homosexual, Porter was nonetheless devoted to the wealthy widow he married in 1919, and McBrien's narrative of their 1920s travels through Europe captures the glamorous sheen of their life together. Porter had some early success with shows like Fifty Million Frenchmen, but his sustained run of hits began in 1932 with Gay Divorce, continuing through the '50s and Kiss Me Kate. The author liberally quotes from Porter's deliciously naughty lyrics, reminding us how corny most show tunes seem when compared to "Love for Sale" or "Anything Goes." McBrien's painful account of the ghastly aftermath of a 1937 riding accident, which left Porter in pain that ended only with his death in 1964, reveals a quiet, uncomplaining stoic whose substance matched his dazzling style. --Wendy SmithBook Description
In his life and in his music, Cole Porter was "the top"—the pinnacle of wit, sophistication, and success. His songs—"I Get a Kick Out of You," "Anything Goes," and hundreds more—were instant pop hits, and their musical and emotional depths have made them lasting standards.Customer Reviews:
Good, but not great........2006-02-20
Night and Day this is the one Cole biography to read.......2004-08-19
A Memorable Biography of a Brilliant Artist.......2004-06-11
Porter risked his grandfather's ire--and the family fortune he controlled--by settling on a career in music, and while he earned early fame at Yale through his compositions, his first Broadway venture, See America First, was a humiliating fiasco. Homosexual in an era when it was flatly unacceptable, he would marry to retain respectability and forge a remarkable emotional (if completely platonic) relationship with wife Linda Lee Thomas--even while conducting a series of same-sex affairs that would prove frustratingly superficial. Near the height of his career, a horseback riding accident would leave him crippled and in physical agony for the rest of his life, and the pressures of pain and keeping up appearances would plunge him into fits of depression that seemed to border on the psychotic.
Biographer William McBrien is meticulous in his research and his recreation of Porter's very high society, and in other hands such a weight of knowledge might plunge a book into absolute impenetrability--but although McBrien sometimes errs by flooding the reader with inconsequential detail, by and large he keeps a fine balance on his very difficult subject, tracing the arc of Porter's life from Indiana to Yale to New York to Europe to Hollywood, tracing the arc of his career from the humiliating fiasco of Porter's first Broadway show "See America First" to the brilliance of such successes as "Anything Goes" and "Kiss Me Kate."
In the process McBrien not only seems to capture Porter, but an entire era as well--a world of sharp sophistication when terms like "star" and "toast of two continents" and "gentlemen" still had meaning, when the "have-nots" danced to the tempo of the "haves" and the wealthy went slumming for a thrill. Filled with numerous photographs and large chunks of Porter's memorable lyrics, this is one biography that truly does its subject justice.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
READ IT!.......2003-01-11
A Ride Down Memory Lane.......2002-06-27
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Charlotte Greenwood: The Life and Career of the Comic Star of Vaudeville, Radio and Film
Grant Hayter-Menzies Manufacturer: McFarland & Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 078642995X |
Product Description
Charlotte Greenwood never intended to become a comedienne, but she was unfashionably tall at 5' 10" and her early aspirations to become a great dramatic actress eventually led her to the field of comedy. Greenwood, whose early life had taught her nothing if not how to be optimistic, stifled her disappointment and used her considerable skill to become one of the greatest comedic actresses of the early twentieth century.
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Unpublished Cole Porter
Manufacturer: Alfred Publishing Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0757998895 |
Product Description
This unprecedented new book is a must-have for any musician. These previously unpublished works by Cole Porter are now being made available for the first time! A number of songs in this volume were written for unproduced shows or films, some, for a long time, had existing lyrics but no music, and others were simply thought to be lost, only to later be found in archives and warehouses. Several songs have interesting stories behind them, and some were simply considered too long for the traditional sheet music format. The book includes a CD that provides demonstration recordings for 15 of the titles to aid in learning the pieces. Titles include: You and Me (Hitchy Koo of 1919) * Love Em and Leave Em (Misc. Song) * Ah Fong Low (Hitchy Koo of 1922) * Dizzy Baby (Paris) * The Extra Man (Wake Up and Dream) * That s Why I Love You (Fifty Million Frenchmen) * Why Marry Them? (Gay Divorcee) * Ruins (Nymph Errant) * Through Thick and Thin (Something to Shout About) * We Shall Never Be Younger (Kiss Me Kate) and more.
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Cole Porter: 100th Anniversary (Essential Box Sets)
Manufacturer: Warner Bros Pubns ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 1576237664 |
Book Description
Includes: After You * All of You * Buddie * Beware * C'est Magnifique * Easy to Love * From this Moment On * I Happen to Like New York * I Love You * It's De-Lovely * Love for Sale * Thank You So Much Lowsborough-Goodby * Night and Day * So in Love * You Do Something to Me * You're Sensational * You're the Top and more.
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Noel and Cole - The Sophisticates
Stephen Citron , Cole Porter , and Noel Coward Manufacturer: Hal Leonard ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0634093029 |
Book Description
First time in Paperback! Noel Coward and Cole Porter's fascinating lives celebrated. Fresh on the heels of the popular motion picture based on Cole Porter's life called De-Lovely, Noel and Cole presents a fresh and often surprising portrait of these two geniuses. The author provides insight into both men's private lives - including a frank discussion of their homosexuality - while illuminating their musical achievements. Born an ocean apart - one in Indiana, the other in England - Cole Porter and Noel Coward have come to represent the ultimate in sophistication and urbanity. Noel and Cole will be an essential reference as well as a fascinating dual biography of two men who brought style and dazzle to the art of popular entertainment. * Based on access to previously unpublished manuscripts, lyrics, scores, and letters, plus dozens of interviews * Includes a chronology and a fifty-page section devoted to the analysis of select worksCustomer Reviews:
Quite surprising!.......2007-01-10
Parallel lives, winning presentation.......2004-01-15
The book is arranged chronologically, and chapters alternate between the two men. Their lives frequently intersect and intertwine, but the still-significant differences between the two don't get lost. Citron is not only a skilled biographer. He also has an insightful eye for drama and music. His analysis of selected Porter and Coward songs, occupying the last sixty or so pages of the book, should be a handy reference and guide to the work of both men.
Classy, Insightful -- A First-Rate Dual Bio!.......1998-10-29
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Genius and Lust: The Creativity and Sexuality of Cole Porter and Noel Coward
Joe Morella , and George Mazzei Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf Pub ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0786702370 |
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Cole Porter: A Biography (Da Capo Paperback)
Charles Schwartz Manufacturer: Da Capo ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0306800977 |
Customer Reviews:
This book is a disappointment.......2000-05-05
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Cole Porter A Biography
McBrien William Manufacturer: Alfred Knopf ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000UEV5WI |
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The Cole Porter story,: As told to Richard G. Hubler
Cole Porter Manufacturer: World Pub. Co ProductGroup: Book Binding: Unknown Binding Similar Items: ASIN: B0007DVBI0 |
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