Book Description
Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary is an insider's view of the film studios of the 1920s--and the first from a secretary's perspective. Rich in gossip, it is also an eyewitness report of Hollywood in transition. In the summer of 1924, Valeria Belletti and her friend Irma visited California, but instead of returning home to New York, the twenty-six-year-old Valeria decided to stay in Los Angeles. She moved into the YWCA, landed a job as Samuel Goldwyn's personal and social secretary and proceeded to trip over history in the making. As she recounts in her dozens of letters to Irma, Valeria Belletti encountered every type of Hollywood player in the course of her working day: moguls, directors, stars, writers, and hopeful extras. She shares news about Valentino's affairs, Sam Goldwyn's bootlegger, the development of the "talkies," her own role in helping to cast Gary Cooper in his first major part and much more--often in hilarious detail. She writes of her living and working conditions, her active social life, and her hopes for the future--all the everyday concerns of a young working woman during the jazz age. Alternating sophistication with naiveté, Valeria's letters intimately document a personal journey while giving us a unique portrait of a fascinating era.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating Letters for Those Interested in the Period.......2007-02-07
Valeria Belletti was an energetic, intelligent young woman who came to Los Angeles from New York and worked as a secretary to some of the most powerful and interesting people in Hollywood in the late 1920s. During this period, she wrote dozens of letters to her best friend, describing not only her experiences at the movie studios, but her personal feelings and day-to-day life in southern California and on an extended trip to Europe. These letters make up the bulk of this short book, which left me liking Valeria very much and wishing there had been more. Well-written background notes are provided by editor Cari Beauchamp.
While Beauchamp supplies some valuable padding-out of the events and personalities Valeria described, she tends to give the compilation a modern feminist point of view the author of the letters did not seem to have in mind. In contrast, the letters indicate that rather than being the victim of an "iron ceiling" (Beauchamp's term), Valeria, although a high school dropout, had opportunities to grow professionally beyond being a secretary, but chose not to pursue them. Furthermore, rather than half-heartedly marrying a man she was "only fond of" (Beauchamp again) as a sort of economic expedient in an oppressive patriarchal society, Valeria was an independent woman who went where she wanted to go and did what she wanted to do. She had no trouble supporting herself comfortably, and she enthusiastically married a man of modest economic means, of whom she wrote, "The more I'm with him, the more I love him."
I have the paperback edition and find it odd that the name of Valeria Belletti, the delightful author of the letters comprising this book, does not appear on the front cover or the spine, while Beauchamp's name is displayed in large print. For enthusiasts of early Hollywood or 1920s southern California, Valeria's letters are well worth reading, while taking her editor's feminist leanings with a large chunk of salt.
HOLLYWOOD HISTORY AT ITS BEST.......2006-07-04
Fabulous Book. If you want to know the inner-workings of the star-studded Hollywood Machine in the 1920's then this is the book for you. An insider's account with all the trimmings. Cari Beauchamp does it again. BRAVA!
Fascinating... to a point........2006-06-14
This is a very fascinating book if you're into Hollywood history, specifically of the 20's. Although written as letters to a friend, they a lot like a diary, and as such it's a look at Hollywood of that era from a viewpoint we've never seen: the regular employee. There are plenty of books by and about the stars, directors, executives, etc., but this is the first one from a secretary, and while that may not sound as exciting as, say, a book about Buster Keaton, it really is interesting.
What's great is that these were just casual letters, not something their author (Valieria Belletti) expected anyone but her friend to read, consequently she speaks her mind with an openness and honesty you just won't get from someone who's expecting to be quoted. The letters are full of comments and incidents about major stars and directors, but are presented in a casual way, not jazzed up as they would be upon later reminiscence or if they were being told in an interview.
The only thing I didn't like, and this is to be expected from the private letters of one young woman to another, is that the "search for a husband" stuff gets a bit tiresome. It's still interesting in terms of being a window on the mores and social life of the time, and therefore some readers might find it better than the movie studio parts, but I came at the book through an interest in the movies not an interest in how women dated in the 20's. (As I said though, I did find this stuff interesting, it's just that it started to occupy more space than the studio stuff. And in Valieria's defense, it sounded like she was wearying of it after a while too.)
So I'm glad I read the book and I definitely recommend it, just don't expect wall-to-wall insights and revelations about Hollywood. Not that I expected that, but just be sure you don't either.
A Must Read for Anyone with an Interest in Vintage Hollywood.......2006-05-20
This book is not only for film buffs, it is a window to a world that is long gone. It is a bird's eye view of Hollywood at the end of the silent era and transitioning into the age of the talkies.
Aside from the great Hollywood dish, of which there is plenty, Belletti was remarkably candid and refreshingly not star struck. Although, I must confess that I can totally relate to having a crush on Ronald Colman. In the end it is the delightful, matter of fact, take no prisoners Valeria Belletti that you come so much to admire in reading her letters. She was a wonderful letter writer and these letters are, indeed, treasures. At the turn of each page you are delighted anew with some insight or adventure. She was one spunky girl and wrote letters that are filled with details of her days and nights in Hollywood. We need to bless her beloved friend Irma for saving these letters and presenting them to her many years later.
We must also thank Cari Beauchamp for bringing these letters to light and annotating them carefully with her own delightful and informative prose. As I said before, this is a window to a lost world. More than that, it is a celebration of an independent young woman making her way in a man's world and celebrating her life at the height of the jazz age. This will be a volume I will turn to again and again. Don't miss it, this will brighten the gloomiest and dampest spirits on a rainy day.
Average customer rating:
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Distorted Images: British National Identity and Film in the 1920s (Cinema and Society)
Kenton Bamford
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1860643582 |
Book Description
The 1920s is a neglected period in British film history, yet this is a fascinating period in the cinema when, confronted with audiences' preference for the American cinema of Griffith and deMille, the British cinema-going public was being encouraged to "buy British." In this rigorous, illuminating exploration of the cultural construction of "Britishness" by the British film industry, Kenton Bamford investigates the image of nation and of British men and women that films projected, the class attitudes and values that underpinned those images, and the realities of the reception of British and American films across classes. Using an exciting array of original source materials, he looks at the culture of the stage and popular fiction on which the cinema fed and demonstrates the stultifying aura of middle-class gentility that stifled creativity, innovation and democracy in British films. He also uncovers some unsung heroes of British cinema, including British star Betty Balfour and director George Pearson.
Average customer rating:
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The Stars of Hollywood Remembered: Career Biographies of 82 Actors and Actresses of the Golden Era, 1920S-1950s
J. G. Ellrod
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0786402946 |
Book Description
“The triumph of Leff and Simmons's fine work is that they have reminded us of how fatuous and inimical a code of conduct can be: how tempting it is as a theoretical answer, and how intrinsically flawed it is as a working solution.”—Times of London
“A readable, intimate account of the rise to near-tyrannical power, and the fall to well-deserved ignominy, of the old Production Code Administration.”—Atlantic Monthly
The new edition takes the story of the Production Code and motion picture censorship into the year 2000, including the creation of the PG-13 and NC-17 ratings in the 1990s.
Book Description
Cinema is a medium of light. And during Weimar Germany's advance to technological modernity, light - particularly the representational possibilities of electrical light - became the link between the cinema screen and the rapid changes that were transforming German life. In Frances Guerin's compelling history of German silent cinema of the 1920s, the innovative use of light is the pivot around which a new conception of a national cinema, and a national culture emerges. Guerin depicts a nocturnal Germany suffused with light - electric billboards, storefronts, police searchlights - and shows how this element of the mise-en-scene came to reflect both the opportunities and the anxieties surrounding modernity and democracy. Guerin's interpretations center on use of light in films such as Schatten (1923), Variete (1925), Metropolis (1926), and Der Golem (1920). In these films we see how light is the substance of image composition, the structuring device of the narrative, and the central thematic concern. This history relieves German films of the responsibility to explain the political and ideological instability of the period, an instability said to be the uncertain foundation of Nazism. In unlocking this dubious link, A Culture of Light redefines the field of German film scholarship.
Average customer rating:
- Interesting Book
- Great reference and a book that fills a real need.
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Vixens, Floozies and Molls: 28 Actresses of Late 1920s and 1930s Hollywood
Hans J. Wollstein
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0786422602 |
Book Description
The floozy, the gangster's moll, the nasty debutante: Most Hollywood actresses played at least one of these bad girls in the 1930s. Since censorship customarily demanded that goodness prevail, vixens were in mainly supporting roles—but the actresses who played them were often colorful scene stealers.
These characters and the women who played them first began to appear in film in 1915 when Theda Bara played home-wrecker Elsie Drummond in The Vixen. Movie theaters filled and the industry focused on heaving bosoms and ceaseless lust. Bara never shed the vamp image. The type evolved into the flapper, the gangster's moll, the "dame," and the "bad girl." This work covers the lives and careers of 28 actresses, providing details about their lives and giving complete filmographies of their careers.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting Book.......2002-06-07
This book is well informed. Except for Anna May Wong, I didn't know any of these actresses. The sad thing is that the internet doesn't say much about these actresses either. So the author did well in giving praise to the unknown. The author says something to which I have to know. This is from the book, "But the roles would necessarily be smaller and being nasty to Shirley would prove rather lethal-as Astrid Allwyn (Dimples, Stowaway)and others would later discover." What did Temple do?
Great reference and a book that fills a real need........1999-09-21
This is an interesting, well-researched book. I'm a fan of Hollywood's golden age, and this book helped make me aware of some of the lesser known (but still wonderful) stars of that era. Good writing and some wonderful photos. I also like how the author tells us what happened to these stars after they left Hollywood. Great reference. I've already referred to it many times while watching AMC and TCM.
Average customer rating:
- A compilation of silent film articles
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Films of the 1920s
Richard Dyer MacCann
Manufacturer: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0810832550 |
Book Description
Contains essays and articles from seventeen noted film studies experts. Chapters provide the reader with a well-rounded view of the societal influences that inspired the films and the techniques that directors, filmmakers, and actors used to portray the world around them.
Customer Reviews:
A compilation of silent film articles.......2000-02-25
This book is a collection of modern and contemporary articles about silent film, with the last ten or so being reviews of mostly under-rated films of the 1920's. The stories by cameraman James Wong Howe and theatre organist Gaylord Carter give a great impression of what it was like to work in the industry. Moral czar Will Hayes also has an interesting (?) story to tell also. This book is a little over-priced because it is not very long but it is definitely recommended for silent film buffs.
Book Description
High Comedy in American Movies explores the comedy of manners film throughout the twentieth century, from the advent of movie sound to recent films, and shows how class comedy's inside view of the aristocratic lifestyle has been influenced by the culture and times in which the movies are produced. Easily accessible, this book makes an engaging supplement to courses in American film, film genre, and film studies.
Book Description
This book presents a pathbreaking study of Soviet popular cinema in the 1920s. Professor Youngblood focuses on commercial directors, acting genres, box office hits and audience responses to these films and their stars. She also examines the role of foreign films and the governmental and industrial circumstances underlying filmmaking practices of the era. The author demonstrates that during the first decade after the revolution, Soviet cinema was dominated by "bourgeois" directors and middle class tastes and was greatly influenced by Western and pre-revolutionary film cultures.
Book Description
The image of the lone inventor transforming society from the outside has a strong hold on the public's imagination. In reality, though, technologies are products of ongoing social and cultural processes. In Leonardo to the Internet, historian Thomas J. Misa provides a sweeping comparative history of the interrelationship between technology and society since the Renaissance, revealing how technological innovations have been shaped by the cultures in which they arose -- and how such technologies have, in turn, shaped these cultures. From the careers and contributions of Renaissance court inventors Johann Gutenberg and Leonardo da Vinci to beer brewing in industrial London to the telecommunication revolution of the late twentieth century, Misa uses carefully chosen and engagingly told case studies to develop his thesis.
Over eight thematic chapters, Misa provides detailed portraits of the inventors and users of technologies. Beginning his narrative at the dawn of the "modern" era, Misa surveys the intersections of technology, politics, and culture in the Renaissance court system of Western Europe; the role of technology in Holland's commercial expansion; the diverse "paths" to and through Britain's industrial revolution; the links among technology, imperialism, and trade in the nineteenth century; and the application of scientific discoveries in chemistry and physics to industry in Germany and the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Misa then examines the introduction of mass-produced consumer goods and their impact on daily life and modernist sensibilities; the rise of the military-industrial complex during World War II and the technological innovations generated by the command-and-control economies of the Cold War; and the emergence of a technology-oriented global culture since the 1970s. The work concludes with a provocative essay laying out the technological choices we face today and considering their impact on the type of society we wish for the future.
A masterful analysis of the ways in which technology and culture have influenced each other over five centuries, Leonardo to the Internet encourages students and general readers alike to think both more widely and more deeply about the invention, development, transfer, and adaptation of technologies within Western civilization.
Customer Reviews:
Broad and compelling review of technology in history.......2005-10-05
LEONARDO TO THE INTERNET takes a broad historic look at the defining technologies of eight different eras between the 15th century and today. The author, Thomas Misa, is a professor in the Department of Humanities at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He looks at the relationship between technology and the various cultures of these periods and shows that "technology is not only a force for but also a product of social and cultural change."
In the first chapter, "Technologies of the Court," he looks at the court engineers, including Leonardo da Vinci, the invention of perspective in painting, and the Gutenberg printing press to show how these technologies were used, not for economic gain, but to support the royal courts and city-states of the Renaissance era.
The second chapter is entitled "Techniques of Commerce" and looks at the period from 1588 to 1740 when Dutch merchants amassed fortunes using technologies like herring fishing boat factories, windmills, and fine textiles manufacture and developed an international trade second to none. They used their wealth to support fine artists and to speculate in tulip bulbs.
"Geographies of Industry" is the third chapter and it covers the period from 1740 to 1851, the time of the Industrial Revolution in England. Rather than looking at the cities normally considered the homes of industry in this period, Misa takes a close look at industry in London, using beer brewing as his focus. He then compares London to Manchester's textiles industry and Sheffield steel manufacture. He does this to create a much more complex image of the Industrial Revolution, and to show that there were many paths to industrialization in the period.
1840 to 1914 is the subject of "Instruments of Empire," the fourth chapter. Here Misa looks at how British Imperialism and the technologies of railroads, steamships, and telegraphy interacted to create a world-spanning empire.
Chapter five, Science and Systems, covers a second industrial revolution that took place between 1870 and 1930. Here the German science-based chemical industry developed a synthetic-chemical empire based originally on fabric dyes. Also science and technological research became an integral part of industry, driving out the independent inventors of earlier times. The author also looks to America's electric lighting struggle between direct and alternating current systems. Out of these developments came modern German companies like IG Farben, BASF, Bayer, and AGFA, as well as the American firms of Westinghouse and General Electric. Misa also looks at the beginning of university industrial partnerships with the development of the MIT labs.
The first half of the 20th century is the focus of chapter six, "Materials of Modernism." Here the Italian Futurists, the German Bauhaus, and the Dutch Modernists take the modern materials of steel and glass to redefine architecture and aesthetic theories.
"The Means of Destruction," chapter seven, looks at the relationship between the military and technological innovation in the 20th century. Misa calls World War II a "war of innovation" and looks closely at the atomic programs on both sides of the war as an example of how this relationship developed. The author shows that after the war this military-technology relationship still held sway. He uses the examples of the development of solid-state electronics and digital computers to illustrate this.
In chapter 8, "Toward a Global Culture," the author shows how Globalization was the major trend in last 30 years of the 20th century. He uses the development of the international standards that made the fax machine an everyday commodity as a case study of how this happened. Then he turns his attention to the world-wide food chain McDonald's to show how culture and technology give and take together in globalization. He then ends up with a discussion of the global Internet culture, but with a nod back to the previous chapter as he shows the military influences that developed the Internet.
He ends up with a summary chapter called "The Question of Technology" where he discusses the dynamics between Science, Economics, Culture, and Change. It is here that Misa points out that the relationship between Technology and Society is a constant give and take. There is a sad note to this summation as he states that he feels the attacks of September 11, 2001 signalled an end to this era. He states that the reactions to these attacks do not fit a pattern of globalization, and goes on to say that the "vision of a peaceful world, economically integrated and culturally harmonious, knitted together by information technology, is dead." He looks forward to a new era where reformers, social movements and groups of citizens embrace technological solutions to shape a new future.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from American Scholar, published by Phi Beta Kappa Society on June 22, 2004. The length of the article is 1829 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Iron, coal, burgers, and beer.(Leonardo To The Internet: Technology And Culture From The Renaissance To The Present)(Book Review)
Author: Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Publication:
American Scholar (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2004
Publisher: Phi Beta Kappa Society
Volume: 73
Issue: 3
Page: 126(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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