Cinema, Theatre - Страница 5

Beyond KurosawaExploring the work of the greatest Japanese filmmakersUntil recently, the western world has viewed Japanese cinema through a very narrow prism. For years, Westerners interested in Japanese film had to content themselves with the collected works of Akira Kurosawa, a spotty samp..

Costume is an essential part of the theatre. Inventive and intelligent costume design can show where and when the action is set, convey a clear idea of the psychology of the role, disguise an actor or heighten a well-known stock character. This comprehensive volume defines the costume designer's rol..

As a child, Charlie Chaplin was awed and inspired by the sight of the glamorous vaudeville stars passing by his home, and from then on he never lost his ambition to become an actor. Chaplin’s film career as the Little Tramp adored by the whole world is the stuff of legend, but this frank autobiograp..

If you put four dwarfs in one room with enough opium and alcohol, it's bound to end in tears...In 1935, MGM studios embarked on a movie adaptation of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". The production called for the casting of many dwarfs to play the Munchkins of the mythical Land of Oz an..

In terms of celebrity icons, few attained the highest levels of fame and controversy as rapidly as Mae West. Labeled a "pornographer" by censorship boards, she was also one of 1930s Hollywood's most lucrative box-office draws (causing "Variety" in 1933 to label the star "as hot an issue as Hitler")...

In true pop art form, the movies of the 60s blurred the lines between art, mass market and popular culture into a colourful, psychodelic oblivion. From Jane Fonda's Barbarella to Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany's; the French, the Italians and young underground directors; Mary Poppins, and th..

The enigmatic beautyGreta Garbo’s uniquely photogenic beauty belies her great talent as an actress, as her performances in Queen Christina and Camille prove. A hint of a Garbo smile, touch, or glance conveyed volumes. She was languid, distant, and melancholy, yet in her love scenes she conveyed ..

"The surprising thing about this film was that I succeeded in not going crazy," said director Leo McCarey about working with the manic Marx Brothers on "Duck Soup". The madcap antics of Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and (sometimes) Zeppo have driven audiences wild with laughter in such unforgettable films ..

From the first moving pictures (the Lumiere brothers' 1895 "L'arrive d'un train"), early westerns, fantastic pictures, and nickelodeons all the way through the golden age of silent film in the 1920s, this book covers the first three decades of the moving picture around the world. In America, we witn..

Steve McQueen found it hard to balance worldwide fame with a desperate need for solitude. Through performances that were effortless yet powerful, he connected with the people who saw him on stage, on television, in movie houses, and on magazine covers anywhere on earth. Sometimes more comfortable ra..

Ingrid Bergman was more than the luminous image of healthy sensuality that intoxicated audiences worldwide during and immediately after World War II in movies like Casablanca, Gaslight, Spellbound and Notorious. In later life she found continued film success with Anastasia, The Inn of the Sixth Happ..

Amazing graceHer beauty has proved timeless—should we be surprised? Equally graceful whether moving or standing still, blessed with a balletic poise, luminous dark eyes, and an exquisite profile a queen might envy, Audrey Hepburn would no doubt have become famous in her youth even if the movies ..