Movies of the 30s Summary and Reviews

Movies of the 30s

Movies of the 30s
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Book Summary Information

Editor: Jurgen Muller
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-08-01
ISBN: 3822840106
Number of pages: 575
Publisher: Taschen

Book Reviews of Movies of the 30s

Book Review: A Massive, Large-Format, Heavily Illustrated Delight!
Summary: 5 Stars

Using an extraordinary range of black-and-white stills (plus appropriately full-color photos for "Gone With The Wind", "Snow White", "The Wizard of Oz" and "Fantasia"), this massive picture book held me spellbound for hours. Most of the stills I'd never seen before in my life. The editor is to be congratulated for seeking out and finding such striking photos.

The book was originally published in Germany, which obviously enabled the editor to gain access to European collectors and archives. It also produced a selection of films that may strike many Americans as slightly unusual. Most of the premier Hollywood award-winners are here, of course, but there are also a number of German films which don't usually figure in "best" lists. For instance of the eleven films selected to represent the cinema masterpieces of 1931, five are German, one is French, and the remaining five are Hollywood productions. Of course no-one will argue with the inclusion of Fritz Lang's "M" (which really gets the full treatment with over 60 stills), or "Congress Dances", or perhaps even "The Blue Light" and "The Threepenny Opera". But "Berlin Alexanderplatz"? Admittedly, 1931 is not typical. Of the twelve films released in 1939, only one, Jean Renoir's "The Rules of the Game" is not American.

I found it interesting to compare the selections here with my own book, Award-Winning Films of the 1930s. While there was naturally a fair degree of correspondence, it was not as great as you might expect.

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