This is a comprehensive survey of the relationship between film and literature. It looks at the cinematic adaptations of such literary masters as Shakespeare, Henry James, Joseph Conrad and D.H. Lawrence, and considers the contribution to the cinema made by important literary figures as Harold Pinter, James Agree and Graham Greene. Elsewhere, the book draws intriguing analogies between certain literary and film artists, such as Dickens and Chaplin, Ford and Twain, and suggests that such an...

"George Stevens could do anything," said veteran Hollywood producer Pandro S. Berman, "break your heart or make you laugh."Winner of two Best Director Oscars--for A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956)--Stevens excelled in a range of genres, gave luster to some of Hollywood's brightest stars and was revered by his peers. Yet his work has been largely neglected by critics and scholars.This career retrospective highlights Stevens' achievements, particula...

Revered by his cinematic peers, William Wyler (1902-1981) was one of the most honored and successful directors of Hollywood's Golden Age, with such classics as Dead End, Wuthering Heights, The Little Foxes, Roman Holiday and Ben-Hur. He won three directing Oscars and elicited over a dozen Oscar-winning performances from his actors. Such exacting performers as Bette Davis, Laurence Olivier and Charlton Heston counted him the best director they had worked with. Yet during t...

First published in 1880, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ became a best-seller. The popular novel spawned an 1899 stage adaptation, reaching audiences of over 10 million, and two highly successful film adaptations. For over a century, it has become a ubiquitous pop cultural presence, representing a deeply powerful story and monumental experience for some and a defining work of bad taste and false piety for others. The first and only collection of essays on this pivotal cultural icon,...