Film
**A New York Times Editor's Choice selection!**
This outrageous and hilarious memoir follows a film and television director's life, from his idiosyncratic upbringing to his unexpected career as the director behind such huge film franchises as The Addams Family and Men in Black. Barry Sonnenfeld's philosophy is, "Regret the Past. Fear the Present. Dread the Future." Told in his unmistakable voice, Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother is a laugh-out-loud memoir about coming of age. Constantly threatened with suicide by his over-protective mother, disillusioned by the father he worshiped, and abused by a demonic relative, Sonnenfeld somehow went on to become one of Hollywood's most successful producers and directors. Written with poignant insight and real-life irony, the book follows Sonnenfeld from childhood as a French horn player through graduate film school at NYU, where he developed his talent for cinematography. His first job after graduating was shooting nine feature length pornos in nine days. From that humble entrée, he went on to form a friendship with the Coen Brothers, launching his career shooting their first three films. Though Sonnenfeld had no ambition to direct, Scott Rudin convinced him to be the director of The Addams Family. It was a successful career move. He went on to direct many more films and television shows. Will Smith once joked that he wanted to take Sonnenfeld to Philadelphia public schools and say, "If this guy could end up as a successful film director on big budget films, anyone can." This book is a fascinating and hilarious roadmap for anyone who thinks they can't succeed in life because of a rough beginning.
Claude Rains was "the greatest character actor of his age - possibly of all ages," according to film historian Richard Schickel. Classic credits include The Invisible Man, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Now, Voyager, Casablanca, Notorious and Lawrence of Arabia. A stage star in his native England, Rains didn't make his screen debut until age 43. Throughout his career, he hid behind a movie persona that was suave and sophisticated, but off camera he was insecure and had trouble expressing feelings. Good-natured, still he had few friends and was married six times. A proud naturalized American, Victorian values led him to repudiate Tinsel Town - he was happiest puttering around the 18th-century Pennsylvania farm that was his heart and soul.
As a teenager, Toby Cohen was thrilled to meet her screen idol backstage after his Broadway triumph. Based on her decades of research and exclusive interviews - with Rains' fifth wife, his sixth wife's children and nephews, his farm neighbors, the doctor who treated him in his final illness - Ms. Cohen has produced not just a biography, but an in-depth, compassionate analysis of a complicated man whose true self was "invisible" to all.
With never-before-published candid photographs.
The first book-length biography of James Dean to appear after his death, written by a friend (and former UCLA classmate). Issued simultaneously in both paperback and hardcover. This is the Ballantine Books vintage paperback, 1956, in good condition.
London: Film Drama Limited, 1954. Co-author Raymond Williams. Dust jacket in protective cover; edges lightly chipped and creased; closed vertical tear from top of front cover; light gray cloth with gilt lettering on spine; former owner's bookplate (designed by Rockwell Kent) on ffep; binding good; text clean. G+/G
Typed draft script of 1982 TV movie "Sister, Sister," by Maya Angelou. Twentieth Century-Fox Television, June 12, 1978. Hole-punched, held together with two metal brads; covers lightly creased, corners bent; spine fore-edge has the title written in ink; one red crayon smudge on front cover; text clean and legible. Very scarce. Good condition.