About the Author
Daniel Borden, Florian Duÿsens, Thomas Gilbert, Adele Smith, and Heather Thompson are writers, journalists, and scholars who have written for numerous publications on the history, criticism, theory, and aesthetics of motion pictures. They live in Germany.
Since the writers are all German, perhaps the errors have something to do with the tranlation. I didn’t read the entire book, and don’t plan to now. I went to the section on my favorite director first; Alfred Hitchcock. I happen to be re-reading that great interview of Hitchcock by Truffaut, and know that the first two movies Hitchcock directed are “The Pleasure Garden” and “The Mountain Eagle.” However, according to this book, “The Lodger” is Mr. H’s second movie. That’s just wrong. Also, the book says that no film of Mr. H’s ever won an Oscar. Not quite. While it’s true Alfred never won an Oscar for directing, films he directed DID win Oscars; “Rebecca” won for best picture, and Joan Fontaine won an acting Oscar for “Suspicion.” Something is afoul with the fact-checkers, or it’s a sloppy translation.
I have many books on film, and I wouldn’t hesitate anyone picking this up. It’s extremely affordable, and encompasses film from the past to the present. Its very well made and very portable. I was shocked at how up-to-date it was, mentioning The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in the Western Genre. This is a great holiday gift for the casual movie fan or the film enthusiast.