The Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Life and Times of W. C. Fields - Couverture souple

Louvish, Simon

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0571176100 ISBN 13 : 9780571176106

Editeur : Faber & Faber, 1997

Synopsis

Providing a detailed account of W.C. Fields's artistic path to the cinema, this biography aims to disentangle the facts from the lies and myths nurtured by Fields himself. It traces the origins of his comedy in the vaudeville sketches which he wrote himself, and then follows his career from stage to silent screen, revealing the sources of his familiar "talkie" routines. The book also highlights Fields's later struggle - against studio heads, censorship, alcohol addiction and illness - to create some of the most celebrated scenes in the history of cinema humour.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

"[Fields] was his own greatest creation, and in Louvish, this complicated artist has finally found the biographer he deserves." ? Malcolm Jones, Jr., NewsweekMan on the Flying Trapeze is the first biography in decades ? and the only accurate one ? of the beloved cinematic curmudgeon and inimitable comic genius W. C. Fields. Simon Louvish brilliantly sifts through evidence of Fields's own self-creation to illuminate the vaudeville world from which Fields sprang and his struggles with studios and censors to make his hilarious films-in the process confirming suspicions (yes, he did drink) and confounding them (he doted on his grandchildren). "One of the best movie biographies to come along in quite some time. . . . [A] book to cherish." ? Film Review "[Man on the Flying Trapeze] nicely regales us with many vaudevillian stories. . . . Louvish does a heroic job." ? Katharine Whittemore, New York Times Book Review "A rapturous, giddy, and irrepressible book. . . . Let us be clear: this is a delight, a marvel of research . . . and a superb argument for the case that William Claude Dukenfield was, and is, the greatest comic the movies have given us." ? David Thomson "At last 'the Great Man' (as Fields called himself, accurately) has a great biography." ? Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Illustrated

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Faber & Faber
• Date d'édition: 1997
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0571176100
• ISBN 13: 9780571176106
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 400
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible