Fun in a Chinese Laundry [INSCRIBED ASSOCIATION COPY]

von Sternberg, Josef

Edité par Macmillan, New York, 1965

A propos de cet article

Octavo. (4), 348pp. Plus 16 pages of photographs. Index. Photographic black dust jacket, spine lettered in yellow & white, over yellow cloth with spine lettered in red. Inscribed on the half title by Josef von Sternberg to [director] Ted [Post], dated 2/ 28-68. (Ted Post's bookplate is on the front pastedown). Occasional very light pencil underlining. Laid in at front are memorial cards for von Sternberg's funeral as well as an acknowledgment card from his widow. "The discoverer of Marlene Dietrich and the director of such memorable films as Blue Angel and Morocco, Josef von Sternberg is one of the most brilliant and controversial pioneers of the motion picture. Written with the originality that characterized his work as a director, Fun in a Chinese Laundry is his own delightfully unconventional autobiography and the unvarnished story of his conflicts. Born in Vienna at the end of the [19th] century, he was introduced to America as a young and penniless immigrant. He made his first film in 1924, ten years after mending his first broken film sprocket. Instead of the conventional cardboard set, he used a giant dredge working in the port of Los Angeles, and instead of prominent actors he used extras: it was heralded as a work of genius. There followed Underworld, The Last Command, Docks of New York, Shanghai Express, Scarlet Empress, The Devil Is a Woman, and other films that were famous from the first day they were shown. Sternberg not only describes his own development and work as a director, but the whole fascinating profession of motion pictures as well. Chaplin, Eisenstein, D.W. Griffith, von Stroheim, Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, great and not so great actors, actresses, directors, and writers of the Golden Age of Hollywood have a place in his memoirs. He tells how and why he found Marlene Dietrich in the midst of a turbulent postwar Berlin: to this day she attributes her amazing success to his influence and direction. His search for new material took him from the courts of Europe to the brothels of the Orient (and his observations are always original). The whole kaleidoscope of the film industry is reflected in his numerous colorful anecdotes: the hazardous and comical early methods of filming; the change from silent to soundtrack films (with actors who had not been taught to speak but to mumble); the problems of forcing a famous actor to enter through a door; the fantastic maneuvers of Emil Jannings; Charles Laughton tearing a movie apart; the ecstasy of acting; the problem of directing in a madhouse; reluctant producers; flamboyant actors; even the private lives of those who dwell in the Tropic of Hollywood. A textbook for teachers, a primer for students, it is an honest report on the world of the cinema."-- (Jacket) Among book's recepient Ted Post's (1918-2013) numerous directorial credits are Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Magnum Force starring Clint Eastwood, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason and the Twilight Zone.

N° de réf. du vendeur 52789

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Fun in a Chinese Laundry [INSCRIBED ASSOCIATION COPY]
• Éditeur: Macmillan, New York
• Date de parution: 1965
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: Third printing.
• État de l'article: Very good
• État de la jaquette: Good +
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Arts: Performing