Poster for Jacques Tati's Jour de Fete (1949)

The W. C. Fields Films by James L. Neibaur

Wonderful new book about the Great Man's career

    W. C. Fields was one of the truly great comedians of the twentieth century. His persona was that of a curmudgeonly soul adrift in a world in which wives and children belittled him and even inanimate objects refused to behave. His wisecracks have become the stuff of legend; "Some weasel's taken the cork out of my lunch," and "You can fool some of the people some of the time - and that's enough to make a decent living," His art was unique and is well-captured in the pages of this attractive and timely book. The W. C. Fields Films (McFarland & Co, Inc.) is both a revealing summary of the Great Man's screen career for those who are familiar with him and an excellent introduction for those who are not.

    Neibaur writes with considerable authority but in an accessible style and provides keen insight into each film and its context. Important information emerges about the lost movies and evocative images grace the text throughout. As the author points out, Fields' films have never been so readily available as they are now. Hopefully this will encourage a whole new generation to seek them out and discover for themselves some of the wellsprings of popular culture.

    This entertaining and thoroughly researched book is a much needed addition to Fieldsian literature. With this at hand I now feel compelled to renew acquaintance with old favourites and look for several titles that I missed out on seeing including The Fatal Glass of Beer which sounds like an absurdist classic. Highly recommended for everyone in need of a tonic.

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-wc-fields-films/

Little Tich: Giant of the Music Hall

   Music Hall is probably unknown to a great proportion of the population now, in a country not genuinely interested in its own history. But even for those who don't know what it is, I would heartily recommend Little Tich: Giant of the Music Hall. Not only is it a perfect introduction to the era and subject, but one of the best biographies I have ever read. It is a warm-hearted, humorous and poignant story of a man who suffered a Dickensian childhood and became one of the greatest stars of his day.

    He was born with the deformity of six fingers on each hand and never stood taller than 4 ft 6 in. high. The sixteenth child of a 77-year-old Kent farmer, Tich danced for pennies on the bar of his parents' inn from infancy, and was regularly performing from the age of 12. He developed a uniquely droll humour which made him a greatly popular figure on stage in England and France. He proved hugely influential to succeeding generations of comedians including Charlie Chaplin and Jacques Tati.

    In reality Tich was a cultured individual who could speak several languages. Twice he was married and twice he was left in an apartment stripped of all its furniture with only a farewell note. His son was a shiftless personality who never found his place in the world. After all his personal troubles Tich finally found the love of a woman who really cared about him, albeit just before his premature death.

   The author writes with rare sensitivity with help from the daughter of the man himself. What emerges is a remarkably human portrait of a sadly forgotten talent and a piquant recreation of a time now irretrievably lost to us.

Little Tich: Giant of the Music Hall by Mary Tich and Richard Findlater with Foreword by Jacques Tati (London: Elm Tree Books, 1979)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Tich-Giant-Music-Hall-x/dp/0241101743/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489418442&sr=8-1&keywords=little+tich

Van Heflin: A Life in Film

   Van Heflin was one of the outstanding actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, but this is the first book dedicated to him. He may not have been handsome or glamorous enough to compete with the leading men of the day, but he was a great actor and deserves his due. A restless soul, he was one of those who had lived life for real long before he became an actor. A Life in Film charts his progress over the course of his 40 year career cut short by his untimely death. He was one of the most versatile actors, a true chameleon who could play heroes and villains with equal conviction. He won an Oscar for Supporting Actor in Johnny Eager and won plaudits for his portrayals in such noirs as The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Possessed and The Prowler. He made a distinct impression as the homesteader Starrett in Shane and the commanding officer in  Battle Cry among many others. He made a memorable final appearance as the disturbed bomber in the all-star Airport. 

   I hope my book stands as a fitting tribute to this much underrated actor of distinction.

Please see links below for more information:
https://www.amazon.com/Van-Heflin-Life-Derek-Sculthorpe/dp/078649686X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487865878&sr=8-2&keywords=van+heflinhttp://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-9686-0

Strolling Player: The Life and Career of Albert Finney (The History Press, 2017) by Gabriel Hershman

Excellent new biography about one of our finest actors

   Early in his career Albert Finney was hailed as the heir to Laurence Olivier. He was not the first or last to be so lauded, but Finney was never in anyone's shadow and has always ploughed his own furrow. He made a startling entry into the national consciousness with his role as Arthur Seaton in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) which ushered in the era of the 'kitchen sink' drama. He followed that with an Oscar-nominated performance in the boisterous Tom Jones (1963), but he turned down the lead in Lawrence of Arabia and the offer of a lucrative five year Hollywood contract. Instead he chose to return to the theater. This unpredictability has been a keynote of his life. He displayed his power and range on stage in modern and Shakespearean works. His screen credits alone attest to his versatility. It is hard to imagine that the same man could play the lead roles in Scrooge, The Dresser, A Man of No Importance, Miller's Crossing et al. He gave a superlative performance as Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm. 

   Strolling Player is a wonderfully entertaining portrait of a previously overlooked actor. Author Gabriel Hershman writes with an easy, flowing style and provides a living portrait of the man and his life. His descriptions of his performances in plays and films are incisive. He also sheds light on a whole tranche of theatrical post-war history. The book will be of lasting value to students of drama particularly for its perceptive insights into the fraught years at the National Theatre in the 1970s.

   A notoriously private man, Finney was never drawn to a life of celebrity like some of his contemporaries, preferring to concentrate on his craft. Nevertheless he was a dynamic figure both on and off-stage but, as Hershman points out, he was not a hellraiser so much as a bon vivant. Finney gave instructions for his friends not to co-operate with the author - presumably his stock response to would-be biographers. Surely even he would admire the finished result which puts him into proper perspective and gives him his much deserved due.

   The author ends with a thoughtful discussion on the nature of fame and the way in which true craft such as that Finney displays is often eclipsed in the inverted value system of today's celebrity world. Hershman correctly identifies a distinct lack of interest on the part of the current generation in the greats of the recent past as much as those of the long past. This is allied to a wider deficiency of awareness of their own culture in a world in which, in Brian Cox's words, "history started five minutes ago." At a time when we are showered with the memoirs of no-account celebrities who have managed to eke out their fifteen minutes of fame into a career, it is refreshing to find a thoroughly-researched biography of a true actor who has devoted almost sixty years of working life to his art. Strolling Player is surely the definitive work on one of our finest living actors.

Van Heflin