The pulp magazines dealt in fiction that was, by reason of the audience and the medium, heightened beyond normal experience. The drama was intense, the colors vivid, and the pace exhausting. The characters moving through these prose dreams were heightened, too. Most were cast in a quasi-heroic mold and moved on elevated planes of accomplishment. This book and its companion volumes are concerned with the slow shaping of many literary conventions over many decades. This volume begins the study with the dime novels and several early series characters who influenced the direction of pulp fiction at its source.

Although Hollywood is no longer producing westerns at the rate of over 100 a year, the western movie enthusiast has over 1,000 classic films available on DVD. This guidebook, written in the same vein as the author's previous "goldmines of information" (to quote one reviewer), "Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD," "Mystery, Suspense, Film Noir and Detective Movies on DVD," and "British Movie Entertainments on VHS and DVD," is a must-have item for even the casual western movie fan. Over 400 DVDs were examined: 136 are described in exhaustive detail and a further 100 summarized. All 66 Hopalong Cassidy movies are featured and there are chapters on Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Alan Ladd and Buck Jones as well as a guide to a few of Hollywood's worst westerns.

A comprehensive film guide featuring Hollywood films, directors, actors and actresses.

"The entire field of film historians awaits the AFI volumes with eagerness."--Eileen Bowser, Museum of Modern Art Film Department Comments on previous volumes: "The source of last resort for finding socially valuable . . . films that received such scant attention that they seem 'lost' until discovered in the AFI Catalog."--Thomas Cripps "Endlessly absorbing as an excursion into cultural history and national memory."--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

For decades, Screen World has been the film professional's, as well as the film buff's, favorite and indispensable annual screen resource, full of all the necessary statistics and facts. Now Screen World editor Barry Monush has compiled another comprehensive work for every film lover's library. In the first of two volumes, this book chronicles the careers of every significant film actor, from the earliest silent screen stars – Chaplin, Pickford, Fairbanks – to the mid-1960s, when the old studio and star systems came crashing down. Each listing includes: a brief biography, photos from the famed Screen World archives, with many rare shots; vital statistics; a comprehensive filmography; and an informed, entertaining assessment of each actor's contributions – good or bad! In addition to every major player, Monush includes the legions of unjustly neglected troupers of yesteryear. The result is a rarity: an invaluable reference tool that's as much fun to read as a scandal sheet. It pulsates with all the scandal, glamour, oddity and glory that was the lifeblood of its subjects. Contains over 1 000 photos!

A group of films on a character-based series, which include Andy Hardy, Benji, Billy Jack, Blondie, Captain Nemo, Dr. Kildare, The Falcon, Francis the Talking Mule, Harry Potter, Henry Aldrich, Jason Voorhees, Jungle Jim. The Lone Ranger, Ma 8 Pa Kettle, Matt Dillon, Michael Myers, Robin Hood, Santa Claus, Superman, Tarzan and Zorro. These and other characters make this interesting book