This work not only traces Audie Murphy's life as a film actor (from Beyond Glory, 1948, to A Time for Dying, 1971) but also provides a biography that runs from his birth to his three years in the army, winning every possible combat medal including the Congressional Medal of Honor--and from his Hollywood debut at James Cagney's invitation to his final dramatic decline, gambling his fortunes away, becoming involved in violent episodes, and dying in a plane crash in 1971. Each of the 49 film entries gives full credits, including casts, characters, crew, date of release, location, and cost, backgrounds for directors and main players, and comments and anecdotes from interviews with Murphy's colleagues. Critical reviews are quoted and the work is richly illustrated with film stills and private photographs.

From High Noon to Unforgiven, the "A" Western represents the pinnacle of Western filmmaking. More intellectual, ambitious, and time-consuming than the readily produced "B" or serial Westerns, these films rely on hundreds of talented artists. This comprehensive reference work provides biographies and Western filmographies for nearly 1,000 men and women who have contributed to at least three "A" Westerns. These contributors are arranged by their role in film production. Cinematographers, composers, actors, actresses, and directors receive complete biographical treatment; writers whose work was used in at least two Westerns are also featured. An appendix lists well-known actors who have appeared in either one or two "A" Westerns, as specified.

"[These volumes] are endlessly absorbing as an excursion into cultural history and national memory."--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

A 3-volume definitive career/biography of stop motion animator/visual effects creator Ray Harryhausen, written over a period of 10 years with Harryhausen's cooperation. This edition, Vol. 2, features interviews with Ray and his colleagues, and is profusely illustrated with hundreds of rare images (many never previously published). In-depth chapters cover Mighty Joe Young, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, It Came From Beneath the Sea, The Animal World, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, 20 Million Miles to Earth and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Supplemental material includes advertising art & posters from different countries, Filmographies of key cast and crew, Glossary of technical terminology, Ray Harryhausen "Timeline," trivia and obscure facts and figures related to Ray's films, and a section on Harryhausen collectibles.

When he was seventeen years old, Audie Murphy falsified his birth records so he could enlist in the Army and help defeat the Nazis. When he was nineteen, he single-handedly turned back the German Army at the Battle of Colmar Pocket by climbing on top of a tank with a machine gun, a moment immortalized in the classic film To Hell and Back, starring Audie himself. In the first biography covering his entire life—including his severe PTSD and his tragic death at age 45—the unusual story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated hero of WWII, is brought to life for a new generation.

The true story of the American West on film, through its shooting stars and the directors who shot them...Howard Hughes explores the Western, running from John Ford's "Stagecoach" to the revisionary "Tombstone". Writing with panache and fresh insight, he explores 27 key films, and draws on production notes, cast and crew biographies, and the films' box-office success, to reveal their place in western history. He shows how through reinvention and resurrection, this genre continually postpones the big adios and avoids ending up in Boot Hill...permanently. Major films covered include the best from genre giants John Ford, Howard Hawks and John Wayne, plus classics "High Noon", "Shane", "The Magnificent Seven" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". "Stagecoach to Tombstone" makes many more stops along the way, examining well-known blockbusters and lowly B-movie oaters alike. It examines comedy westerns, adventures 'south of the border', singing cowboys and the varied depiction of Native Americans on screen. Hughes also engagingly charts the genre's timely renovation by Sam Peckinpah ("Ride the High Country" and "The Wild Bunch"), Sergio Leone ("Once Upon a Time in the West") and Clint Eastwood ("The Outlaw Josey Wales" and "Unforgiven"). Presented too are the best of western trivia, a filmography of essential films - and ten aficionados and critics, including Alex Cox, Christopher Frayling, Philip French and Ed Buscombe, give their verdict on the best in the west.

This biographical encyclopedia covers every actor and actress who had a regular role in a Western series on American television from 1960 through 1975, with analyses of key players. The entries provide birth and death dates, family information, and accounts of each player's career, with a cross-referenced videography. An appendix gives details about all Western series, network or syndicated, 1960-1975. The book is fully indexed.