Most Popular Books by Leonard Maltin

Previously published as Leonard Maltin’s 2015 Movie Guide, this capstone edition includes a new Introduction by the author. (Note: No new reviews have been added to this edition) Now that streaming services like Netflix and Hulu can deliver thousands of movies at the touch of a button, the only question is: What should I watch? Summer blockbusters and independent sleepers; the masterworks of Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, and Martin Scorsese; the timeless comedy of the Marx Brothers and Woody Allen; animated classics from Walt Disney and Pixar; the finest foreign films ever made. This capstone edition covers the modern era while including all the great older films you can’t afford to miss—and those you can—from box-office smashes to cult classics to forgotten gems to forgettable bombs, listed alphabetically, and complete with all the essential information you could ask for. With nearly 16,000 entries and more than 13,000 DVD listings, Leonard Maltin''s Movie Guide remains “head and shoulders above the rest.” (The New York Times) Also included are a list of mail-order and online sources for buying and renting DVDs and videos, official motion picture code ratings from G to NC-17, and Leonard''s list of recommended films.

What 151 movies have you never seen—but should? What French film could teach Hollywood how to make a smart, sexy romantic comedy? (page 233) Where will you find a female-centric Western with a gender-bending protagonist? (page 10) What film won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and then fell off the radar? (page 261) What farcical comedy includes such real-life characters as Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger? (page 50) In what unsung comedy will you find Michael Douglas giving his all-time best performance? (page 130) What debut film from the director of The Dark Knight creates palpable chills—despite a shoestring budget and a no-name cast? (page 79) What John Wayne movie was out of circulation for thirty years—and still qualifies as a sleeper? (page 121) What terrific Heath Ledger movie was released the same month as Brokeback Mountain—and flopped? (page 26) What clever modern-day film noir was made for just half a million dollars? (page 18) What captivating film stars one of the seminal artists of the twentieth century? (page 203)

The definitive guide to classic films from one of America''s most trusted film critics Thanks to Netflix and cable television, classic films are more accessible than ever. Now co-branded with Turner Classic Movies, Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide covers films from Hollywood and around the world, from the silent era through 1965, and from The Maltese Falcon to Singin’ in the Rain and Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Thoroughly revised and updated, and featuring expanded indexes, a list of Maltin’s personal recommendations, and three hundred new entries—including many offbeat and obscure films—this new edition is a must-have companion for every movie lover.

A chronological listing and analysis: includes Snow White and the seven dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi. Also includes live-action films eg 20,000 leagues under the sea.

Whether you’re seeking movie gifts or something for the history buffs in your life, this comprehensive guide to animation and cartoons has it all. In this one-of-a-kind definitive history of American animated cartoons, renowned film critic and historian Leonard Maltin presents the most extensive filmography on cartoons ever compiled. In this revised and updated edition of Of Mice and Magic, Leonard Maltin not only recreates this whole glorious era from the silent days through the Hollywood golden age to Spielberg’s An American Tail, he traces the evolution of the art of animation and vividly portrays the key creative talents and their studios. This definitive history of American animated cartoons also brings Maltin’s many fans up to date on the work being done today at the Walt Disney and Warner Bros. studios, and other developments in the world of animation. Drawing on colorful interviews with many of the American cartoon industry’s principals, Maltin has come up with a gold mine of anecdotes and film history. Behind the scenes were genius animators and entrepreneurs such as Walt Disney, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Mel Blanc, and a legion of others. In all, Maltin has put together a glorious celebration of a universally loved segment of Americana.

Summer blockbusters and independent sleepers; masterworks of Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, and Martin Scorsese; the timeless comedy of the Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton; animated classics from Walt Disney and Pixar; the finest foreign films ever made. This 2014 edition covers the modern era, from 1965 to the present, while including all the great older films you can’t afford to miss—and those you can—from box-office smashes to cult classics to forgotten gems to forgettable bombs, listed alphabetically, and complete with all the essential information you could ask for. NEW Nearly 16,000 capsule movie reviews, with more than 300 new entries NEW More than 25,000 DVD and video listings NEW Up-to-date list of mail-order and online sources for buying and renting DVDs and videos NEW Completely updated index of leading performers MORE Official motion picture code ratings from G to NC-17 MORE Old and new theatrical and video releases rated **** to BOMB MORE Exact running times—an invaluable guide for recording and for discovering which movies have been edited MORE Reviews of little-known sleepers, foreign films, rarities, and classics AND Leonard’s all-new personal recommendations for movie lovers • Date of release, running time, director, stars, MPAA ratings, color or black-and-white • Concise summary, capsule review, and four-star-to-BOMB rating system • Precise information on films shot in widescreen format • Symbols for DVDs, videos, and laserdiscs • Completely updated index of leading actors • Up-to-date list of mail-order and online sources for buying and renting DVDs and videos

"Portions of this book originally appeared in issues of Leonard Maltin''s movie crazy"--T.p. verso.

Survey and anecdotal interviews with 5 masters — Arthur Miller, Hal Mohr, Hal Rosson, Lucien Ballard, and Conrad Hall. 105 photographs. Filmographies.

Hollywood historian and film reviewer Leonard Maltin invites readers to pull up a chair and listen as he tells stories, many of them hilarious, of 50+ years interacting with legendary movie stars, writers, directors, producers, and cartoonists. Maltin grew up in the first decade of television, immersing himself in TV programs and accessing 1930s and ''40s movies hitting the small screen. His fan letters to admired performers led to unexpected correspondences, then to interviews and publication of his own fan magazine. Maltin''s career as a free-lance writer and New York Times-bestselling author as well as his 30-year run on Entertainment Tonight, gave him access to Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Sean Connery, Shirley Temple, and Jimmy Stewart among hundreds of other Golden Age stars, his interviews cutting through the Hollywood veneer and revealing the human behind each legend. Starstruck also offers a fascinating glimpse inside the Disney empire, and Maltin''s tenure teaching USC''s popular film course reveals insights into moviemaking along with access to past, current, and future stars of film, such as George Lucas, Kevin Feige, Quentin Tarantino, and Guillermo del Toro.

NEW More than 16,000 capsule movie reviews, with more than 300 new entries NEW More than 13,000 DVD and 13,000 video listings NEW Up-to-date list of mail-order and online sources for buying and renting DVDs and videos NEW Completely updated index of leading performers MORE Official motion picture code ratings from G to NC-17 MORE Old and new theatrical and video releases rated **** to BOMB MORE Exact running times—an invaluable guide for recording and for discovering which movies have been edited MORE Reviews of little-known sleepers, foreign films, rarities, and classics AND Leonard''s personal list of fifty notable debut features Summer blockbusters and independent sleepers; masterworks of Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, and Martin Scorsese; the timeless comedy of the Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton; animated classics from Walt Disney and Pixar; the finest foreign films ever made. This 2013 edition covers the modern era, from 1965 to the present, while including all the great older films you can’t afford to miss—and those you can—from box-office smashes to cult classics to forgotten gems to forgettable bombs, listed alphabetically, and complete with all the essential information you could ask for. • Date of release, running time, director, stars, MPAA ratings, color or black and white • Concise summary, capsule review, and four-star-to-BOMB rating system • Precise information on films shot in widescreen format • Symbols for DVD s, videos, and laserdiscs • Completely updated index of leading actors • Up-to-date list of mail-order and online sources for buying and renting DVDs and videos

Examines the personal lives, careers, and films of Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Danny Kaye, and other great movie comedians.

THE REAL STARS edited by Leonard Maltin Everyone knows Humphrey Bogart and Jean Harlow...but the stars of Hollywood''s greatest era might not have shone as brightly if they weren''t backed up by talented character actors and supporting players. This collection of profiles and interviews turns the spotlight on those unsung heroes, whose faces were often better known than their names. Maltin''s engaging conversations with such notables as Billy Gilbert, Gale Sondergaard, Hans Conried and Una Merkel evoke a bygone era as we see what life was like for these versatile players. Looking for anecdotes about W.C. Fields or Clark Gable? This book is for you. You''ll also learn about Bess Flowers, "the queen of the dress extras," and Rex Ingram, the black actor whose imposing presence eclipsed the stereotyping of the period. This well-illustrated e-book and print edition features a brand-new introduction by Leonard Maltin.

Now updated and expanded, the annual #1 bestselling movie guide contains reviews of thousands of movies on DVD and video, including MPAA ratings, ratings, an updated source list for buying and renting, and much more. Original.

"Leonard Maltin, one of America''s leading authorities on film and an ardent radio buff, takes us along for a fascinating oral history of radio''s golden age from its beginnings through its heyday to the bittersweet end of an era. The Great American Broadcast is based on hundreds of personal interviews and is filled with behind-the-scenes stories of some of the most colorful personalities of the era, from actors, directors, and writers to annoucers, producers, sponsors, and soud-effects wizards. It includes more than 100 black-and-white photographs and illustrations - many never before published."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

When originally published in 1977 as Our Gang, this book sold over 52,000 copies. This new edition, with an extensive amount of fresh material, will prove irresistible to all fans of the most popular film series of all time. Includes updated biographical entries on the cast and crew and complete entries on every single film, with story synopses, production credits, cast lists, critiques, and more. 397 photographs.

Discover the stunning art behind Netflix''s revolutionary Over the Moon, directed by Disney alum and animation maestro Glen Keane. Fueled with determination and a passion for science, a bright young girl builds a rocket ship to the moon to prove the existence of a legendary Moon Goddess. There, she ends up on an unexpected quest, and discovers a whimsical land of fantastical creatures. Directed by animation legend Glen Keane, and produced by Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou, Over the Moon is an exhilarating musical adventure about moving forward, embracing the unexpected, and the power of imagination.

Leonard Maltin is America''s best-known film historian, film reviewer, and author of books that have sold more than 7 million copies. He remains a thought leader on past and present Hollywood through his website www.leonardmaltin.com, and a social media presence that includes an active Facebook page and a Twitter feed with more than 66,000 followers. In Hooked on Hollywood, Maltin opens up his personal archive to take readers on a fascinating journey through film history. He first interviewed greats of Hollywood as a precocious teenager in 1960s New York City. He used what he learned from these luminaries to embark on a 50-year (and counting) career that has included New York Times bestselling books, 30 years of regular appearances coast-to-coast on Entertainment Tonight, movie introductions on Turner Classic Movies, and countless other television and radio performances. Early Maltin interviews had literally been stored in his garage for more than 40 years until GoodKnight Books brought them to light for the first time in this volume to entertain readers and inform future film scholars. Teenaged Leonard Maltin landed one-on-ones with Warner Bros. sexy pre-Code siren Joan Blondell; Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actor Burgess Meredith; Cecil B. DeMille''s right-hand-man Henry Wilcoxon; Oscar-winning actor Ralph Bellamy; playwright, novelist, and MGM screenwriter Anita Loos; early screen heartthrob George O''Brien; classic Paramount director Mitchell Leisen; and others. Later in his career, Maltin sat down with men and women who worked inside the top studios during the heyday of movies and early television. This second set of in-depth interviews reveals what life was like under Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, Harry Cohn, and the other titans of Hollywood. What emerges is a fascinating and at times uproarious homage to Golden Era Hollywood. In addition, key feature articles from Maltin''s newsletter Movie Crazy are published here for the first time, providing new perspectives on the Warner Bros. classics Casablanca and Gold Diggers of 1933 as well as many other masterpieces--and bombs--from Hollywood history. Finally, Maltin looks back at what he considers Hollywood''s "overlooked" studio, RKO Radio Pictures, which gave us such classics as King Kong and the many dance musicals of Astaire and Rogers. In Leonard''s unique and witty style, he looks at dozens of obscure RKO features from the 1930s, including saucy pre-Codes, musicals, comedies, and mysteries. Leonard Maltin''s love of movies and vast knowledge about their history shines through from the first page to the last in this unique volume, which includes 150 rare photos and a comprehensive index.

In this first collection of Harlan Ellison''s cinema criticism, this book comes with expanded, never-before-collected articles as well as an essay written especially for this volume.

Peanuts is beloved by countless readers worldwide for its iconic characters ― such as Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and Lucy van Pelt ― gentle humor, and emotional resonance. The artist behind Peanuts shares the same name recognition, but among critics and historians, he is far more than a celebrity ― he wrote and drew every strip in the newspaper comic''s 50 years himself, and it reflects the moral, aesthetic, and intellectual foundations of Schulz''s worldview and art. Fantagraphics is proud to present four extensive conversations with Schulz, conducted by film critic Leonard Maltin, novelist Laurie Colwin, Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth, and comics historian Rick Marschall.

When he left Hollywood in March 1941, Jimmy Stewart was America''s boy next door movie star and a recent Academy Award winner. He left all that behind to join the United States Army Air Corps and fulfill his family mission to serve his country—only to face obstacle after obstacle from both Hollywood and Washington. Finally he made his way to the European Theater, where several near-death experiences and the loss of men under his command took away his youthful good looks. The war finally won, he returned home with millions of other veterans to face an uncertain future, suffering what we now know as PTSD. For the next half century, Stewart refused to discuss his combat experiences and took the story of his service to the grave. Mission presents the first in-depth look at Stewart''s life as a Squadron Commander in the skies over Germany, from takeoff to landing and every key moment in between. Author Robert Matzen sifted through thousands of Air Force combat reports and the Stewart personnel files; interviewed surviving aviators who flew with Stewart; visited the James Stewart Papers at Brigham Young University; flew in the cockpits of the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator; and walked the earth of air bases in England used by Stewart in his combat missions of 1943-45. What emerges in Mission is the story of a Jimmy Stewart you never knew until now, a story more fantastic than any he brought to the screen.

The leading authority on American film is back with the latest edition of his "indispensable" ("Los Angeles Times") and bestselling movie and video guide.

The leading authority on American film is back with the latest edition of his "indispensable" (Los Angeles Times) and bestselling movie and video guide. Leonard Maltin''s Movie and Video Guide 2004 is the best, biggest, and most up-to-date of its kind.

Now updated and expanded, the annual #1 bestselling movie guide contains reviews of thousands of movies on DVD and video, including MPAA ratings, ratings, an updated source list for buying and renting, and much more. Original.