Laurence MaslonReseñas

In the 2nd volume of this special edition from LOA, 8 more musicals are added from 1950-1969. Mr Maslon, the editor, selected these well known Broadway shows: Guys & Dolls, The Pajama Game, My Fair Lady, Gypsy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret. Again, includes the production notes, biographical notes, notes on the texts & index. The poster art of these plays are rare & are found here in this volume. A perfect delight for musical lovers.

In this special LOA volume 1, Musicals have long been a delight for music lovers especially here in the US. Mr. Maslon, the editor, selected a few of these most well known to audiences. Show Boat, As Thousands Cheer, Pal Joey, Oklahoma!, On the Town, Finian's Rainbow, Kiss Me Kate, & South Pacific. These were all written & performed on Broadway between 1927-1949. Both books & lyrics to these Broadway shows are included in this set. In this unique LOA volume includes the production notes, the biographical notes as well as the notes on the texts & index. Also included are the poster art for these plays which are rare to find.

Great coffee table book and history of Broadway.

Comprehensive and entertaining½

This is a book about the history of super-heroes in the media. The super-hero is now a mainstay of popular culture on television and the silver screen but some of us older folk recall a time when they were only available on paper. Low paid men with typewriters did the scripts and other chaps with actual pencils drew the characters on paper. Often they did not tell their friends what they did in case they might be spat on. Now top directors vie for the latest super-film. My, how things have changed!

The work is certainly comprehensive covering the history of heroes from the beginnings of comics up to 2013. It examines the origins of super-hero type persons in newspaper strips, the likes of Buck Rogers and The Phantom. There is a doff of the cap to pulp heroes like The Shadow and Doc Savage, Man Of Bronze. Naturally, there is a deal of space devoted to Superman, the first real costumed super-powered super-hero. The Golden Age of the 1940s, the slump of the 1950s, the Silver Age of the 1960s and developments since are all well covered. There are also good quotes from many of the creators and a funny joke about Lee and Kirby on page 115. A perceptive comment is made about how Marvel’s ‘paternal, avuncular, father figures’, Odin, the Ancient One and Professor X, may have contributed to the line’s success with teenagers. There’s even a section on pop art.

The developments since the 1970s are not all good in my view. It’s nice to have the films but when the big corporations took over something was lost. Comic book series were produced to tie-in with toy launches and the bottom line was all, meaning that some quality stuff didn’t get time to become popular. Lush production values put up the price and comics became available only in specialist shops, not ordinary newsagents. Sales went down. I think it was better when they looked cheap and were cheap and kids read them. It was a bad day when comics became an investment for city slickers. But times change. At least, the ‘Marvel Essential’ and ‘DC Showcase’ lines mean that the old, cheap stuff is still available cheaply for those who want to read it rather than put it in a glass case.

All the important developments get a mention here and there is a lot of space devoted to the big hitters like Spider-Man, the X-Men, Superman and Batman, including the 1966 television series. The story of the mighty struggle to get that first epic ‘Superman’ film made is interesting. Kirby’s Fourth World doesn’t get much space. Alan Moore’s ‘Watchmen’ is well-covered. This is a commercial book so it features the commercial hits but there’s plenty about minor works, too. Nobody needs to feel slighted.

I made lots of notes on the text while reading then realised that I was doing a long summary of the book. Not my job! A reviewer’s task is to tell you what kind of product you are getting and give some idea of its merits. With a non-fiction book that might not take many words. The brevity of the appreciation does not reflect on the quality of the book.

Warning! At first glance, this looks like a shallow coffee table tome. It has illustrations on every page, often more than one, and well-separated paragraphs of text with the first line in a different font. It’s also a weighty volume printed on very nice paper in full colour. Let not this deceive you into thinking it less worthy than denser texts. Here is an informative, well-researched and well-written work history of super-heroes that will furnish you loads of information on the subject. It’s also readable and entertaining. Highly recommended.

Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/

Starting with the caveat that I only really read the first half, the book is an excellent history of superheroes in comic books. I picked this up to give myself some background before reading Michael Chabon's book, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and once the history reached the 60's I figured I'd gotten what I needed. Down the road, though, I may read the second half, as the book is well done, detailing how comics adapted to changes into society, appealed to various markets, etc., and is lavishly illustrated with comic book covers, illustrations, and photos of artists at work.

For an easy laugh, just put a man in a dress. Three of the funniest movies ever made depended on this cross-dressing theme: "Some Like It Hot," "Tootsie" and "Mrs. Doubtfire." Yet "Some Like It Hot" in particular, and a few years ago it was rated the funniest movie ever made, has so much more going for it than Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in drag. It has Marilyn Monroe in her finest performance. It has aging comic actor Joe E. Brown in his best role. It has a perfect script -- well, nobody's perfect -- by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond. It has an assembly of wonderful character actors. Plus, though released in 1958, it remains as entertaining as ever. I know. I watched it yet again the other night after finishing Laurence Maslon's "Some Like It Hot: The Official 50th Anniversary Companion."

Yes, the anniversary was a few years ago, but the book, like the movie, doesn't show its age. This is a coffee-table book, one that house guests are almost guaranteed to want to pick up and leaf through. It's filled with photos, both movie stills and publicity shots, plus a number of behind-the-scenes photographs you are unlikely to find anywhere else. Maslon also tosses in some choice excerpts from the script, photo copies of documents showing Monroe's frequent tardiness and absences from the set and other assorted goodies. He devotes an entire chapter to the various efforts to put "Some Like It Hot" on television and the stage over the years. An attempted sitcom never survived beyond the pilot.

For my money, the book's best feature is a two-page essay called, for some reason, "Spills, Thrills, a Laughs, and Games." Once you get past that silly title, the essay provides some fascinating insights into why this movie turned out to be as good as it is, other than those reasons already mentioned above. For example, it defies categorization. Is it a screwball comedy, a buddy picture, a gangster movie, a sex farce or a romantic comedy. Well, yes to all those. Just when you think it's one thing, it becomes something else.

Maslon's points out how the Wilder-Diamond script frequently recycles bits of dialogue for comic effect, such as when Joe and Jerry (Curtis and Lemmon) claim to have attended the Sheboygan Conservatory of Music, and later Sugar (Monroe), also trying to make a good impression, says she attended the same fictional school. Maslon's essay helped me enjoy the movie all the more when I watched it the other night.

A sheer delight. "Make 'Em Laugh" is an excellent historical survey that profiles many of the major funnymen and funnywomen, showcases some of their best lines, and places their work in the context of whatever was going on in theater, vaudeville, burlesque, film and TV at the time (and often society and politics too). Maybe if I'm lucky, PBS will someday rerun the accompanying series. Until then I'll watch Colbert, laugh with Ellen, sing along with Tom Lehrer, and track down old Buster Keaton clips on YouTube to get my comedy fix.

BROADWAY: THE AMERICAN MUSICAL is a six-part documentary series that chronicles the Broadway musical throughout the 20th century and explores the evolution of this uniquely American art form. The series, created by filmmaker Michael Kantor, draws on a wealth of archival news footage, lost and found television moments, original cast recordings, still photos, feature films, diaries, journals, intimate first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in creating the American musical.

If you love anything to do with the sound of music, you'll LOVE this book. Its a brilliant insight on the sound of music starting from 'The real Von Trapps' to 'The London Palladium' production. The book is full of never seen before pictures,including photos of the Von Trapp family, photos from the set of the 1965 movie, movie photos and the broadway production in 1959 and never seen before photos. If you love the sound of music and haven't got a copy of this book, GET IT NOW!!