Laurence Raw

It's taken some time to give this great book a good read. Character Actors in Horror and Science Fiction Films, 1930-1960 aggregates a who's who of the various actors, some easily recognizable and others not, that inhabited the various genre films of that era. My initial approach was to do a quick scan at the photos and names to see who is in the book - there are many that I recognized, mostly from the photos - from various films. Next I started at the beginning - the book lists the actors alphabetically, and read each listing - this took a while. As you would imagine, reading a reference book can be less than interesting - I'm glad the author decided to provide only a synopsis of each actor.

Although I wouldn't consider this the ultimate "go to" book for any particular actor, it does provide one place to look to establish an actor's name with his appearance (photo + name + movie) so you can associate the three - very convenient, especially after watching a movie and during the rolling of the credits. I did notice a few minor editorial issues but they weren't too detracting. The author also provides a bit of opinion on many of the actors which may deter the reader if you don't like his style - personally it didn't bother me (who doesn't put his own spin on this type of book?).

In all, if you are a geek about this genre of film, you will enjoy this book and appreciate is as a reference.… (más)

Character Actors in Horror and Science Fiction Films, 1930-1960, provides a brief look at the roles these actors played in genre movies during the period. Arranged alphabetically, you will definitely find a few people you know, such as John Carradine and Elsa Lanchester, but the majority of entries are unfamiliar names.

But that is what makes this book interesting. If you are like me and have seen many of these horror and science fiction films during your childhood and even today, now you can learn a little more about these actors who played a variety of roles to keep bread on the table. There is a picture for nearly every actor so that you can match up the face to the name, which is nice.

The publishing company, McFarland, does a nice job of providing these niche books for fans. If you enjoy movies from this era, you definitely want to get your hands on this one.… (más)

I really liked this book. I've seen so many of these movies, and the faces are so familiar. It was sort of like watching the Academy Awards "In memoriam" when a face comes up and you give the sad groan and think, what a wonderful character actor that person was. I would never know most of the names, although there are ones who went on to huge stardom. But all of these people had the faces that made the movies terrific.

I liked the information about the person and their movies and I felt it was an interesting read that pulled me along. I would definitely recommend it. I just wish there would have been more movie photos and more years included! I know, that's a lot of work! Very fun book.… (más)