Illustrated Who's Who Hollywood Directors
Out of print and very hard to find, filled with photos of directors on the set and off. An Archive Photobook (Noonday Press) Vol 1: The Sound Era. Softcover in near mint condition, 530 pages. By Michael Barson. Printed Oct. 1995.
Barson, a historian of American popular culture, profiles more than 150 directors who have worked in Hollywood between 1929 and 1995 and whose careers began before 1975. He excludes directors who have worked primarily in silent films (though he does include Charlie Chaplin) and those who have worked primarily in the British film industry, which he hopes to cover in later volumes. (He expects to include Hollywood film directors such as Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner in his next volume, which is devoted to directors who began their work after 1975.)
The book is divided into two parts: a main section consisting of two-to ten-page essays on prominent directors and a supplementary section titled "Short Subjects: More Profiles in Brief," which consists of shorter essays on lesser-known directors. Each entry in the first part of the book is accompanied by at least one black-and-white photograph showing the director "at work or at play" along with "graphics representing one of his or her most important films." (There are only two female directors in the book: Ida Lupino and Dorothy Arzner.)
Barson, a historian of American popular culture, profiles more than 150 directors who have worked in Hollywood between 1929 and 1995 and whose careers began before 1975. He excludes directors who have worked primarily in silent films (though he does include Charlie Chaplin) and those who have worked primarily in the British film industry, which he hopes to cover in later volumes. (He expects to include Hollywood film directors such as Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner in his next volume, which is devoted to directors who began their work after 1975.)
The book is divided into two parts: a main section consisting of two-to ten-page essays on prominent directors and a supplementary section titled "Short Subjects: More Profiles in Brief," which consists of shorter essays on lesser-known directors. Each entry in the first part of the book is accompanied by at least one black-and-white photograph showing the director "at work or at play" along with "graphics representing one of his or her most important films." (There are only two female directors in the book: Ida Lupino and Dorothy Arzner.)