My Movie Book Library: 500 Great Films, Where It All Began

It isn't too dramatic to say that 500 Great Films changed my life. Classic Movies would not have existed if this book had not awakened me to the nearly unfathomable variety and wonder to be found in the movies. I wouldn't have developed this deep love for film which, besides being deeply satisfying on its own, has opened up so much of the rest of the world to me.

My parents gave me the book for Christmas, when I was first starting to get interested in classic movies. It immediately became my textbook for learning about film.

The book has a straightforward format: each entry includes the title, release date, director and a paragraph or two about the movie. There are also lots of photos, enough to give it that glossy, coffee table look.

What I love about 500 Great Films is that it includes movies from so many eras, genres and countries. There's everything from art films to popcorn flicks and it all fits together so well. In their introduction, authors Daniel and Susan Cohen emphasize that while they have tried to be somewhat objective, they have compiled a very personal list. If that is the case, then these two have remarkable taste.

After watching, and loving, several of the movies in the book, I decided I had to see all of them. To keep track of what I saw, I bought a roll of metallic silver star stickers, and each time I watched a movie, I put a star next to the title.

A page of the book, with lots of stars!

Now the book is filled with stars. It thrills me to see them every time I flip through it. Though I've probably forgotten at least a third of the movies because I've watched them over several years, I still remember so many of the wonderful things I have seen and how I felt seeing them for the first time. Once I watch all of them, I may need to start all over again.

For a while my goal was to see all 500 movies by the time I turned 30. Without getting too detailed about the specifics, I will admit that I missed that deadline. At some point, I realized that racing to see all those movies would take away from the joy of seeing them. I still haven’t seen 80 of the films, and I'm planning to take my time watching them.

Authors Daniel and Susan Cohen are a husband and wife team. I always had them in my mind as these cozy film nerds who lived for the cinema, but their work is much more diverse than that. Daniel has written over 100 books, most of them about other subjects, including paranormal phenomena and lots of titles for children. Susan eventually began to help her husband when his workload became overwhelming.

I was saddened to learn that the couple is probably best known for co-authoring Pam Am 103: The Bombing, The Betrayals, and a Bereaved Family's Search for Justice, which is about the tragic 1988 death of their daughter Theodora in an airplane terrorist bombing (one year after 500 Great Films was published). They have also been advocates for the victims in the press, speaking out against the release of the bomber in 2009. Hearing about that was like learning about something awful happening to a friend. I can't imagine how it must feel to go through something like that.

So my vision of the cozy film nerds has been altered, but it hasn't changed the way I view 500 Great Films. I have absorbed every page of that book, the layout is more familiar to me than any other. This book one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I'm so grateful to my parents for supporting and encouraging my interest in the movies.

My Movie Book Library: Bedside Books

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've got a bookcase full of movie books, but they're also stashed in places all over my house. In at least one case, this is by design. The Razzie awards a couple of weeks ago reminded me of an important pile of books on my bedside table:

I've had lots of different titles take up long-term residence in this spot. Mary Pickford: Queen of the Movies lasted a while, but have you seen the size of that one? It is not a lying down book. When it comes to bedside books, content isn't the only thing to consider.

These three have had a long run because I'm crazy about pre-codes and so-called bad movies (I struggle with that last description, because if I'm entertained, how can a movie be bad?) The Thomas Doherty pre-code book should be there too, but it is temporarily living on the side table in the living room, can't remember why.

John Dileo's One Hundred Great Film Performances You Should Remember, But Probably Don't and LaSalle's other pre-code book Dangerous Men should be there too, but I'm pretty sure my little ones have taken off with them again. My books get stolen for doll fort construction all the time. I'm actually lucky the booklight is sitting up there because that disappears all the time too (apparently dolls like to read at night too).

These are the books I read all the time. I could probably recite passages from them.

One of the advantages of having the rather generic Twitter handle @classicmovieblg is that I get a lot of followers through search. I wondered if that was how Stephen Rebello, co-author of Bad Movies We Love (RIP co-author Edward Margulies) and Mick LaSalle, author of Complicated Women and Dangerous Men came to follow me. Of course I geeked out on both of them right away.

My tweet to LaSalle and his response:

My tweet to Rebello and his response:

Well, they were both gracious. I can imagine how they feel, working so diligently to put out amazing new work, and my perspective of them appears to be stuck several years in the past.

I did end up reviewing the latest LaSalle book, and the French actresses he interviewed really did remind me of pre-code stars. I'll be reading everything Rebello I can get my hands on too. Still, I hope these two know what they have accomplished with the books that drew me to them. If you create something so treasured it begins to fall apart in its owner's hands, you've done something huge--it transcends all that research, writing and marketing.

This is why I love reading so much. Books are a big business, but in the end they are all about that personal connection, made one reader at a time.

My Movie Book Library: Did Ginger Rogers Really Sign My Copy of Her Autobiography?

Since Ginger: My Story is on my list of books to read from my library this year, I thought I'd pull it out and add it to my stack-in-progress. I started to flip through it and was a bit startled to find this on the title page:

Is that really Rogers' signature? I kind of remembered seeing it before and assuming it wasn't real. Don't know why I didn't think of it before, but I thought I'd try to find the real deal online and make a comparison. I checked out a few dealer sites and almost all of the supposed Rogers signatures looked like this:

Similar, but not too similar. I can see how I could have the real thing. Should I bother to find out?

Do you have any books or memorabilia signed by classic stars? Have you ever had an appraisal done to determine if a signature is real? 

My Movie Book Library: Warehouse Sales, Princess Grace and Embezzlement

A few years ago, I decided to check out the annual warehouse sale of a local used book shop. I heard it was a great place to get some deals. It turned out to be an amazing event and there was a huge selection in the movie history section. I was so excited! My take was a lot better than I'd expected. At $1 a book, I could afford to pick up a few things out of curiosity.

One find was especially gorgeous : a coffee table book with photos of Grace Kelly's private life as a princess. It was in beautiful condition and I could hardly wait to look at it more closely.

When I got home, after gloating for a while over my stash, I settled in to learn about the Princess of Monaco. Almost right away I found a check stuffed inside the pages of the book. It hadn't been cashed.

Though I can't remember the amount of the check or the name of the issuer, I guessed it was for a small business. I decided to call the company and see if the lost check could be reunited with its owner.

It turned out the contact number was for a private residence. A man answered. Once I explained the reason for my call, he let out a long breath and was quiet for a moment.

Then he told me that the check had been made out to his next door neighbor, who had been doing bookkeeping for his business. In fact, the neighbor had made out the check to himself, and not for the first time. He had just been arrested the night before for embezzling funds from the company to support his heroin habit.

I asked if he would like me to mail him the check. Did he need it for evidence? He thanked me and said he would appreciate it if I would. Then he asked me the title of the book, which I told him. He laughed and we said goodbye.

When I told my husband about the call, he guessed why the man had probably asked about the title. If his neighbor stole money from him, he might have taken other things to raise funds too, like books. I felt silly for not figuring that out on my own. I guess I was just too stunned by the whole situation.

Though I thought about calling again to ask if the book did belong to him, and if I could send it back to him if it was indeed his, I suspected he probably wouldn't let me. Even more so, I figured he didn't need any more to bother with that day.

I'm still not sure I did the right thing about the book, but I'm glad I called about the check. I always wondered if things worked out for that business owner and if his neighbor kicked the drug habit.

It was unsettling to buy a book meant to be an escape into beauty, only to be reminded of how complicated the real world can be. And yet, it's still a great book. The events around it didn't change it, despite the fact that I'll always associate it with that story.

Browse the rest of my movie book library on Pinterest.

My Movie Book Library: 239 and Counting

One year ago, Raquelle of Out of the Past shared a photo of her movie book library. This inspired a few other film bloggers to share their collections, including me. Sadly, inspiration did not lead to action--until now.

My collection started with a few gifts from my parents and expanded with frightening speed once I started prowling used book stores. Eventually, I had to either slow down or move to a bigger house. As all you book hoarders out there know, moving is murder when you have a large library.

This is the shelf where I keep most of my movie books:

The rest of it is shoved into other bookcases, piled up on tables, etc. Eventually I will find one spot for all of it. It would be amazing to do something like Artman did here.

One of the things that always bothers me about my library is that I haven't read so much of it. As I wrote in my post a couple of weeks ago, I'm going to do something about that this year.

I thought I would be more likely to read the titles I hadn't cracked if I knew what I had, so I started a spreadsheet and cataloged everything. Going through the 239 books I'd collected was amazing. I had no idea I had so many!

At first I thought about taking close-up shots of my shelves and stacks so you all could browse my library, but by the time I finished entering titles, I knew getting a clear shot of everything would be hard to do.

Putting the covers of my library in a gallery on Pinterest was a great solution to that problem. Wherever possible, I have used the same cover art/edition as the book I own. Check it out here.

Going through all those books was much more exciting than I expected. So many memories! A library is full of life. There are a lot of stories about my books, in addition to those told inside them. I'm going to share a few over the next month. I hope you enjoy them.

My Movie Book Library: Seven Books to Finally Read in 2014

After I made my list of 10 new-to-me movies I was determined to see in 2014, I realized there was another very important list I needed to make. I'd just cataloged my film book library, most of which you can see on my Pinterest board, and was shocked to realized I hadn't read most of the books. I have my reasons: library books, titles to read for review, but I'm not going to make excuses anymore. These are the books from my library that I am determined to read this year:

1. Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming

Myrna Loy is one of my favorite stars. I was thrilled to find this book. So why haven't I read it? I think maybe I was a bit too excited about it and afraid it wouldn't be as cool as it looked. But this is Myrna, a certain amount of coolness is built in.

2. Ginger: My Story

Every time I see a Ginger Rogers movie, which is often, I think about how little I know about her. I've gotten the odd crumb of information from time-to-time over the years, but I know there's more to this woman than fabulous, late life appearances on Love Boat and gossip about her partnership with Fred Astaire.

3. Hattie: The Life of Hattie McDaniel, by Carlton Jackson

Same thing here. I always see McDaniel in movies. She was everywhere, though at the same time there was never enough of her. I'm ready to learn more about one of my favorite actresses.

4. King Vidor: A Tree is a Tree

I picked up Vidor's autobiography in a London bookshop about six years ago. The man who sold it to me was wearing the longest cardigan I'd ever seen. Every time I look at the book, I think about it. Sure it looked cozy, but did it ever get in the way? Did he ever curl up in it for a midday nap? Anyway, I want to read the book so I'll have something to obsess over besides the sweater.

5. Lauren Bacall: By Myself

Recommended to me by a Pinterest follower. That crowd seems to have great taste, so good enough.

6. The Star Machine, Jeanine Basinger

I got this for Christmas years ago, and enjoyed reading a few pages, but then I was forced to plow through a stack of library books before they were due. Why does everything I order always come at once, no matter where I am on the list when I reserve it? I love Basinger. She's going to be my priority this year.

7. Simone Signoret: Nostalgia Isn't What it Used to Be

I'm reading this one first, as an appetizer to the new Signoret bio. coming out this year.

Do you own any movie books that you've yet to read? Am I the only one hoarding them after looking at all the photos? Share in the comments!