Books & Literature

The Greatest Films of the 20th Century

Pulp Fiction (1994)

One of the most comprehensive and lavish books on the history of motion pictures, from the silent era through to the end of the 1990s.

the-classicscover-200pxThe Classics, by Alan J Whiticker, is one of the most comprehensive and lavish books on the history of motion pictures, from the silent era through to the end of the 1990s. With more than 600 images of hundreds of featured films in this 400 page book, The Classics provides a unique history of the development of cinema from before the advent of the ‘talkies’ through to Hollywood’s golden age and up to the end of the 20th Century.

This remarkable book also documents actors, directors and Academy Award winning films, presented in depth, illustrating what makes a particular film a ‘classic’. Presenting rare images from the Mary Evans Picture Library and Ronald Grant Archive, The Classics is for movie lovers or for anyone who wants to take a walk down memory lane through the rich history of classic film-making.

Check out three sample entries below, for King Kong (1933), actress Audrey Hepburn, and Pulp Fiction (1994).

King Kong (1933)

KING KONG Date: 1933

KING KONG Date: 1933

The original King Kong film has been described as the ‘most popular and most intriguing horror fantasy film ever made’. Special effects genius Willis O’Brien brought the ‘eighth wonder of the world’ to life using the ‘stop motion animation’ process of filming 3D models frame by frame after subtly changing the models’ position. The Mighty Kong, at 50 feet (15 meters) tall, was only 15 inches (38 cms) of rubber with a steel skeleton and patted down rabbit fur for hair. A huge model of the face was made for close ups, with eyebrows and eyeballs operated by motors and compressed air to create Kong’s facial expressions.

Despite changes in size which sees the ape’s ratio to people and buildings change throughout the film, King Kong was a marvellous technical achievement for the time. Shown against a series of matte shots, Kong battles men and monsters, and creates havoc in 1930s New York before climbing the newly-built Empire State Building for one of the most iconic finales in film history. Along the way, Kong fights a pterodactyl, captures a beauty (Fay Wray) and peels away her clothing, before killing his captors and escaping from his chains back in New York.

A scene where some of the sailors fall into a ravine and are eaten by giant spiders was deleted because it so shocked preview audiences and supposedly slowed down the pace of the film. It was not the last cut the film was to suffer over the years. King Kong caught the imagination of the world at the height of the Great Depression, with millions of people identifying with a hero—even a tall, hairy one—who took on the system and ultimately lost everything. The pathos of his death is aided by Max Steiner’s wonderfully manipulative film score which directs audience sympathies throughout the film.

The story of King Kong, as imagined by notable adventure author Edgar Wallace and producer-director Merion C. Cooper, was based on the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ myth but with a modern edge. Interpreted and reinterpreted by critics over many generations, King Kong has been seen as a critique on colonialism, an attack on capitalism, criticized for its inherent racism and even explored for its sexual overtones (I particularly like critic Danny Peary’s take on the film, that Kong is the manifestation of showman’s Carl Denham’s lust for Ann Darrow … whenever Darrow shows affection for Jack Driscoll, Denham’s jealously manifests itself as Kong). But basically, King Kong is just great fun.

When I showed the film to my six-year old nephew on video in the 1980s, he said he loved the ‘big monkey movie’ and asked to watch it over and over again. As ‘big monkey movies’ go, the original King Kong is easily the best. Kong was remade in 1976 and 2005 with mixed results (director Peter Jackson does a wonderful parody of the original Kong movie in the dance sequence in New York in the latter film). While special effects genius Willis O’Brien brought his movie magic to Mighty Joe Young (1949), there is only one King Kong.

RKO: 100 minutes
Produced by: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack and David O. Selznick (executive)
Directed by: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack
Screenplay by: James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose
Based on the story by: Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace
Music by: Max Steiner
Cinematography: Eddie Linden, J.O. Taylor, Vernon Walker
Starring: Fay Wray (Ann Darrow), Robert Armstrong (Carl Denham), Bruce Cabot (Jack Driscoll), Frank Reicher (Captain Englehorn), Noble Johnson (Native Chief).

Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993)

AUDREY HEPBURN Actress

AUDREY HEPBURN Actress

Audrey Hepburn appeared to came from nowhere in the early 1950s. The European-born actress (originally from Belgium) came to America from England to star in Gigi on Broadway in 1953. With her ballerina’s poise and grace, she was an immediate star after being cast in Roman Holiday (1953), her first American film. A fashion icon in the 1950s with her lithe figure, short hairstyles and pixie-like face, her subsequent films confirmed both her talent and her love affair with audiences.

The Nun’s Story (1959) displayed great emotional depth, but she was miscast in the musical My Fair Lady (1964), her singing voice needed to be dubbed and she was unable to portray the necessary cockney charm the character required. After fine performances in Two for the Road and Wait Until Dark (both 1967), Hepburn lost interest in her career and devoted her time to humanitarian work with UNICEF, before her death from cancer at age 63.

Key Films

  • Roman Holiday (1953)
  • Sabrina (1954)
  • Love in the Afternoon (1957)
  • Funny Face (1957)
  • The Nun’s Story (1959)
  • Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
  • The Children’s Hour (1961)
  • Charade (1963)
  • My Fair Lady (1964)
  • Two for the Road (1967)
  • Wait Until Dark (1967)
  • Robin and Marian (1976)

Audrey Hepburn won the Academy Award for Best Actress in her first American film, William Wyler’s Roman Holiday (1953). With an Oscar-winning story by blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, Roman Holiday also starred Gregory Peck (far right) as a journalist who befriends a young woman on the streets of Rome—not knowing she is a missing European princess.

Once Peck realizes who she is, he does not reveal to her that he is a journalist sent to Rome to cover her tour and he takes the princess around the city with cameraman Eddie Albert (left) in tow. The resolution of the film is more European in manner than the usual Hollywood romance, but Roman Holiday was a stunning Hollywood debut for the 24-year- old Hepburn. Sabrina (1954), Billy Wilder’s film adaption of Samuel A. Taylor’s play, Sabrina Fair, stars Audrey Hepburn as the daughter of a wealthy family’s chauffeur who returns home from school in Europe and attracts the interest of two brothers—played by Humphrey Bogart (left) and William Holden (far right kissing Hepburn). Bogie is perhaps a little too old at 55 to play a romantic lead, but he is actually ideal as the workaholic older brother who gradually realizes he has affections for Sabrina. Holden is well cast as idle playboy David, but it is Hepburn who again comes out on top opposite two of Hollywood’s greatest stars in this charming romantic comedy.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

PULP FICTION JOHN TRAVOLTA, SAMUEL L JACKSON PULP FICTION Date: 1994

PULP FICTION JOHN TRAVOLTA, SAMUEL L JACKSON PULP FICTION Date: 1994

Pulp Fiction (1994), Quinten Tarantino’s keenly anticipated follow-up to cult hit Reservoir Dogs (1992), is a three-course banquet of violence, black humor and pop culture. The intoxicating mix of stories unfold in three-part, non-chronological structure as a pair of hitmen, some hapless thieves and an embittered boxer cross paths.

Pulp Fiction singlehandedly resurrected the career of John Travolta (above left) after a decade in the wilderness and made a star out of Samuel L. Jackson (above right). Also starring Bruce Willis as the boxer, Uma Thurman (pictured left), as the gangster’s moll with a love of adventure, Ving Rhames as the gangster and Eric Stoltz as a panicked drug dealer, Pulp Fiction also features cameo appearances from Christopher Walken, Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth. To top it off, it has a killer soundtrack.

A controversial film on release that quickly found favor in the mainstream, Tarantino and writing partner Roger Avery later won Oscars® for Best Original Screenplay.

The Classics: The Greatest Films of the 20th Century

theclassicscover

The Classics is available now in hardback for the recommended retail price of $59.99.

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