Books by David Soren

Vera-Ellen should have been one of Broadway and Hollywood’s most enduring stars. She was a fine dramatic and light comedic actress, and was considered by a number of authorities to be the greatest all-around dancer of her generation. And for a brief moment in 1950, she was an American household name, as famous as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio or General Douglas MacArthur. She could do tap, toe dancing, adagio, modern dance (formerly known as dramatic dancing), comic dancing, partnered dancing, prop dancing, Apache dancing and advanced acrobatics. She could also sing well enough to be featured on Broadway and television. Her obsessive perfectionism was legendary; nobody worked harder on a routine or accomplished it with greater attention to detail. Not only were each of her steps perfect but the transitions from step to step were flawless and remarkably beautiful to observe. Like Fred Astaire, who admired her, she had the ability to make each complex routine seem effortless, as if she were expressing herself spontaneously. Vera-Ellen's work in films such as On The Town, White Christmas, Words and Music, Three Little Words, The Belle of New York and Call Me Madame will never be forgotten by film musical fans. This much anticipated biography will not disappoint those fans.

Classical archaeology was long equated to ancient art history. Today these fields find themselves at a major crossroads. The influence on them-from the discipline of anthropology-has increased substantially in the past 15 years, adding to the ways in which scholars can study the Roman past. The classical archaeologist of the 21st century is likely to be versed in Greek and Latin, computer technology, ancient history, great monuments, various hard sciences such as physics or even astronomy, GPS, GIS, surveying, mapping, digitizing, artistic rendering, numismatics, geo-science, astronomy, environmental studies, material culture analysis and/or a host of other disciplines and sub-disciplines.Universities are seeking specialists whose talents embrace not one but several different fields of research. It is not necessary for each scholar to know everything about each discipline being used within the fields of art history, classical archaeology and anthropology, but these days a basic knowledge of all relevant disciplines is becoming indispensable. This book will layout the basic information and steps necessary to take the beginning archaeologist's search for knowledge of the past and lead them to adventures of the future.

Classical archaeology was long equated to ancient art history. Today these fields find themselves at a major crossroads. The influence on them-from the discipline of anthropology-has increased substantially in the past 15 years, adding to the ways in which scholars can study the Roman past. The classical archaeologist of the 21st century is likely to be versed in Greek and Latin, computer technology, ancient history, great monuments, various hard sciences such as physics or even astronomy, GPS, GIS, surveying, mapping, digitizing, artistic rendering, numismatics, geo-science, astronomy, environmental studies, material culture analysis and/or a host of other disciplines and sub-disciplines.Universities are seeking specialists whose talents embrace not one but several different fields of research. It is not necessary for each scholar to know everything about each discipline being used within the fields of art history, classical archaeology and anthropology, but these days a basic knowledge of all relevant disciplines is becoming indispensable. This book will layout the basic information and steps necessary to take the beginning archaeologist's search for knowledge of the past and lead them to adventures of the future.

The history of the horror film has been the subject of many books, many of them unfortunately picture books. Where more serious efforts have been made, the genre has been explored primarily from a chronological/factual or socio-economic point of view. Studies by sub-genre (vampires, wolf men, etc.) also may be cited. In an effort to begin to fill that gap and to try to explain why such films are generally so poor today, Dr. David Soren has written this book, primarily for the benefit of his film students, who continually lament the absence of any textbook on the subject. It is also essential that future filmmakers and critics realize the tremendous debt that the horror film owes to the history of art. Beginning with the relationship between Georges Melies and his Academic contemporaries such as Bouguereau, Dr. Soren has attempted to point out the influence of Symbolist (artists who seek to express or evoke emotions, ideas, etc. by the use of symbolic language, images, color, etc.), Dada (the style and techniques of artists, writers, etc. of the early 20th-centry who exploited accidental and incongruous effects in their work and programmatically challenged established canons of art, thought, morality, etc.), and Surrealist (a style of art and literature developed principally in the 20th century stressing the subconscious or non-rational significance of imagery arrived at by automation or the exploitation of chance effects, symbolic objects, etc.) art on filmmakers such as Vigo and Cocteau. German Expressionism is also discussed by the Post-Impressionist Edvard Munch is seen as an important creative force in the German theater of Max Reinhardt and in the making of such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Frankenstein (1931). The Rise and Fall of the Horror Film remains a fresh and intriguing ode to fantastic cinema and will ensnare all film fans in it's fascinating web of movie mystique.

Dr. David Soren examines Art, Popular Culture and the Classical Ideal in the 1930s in this beautifully illustrated book. The book takes an in-depth look at Roman Scandals and Christopher Strong and, as an added bonus Dr. Soren received permission to publish the unfinished autobiography of pioneering female filmmaker Dorothy Arzner. The 1930s were a time of contrasts. At a time when Americans had less money than at any time in their history, most movies revealed the obsession of the American people with elegance, wealth and beautiful people, so that an alien from Mars seeing most of these films would imagine that the society that had made them was entirely wealthy and not in the depths of the Depression. The 1930s was also an era of innovation in technology and design, when form began to follow function and everything streamlined, curvy and blonde was "in." Anyone unfamiliar with the 1930s can nonetheless instantly Recognize that the hairstyles, costumes and sets have a particular look to them. The 1930s were tragic, elegant, fascinating and fun. Enjoy discovering them a posteriori through the magic of the movies and the crutch of this book.