Books by Laurence Raw

This biographical dictionary presents a stellar lineup of talented, versatile character actors who regularly appeared in horror and science fiction films during Hollywood's golden age. Many are well known by genre buffs and casual fans--they include Lionel Atwill, John Carradine, Dwight Frye, Rondo Hatton, Dick Miller, J. Carroll Naish, Maria Ouspenskaya, Glenn Strange, Edward Van Sloan, and George Zucco. Some are perhaps not so well known but equally at home in the horror and science fiction films--such as Anthony Carbone, Harry Cording, Rosemary La Planche, Dick Purcell, Elizabeth Russell and Mel Welles. The 96 entries are complete with a biography and in-depth analyses of the actor's best performances--demonstrating how important these personalities were to the success of their genre films.

Considered one of the greatest American authors, Nathaniel Hawthorne created a memorable body of literature. In Adapting Nathaniel Hawthorne to the Screen: Forging New Worlds, Laurence Raw demonstrates how filmmakers have turned to Hawthorne to comment on the nation's past, present, and future.From filmmakers who use Hawthorne's material to depict American life of the mid-19th century to those commenting on various aspects of 20th century American life such as the "Red Scare," Raw surveys the canon of adaptations produced over the last eight decades. Raw discusses adaptations of the short stories "Feathertop," "The Snow Image," "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," and "Rappacinni's Daughter," as well as the novels The House of Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter, providing unique insight into American history from a variety of perspectives.

Raw shows how changing priorities have affected the ways in which Henry James's novels have been translated to the screen, looking at everything from The Turn of the Screw and The Portrait of a Lady to The Wings of the Dove and The Haunting of Hell House.