Books by Philip Leibfried

This is the HARDBACK version. Among the top child stars of the 1930s and 1940s was a former stable boy from southern India, the only star with a single name - Sabu. Born Selar Shaik in 1924, he vaulted to stardom in his first film, a British production entitled Elephant Boy (1937). For the next decade he either starred or was featured in several finely crafted adventure films, including the fantasy favorite The Thief of Bagdad (1940) and the definitive version of Rudyard Kipling's perennially popular Jungle Book (1942). Adapting to modern western ways proved remarkably easy due to his above average intelligence and innate charm. After moving to America, the popular performer became a U.S. citizen in 1944, and did his bit for the war effort as a belly gunner, seeing action in the Pacific theater. In the post-war years Sabu's career began its inevitable decline. Fantasy and exotic adventure films were not as popular as during the war, and Hollywood studios found the dark-skinned actor difficult to cast. In the early 1950s he journeyed to Europe, appearing in a pair of Italian films and two circuses. Sabu next made a triumphant return to his homeland where he acted in one film and tested for another. Returning to America, the still young actor was seen in some minor films and one final foreign film made in Germany. After appearing in a Disney film, India's first and most enduring international movie star passed away suddenly of a heart attack in December 1963, leaving behind an exceptional legacy of memorable motion pictures and an image of radiant youthfulness.

A study of the career of the only Asian-American actress to have achieved stardom during Hollywood's Golden Age, this book provides a filmography including critical commentary as well as standard cast and technical credits, synopses, and newspaper and magazine reviews, plus information on her early life.

Arguably the most famous fighting organization of all time, the French Foreign Legion's fame is largely due to the motion pictures that used it as a subject. Well over one hundred films have been made since the first two-reelers in 1912. They have been produced in a number of countries, mostly in the United States and France, but also in Europe and as far afield as China and Turkey. The Legion itself saw action in many nations, having its origins in the imperialist nineteenth century. Beginning in Morocco and Algeria, units of the Legion later were sent to Mexico and Vietnam, then known as French Indo-China. Novels and stage plays about the Foreign Legion began to appear in the late nineteenth century, and were followed by motion pictures in the second decade of the twentieth. Eventually, many leading names of the film industry, such as Gary Cooper, Ronald Colman and Marlene Dietrich, would appear in Foreign Legion films in both the silent and sound eras. Cartoon characters like Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny appeared in animated films, for not even the French Foreign Legion could escape being satirized.Radio and television productions about the famed fighting force followed in due course, as did a number of documentaries. Films featuring the Spanish Foreign Legion are also included here. All media productions through 2007 are listed chronologically in their various sub-topics in this volume.

Among the top child stars of the 1930s and 1940s was a former stable boy from southern India, the only star with a single name - Sabu. Born Selar Shaik in 1924, he vaulted to stardom in his first film, a British production entitled Elephant Boy (1937). For the next decade he either starred or was featured in several finely crafted adventure films, including the fantasy favorite The Thief of Bagdad (1940) and the definitive version of Rudyard Kipling's perennially popular Jungle Book (1942). Adapting to modern western ways proved remarkably easy due to his above average intelligence and innate charm.After moving to America, the popular performer became a U.S. citizen in 1944, and did his bit for the war effort as a belly gunner, seeing action in the Pacific theater. In the post-war years Sabu's career began its inevitable decline. Fantasy and exotic adventure films were not as popular as during the war, and Hollywood studios found the dark-skinned actor difficult to cast.In the early 1950s he journeyed to Europe, appearing in a pair of Italian films and two circuses. Sabu next made a triumphant return to his homeland where he acted in one film and tested for another. Returning to America, the still young actor was seen in some minor films and one final foreign film made in Germany.After appearing in a Disney film, India's first and most enduring international movie star passed away suddenly of a heart attack in December 1963, leaving behind an exceptional legacy of memorable motion pictures and an image of radiant youthfulness.