Books in the Wisconsin Film Studies series

Escape Artist--based on Glenn Lovell's extensive interviews with John Sturges, his wife and children, and numerous stars including Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, and Jane Russell--is the first biography of the director of such acclaimed films as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, and Bad Day at Black Rock.

William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was one of the most prominent and productive authors of the twentieth century-and his works have been among the most cinematically transformed in history. For more than five decades, adaptations of his plays, stories, and novels dominated movie theaters and, later, television screens. More than ninety individual works were filmed, and for many filmgoers his name was a greater draw than that of the director. Works such as Of Human Bondage, "The Letter," The Painted Veil, "Rain," The Razor's Edge, and others were produced multiple times, with starring roles sought by actors like Bette Davis, Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo, Lionel Barrymore, Charles Laughton, and Bill Murray.This study of the famous author explores the relationship between literature and film, what is involved in adaptation, and how best to judge films based on celebrated books. Robert Calder, the world's leading scholar of Maugham's work, offers fascinating production histories, insight into both fortunate and misguided casting decisions, shrewd analyses of performances and film techniques, and summaries of public and critical responses. Maugham's characters were often conflicted, iconoclastic, and morally out of step with their times, which may have accounted for the popularity of his fiction. Most of Maugham's works could be adapted to satisfy the tastes of moviegoers and the demands of the Hays Office censors, if not the expectations of their author.

John Williams has penned some of the most unforgettable film scores - while netting more than fifty Academy Award nominations. This updated edition of Emilio Audissino's groundbreaking volume takes stock of Williams's creative process and achievements, including the most recent sequels in the film franchises that made him famous.

Examining the vanguard of New Turkish Cinema, Laurence Raw shows how these films reveal the effects of profound socio economic change on ordinary people in contemporary Turkey. Raw interleaves his film discussion with thoughtful commentary on nationalism, gender, personal identity, and cultural pluralism.