Simon Louvish
Autore di Stanlio e Ollio
Sull'Autore
Simon Louvish is a biographer of comedians and author of satirical and outrageous fiction. He is a film screenwriter and teaches film at the London Film School.
Fonte dell'immagine: Simon Louvish
Opere di Simon Louvish
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Data di nascita
- 1947
- Sesso
- male
- Luogo di nascita
- Glasgow, Scotland, UK
- Luogo di residenza
- Israel
- Istruzione
- London School of Film Technique
- Attività lavorative
- biographer
novelist - Organizzazioni
- London Film School
- Breve biografia
- SIMON LOUVISH was born in Glasgow in 1947 and grew up in Israel. Later he decamped to the London School of Film Technique, where he became involved in the production of a series of independent documentary films. He also published a memoir of his Israeli days as well as a series of novels set mainly in the Middle East. Since 1979, he has also been teaching film at the London Film School and writing for various newspapers and magazines. Louvish is the author of definitive biographies of great clowns of screen comedy, including Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Story of W. C. Fields, Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of the Marx Brothers, and Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy. Further film biographies include Keystone: The Life and Clowns of Mack Sennet, Mae West: It Ain't No Sin, and Cecil B. DeMille: A Life in Art. [from us.macmillan.com]
Utenti
Recensioni
Coffee with Groucho (Coffee with...Series) di Simon Louvish
This is an odd book with a fictional conversation with Groucho. Interestingly, he did say most of this, just not to the author. He said it in other interviews and such so this was his voice for sure.
Very well researched bio of the leading film comedy team of all time - Laurel and Hardy. The book goes into quite a bit of detail about their lives and their films. I learned much from the book and found it easy to read and at times, hard to put down. My only complaint is that the photographs are not very clear but very dark and it is hard to discern what is in some of them. For anyone who wants to know about Stan and Ollie - this is the book for you!
This well-researched overview of Laurel and Hardy's career suffers from the fact that neither Stan nor Ollie led remarkable or extravagant lives. Unlike Chaplin, Keaton or Arbuckle there is neither grandiosity, decline nor scandal to report – merely a lot of hard work. Laurel and Hardy's contribution twentieth century culture is enormous, so it is reassuring not to have it eroded by any off-screen failings; the 'Louella Parsons' side of their lives is addressed (and gossip is sometimes scotched) but not given undue importance. Louvish succeeds in collecting and evaluating the often unreliable accounts of events – whether inflated by studio publicity or misremembered by elderly moguls – and reducing them to what is verifiable as fact. He is less successful when he lets his own imagination fill in the gaps, such as his ex nihilo assertion that the young Hardy was a local outcast because of his weight. Apart from this small complaint (and the occasional unwelcome intrusion of 'theory'), Stan and Ollie gives a balanced account of a the career of the screen's greatest comedy team.… (altro)
A comprehensive overview of the Marx Brothers that doesn't forget what Gummo and Zeppo brought to the show.
The pursuit of the truth is a goal of this book, but the author is honest that you can't always know. When he can't sort it out, he presents different stories, from different people's memories, and lets the reader sort it out.
It seems you get the warts-and-all look at the brothers, and it's not all attractive.
For example, Groucho is largely blamed for his wives' alcoholism, saying that was their only respite from his verbal abuse. This is at odds with another book on Groucho that I've read, and reviewed, called Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx. Which is the truth? I don't know.
Ultimately, what we should take away from the Marx Brothers is the terrific films - and the not-so-good ones, too - that are their legacy and gift.
Read more of my reviews on Ralphsbooks. … (altro)
The pursuit of the truth is a goal of this book, but the author is honest that you can't always know. When he can't sort it out, he presents different stories, from different people's memories, and lets the reader sort it out.
It seems you get the warts-and-all look at the brothers, and it's not all attractive.
For example, Groucho is largely blamed for his wives' alcoholism, saying that was their only respite from his verbal abuse. This is at odds with another book on Groucho that I've read, and reviewed, called Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx. Which is the truth? I don't know.
Ultimately, what we should take away from the Marx Brothers is the terrific films - and the not-so-good ones, too - that are their legacy and gift.
Read more of my reviews on Ralphsbooks. … (altro)
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Statistiche
- Opere
- 21
- Utenti
- 829
- Popolarità
- #30,792
- Voto
- 3.8
- Recensioni
- 11
- ISBN
- 69
- Lingue
- 3