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| Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood (Unabridged) | 
 enlarge | Author: Mark Harris
Publisher: audible.com
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $15.74
You Save: $14.25 (48%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Media: Audio Download
ASIN: B00169X1J6
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Product Description
The New York Times bestseller that follows the making of five films at a pivotal time in Hollywood history
In the mid-1960s, westerns, war movies, and blockbuster musicals like Mary Poppins swept the box office. The Hollywood studio system was astonishingly lucrative for the few who dominated the business. That is, until the tastes of American moviegoers radically and unexpectedlychanged. By the Oscar ceremonies of 1968, a cultural revolution had hit Hollywood with the force of a tsunami, and films like Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Guess Whos Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, and box-office bomb Doctor Doolittle signaled a change in Hollywoodand America. And as an entire industry changed and struggled, careers were suddenly made and ruined, studios grew and crumbled, and the landscape of filmmaking was altered beyond all recognition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 A cultural and film making revolution dissected February 24, 2008
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
I am a bit of Hollywood history buff and it is wonderful having a number of books on the subject out right now (check out Misfits Country). In this well written and excellently researched book the author takes the reader back to 1967 and analyzes the five nominees for best picture and there reflection and effects on society in at that momentous time of change. The Movies are: "The Graduate (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (40th Anniversary Edition)," "Bonnie and Clyde," "In the Heat of the Night (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)" and "Doctor Dolittle." Aside from being a great walk down memory lane it is also full of insightful social commentary. The sixties were a special time of social change and the movies and the movies of that decade reflected and effected this change on so many levels. I would love to see the author expand on this in another book that might take on the best movies of the decade. And do try Misfits Country an excellent read that is a behind the scenes look at the making of the classic movie The Misfits!
The Year 1967 in Movies February 16, 2008
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
Mr. Harris has taken the five Best Picture nominees for the 1967 Oscars and pin-point that year as the fall of the studios. Two films dealt with racism ("Guess Who's Is Coming To Dinner," and "In the Heat of the Night") in very differnet ways, one with sexuality and changing morals ("The Graduate"), another with amoral violence ("Bonnie and Cycle") while the last picture attempted to be another Hollywood musical ("Dr. Dolittle.") This was the year that independent film-making and European influences reached a critical mass against the static studio machine.
Ironically Sidney Poitier was shut out for a Best Actor Oscar with three brilliant performances, two of them in the Best Picture category. These little tidbits are found in the book that follows the five movies from pre-production to the Oscar. The narrative is quite readable and the behind the scenes stories are interesting and amusing. Mr. Harris should pick out other landmark years and repeat the process. This book is a must for any movie fan.
Superb! February 18, 2008
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is one of the best-written books on film I've read in a long time. It is detailed, entertainingly easy to read, and full of facts. Harris has taken 5 films and details them brilliantly. The only qualm I would have is that of the 5 1967 Best Picture nominees, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" seems to have been shortchanged in terms of space given in the book. Not to say he doesn't cover it, but we know "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Graduate," "In the Heat of the Night," and "Doctor Dolittle" backwards and forwards by the book's end, but to me, it seemed "Dinner"'s facts weren't as fully covered. This is minor, if you love Oscar-winning films and histories of filmmaking, READ THIS BOOK!
damn this was good February 18, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
i tore through this huge book in a couple of hours. god, the memories it brought back. i was 12 in 1967 but my very liberal parents took me to or let me see these movies and it was thrilling to read about them again. i loved them all except Doolittle and it was even fun in a Schadenfruede kind of way to read about that train wreck of a movie. Page after page of wonderful anecdotes about these movie that were able to derail the big studio system and for a brief while, Hollywood made strange and daring movies until Star Wars came around and destroyed the whole thing. But take a look at this years five nominees and you will have hope for movies as they are all worthy and good examples of smart movies getting made again. we need another revolution like the Graduate/Bonnie and Clyde thing and it might be happening with No Country/There Will be Blood movies.
Boola Boola February 19, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
Boola! Boola! Kudos to Mr. Harris for the right book at the right time: full of insight and engrossing anecdote: many thanks for a well-written book.
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