David Meuel – författare

While John Ford (1894-1973) remains one of the most influential and revered directors in film history, he is also one of the most frequently misunderstood. One widespread assumption is that he was almost exclusively a man's director, dismissive of, or at best not well attuned to, the stories, perspectives and concerns of women.This book forthrightly challenges such an assumption, giving readers a richer understanding of the director's view of the world and of the women as well as the men who inhabit it. Taking a fresh look at dozens of Ford films, both familiar favorites and under-appreciated gems, it focuses on the complex and diverse female characters in them as well as the actresses who so ably portrayed them.

Beginning in the mid-1940s, the bleak, brooding mood of film noir began seeping into that most optimistic of film genres, the western. Story lines took on a darker tone and western films adopted classic noir elements of moral ambiguity, complex anti-heroes and explicit violence.The noir western helped set the standard for the darker science fiction, action and superhero films of today, as well as for acclaimed TV series such as HBO's Deadwood and AMC's Breaking Bad. This book covers the stylistic shift in westerns in mid-20th century Hollywood, offering close readings of the first noir westerns, along with revealing portraits of the eccentric and talented directors who brought the films to life.

Few organizations can afford all the specialized expertise and technology they need to respond nimbly to emerging needs, regardless of the type of clients they serve. As market demands grow increasingly complex and resources are strained, strategic alliances and joint ventures are becoming business as usual--not only within business sectors, but between them as well. When these alliances succeed, they open up whole new worlds for the participating partners: new products and services, new markets, access to resources, smarter ways of doing things. Building Strategic Relationships shows how successful alliances are launched, developed, and concluded--within the corporate world and between corporate entities and government or nonprofit institutions. The authors draw from more than two hundred interviews and seventy-five case studies of varied partnerships--including a customer-supplier alliance between a newspaper publisher and a newsprint supplier, a joint venture between a school district and a major accounting firm, and others--to provide perspective, guidance, and detailed case examples that will help progressive partners achieve their goals in all phases of partnership.

When the movie business adopted some of the ways of other big industries in 1920s America, women--who had been essential to the industry's early development--were systematically squeezed out of key behind-the-camera roles. Yet, as female producers and directors virtually disappeared for decades, a number of female film editors remained and rose to the top of their profession, sometimes wielding great power and influence.Their example inspired a later generation of women to enter the profession at mid-century, several of whom were critical to revolutionizing filmmaking in the 1960s and 1970s with contributions to such classics as Bonnie and Clyde, Jaws and Raging Bull. Focusing on nine of these women and presenting shorter glimpses of nine others, this book tells their captivating personal stories and examines their professional achievements.

This is a history and critical appreciation of an unusually fertile period for the production of great or near-great silent films: late 1927 through early 1929, in the midst of the tumult and upheaval of Hollywood's transition from silent to sound. The book offers in-depth looks at several of the best of these films and discusses the gifted artists such as Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Lillian Gish who helped bring them to life, even as the art they had taken to remarkable heights was about to be obliterated. It depicts some of the silent medium's most talented filmmakers and their efforts--in the face of inescapable technological change--to give their dying art a rousing last hurrah.

Joan Crawford's contribution to film noir during the 1940s and 1950s, though rarely discussed in its totality, is one of her most impressive and far-reaching career achievements. Several of her noir and noir-tinged efforts contain arguably her best acting work, and all bear her personal stamp. These aren't conventional film noirs, they are Joan Crawford noirs: highly distinctive films that extended the boundaries of noir content and brought added depth and dimension to the noir style. Unlike most actors who routinely adapted to the needs of particular film projects and directors, she approached each film, first and foremost, as a Joan Crawford vehicle, often exerting great control over multiple production functions and at times operating as a de facto producer.Examining these films as a collective and relatively cohesive body of work, this book highlights what Crawford aspired to achieve in her art, how--when the circumstances were right--she could deliver superb results, how she helped expand the possibilities for noir, and why the best of her efforts speak across the decades with such intensity and authority.