Overview

Marilyn Ann Moss's Giant examines the life of one of the most influential directors to work in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1960s. George Stevens directed such popular and significant films as Shane, Giant, A Place in the Sun, and The Diary of Anne Frank. He was the first to pair Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy on film in Woman of the Year. Through the study of Stevens's life and his production history, Moss also presents a glimpse of the workings of the classic Hollywood studio system in its glory days. Moss documents Stevens's role as a powerful director who often had to battle the heads of major studios to get his films made his way. She traces the four decades Stevens was a major Hollywood player and icon, from his earliest days at the Hal Roach Studios - where he learned to be a cameraman, writer, and director for Laurel and Hardy features - up to when his films made millions at the box office and were graced by actors such as Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Alan Ladd, and Montgomery Clift.

Full Product Details

9780299204303

Table of Contents

Reviews

Stevens is not so well remembered today. Perhaps that's because he didn't work the self-promotion angle as well as his contemporaries. Or perhaps it's because he broke enough budgets and schedules to have gotten himself crossed off the canonical list of the greats, on which only the budget- and schedule-breaking Orson Welles still has much of a place these days. On that score alone, film journalist Marilyn Ann Moss does a fine turn for Stevens in Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film by calling attention to the influential work he did throughout five decades in Hollywood. . . . Moss honors the innovative storyteller who, it seems, had trouble finding his way but who merits reconsideration. An engaging book. -- The Hollywood Reporter <br>

Stevens is not so well remembered today. Perhaps that's because he didn't work the self-promotion angle as well as his contemporaries. Or perhaps it's because he broke enough budgets and schedules to have gotten himself crossed off the canonical list of the greats, on which only the budget- and schedule-breaking Orson Welles still has much of a place these days. On that score alone, film journalist Marilyn Ann Moss does a fine turn for Stevens in Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film by calling attention to the influential work he did throughout five decades in Hollywood. . . . Moss honors the innovative storyteller who, it seems, had trouble finding his way but who merits reconsideration. An engaging book. -- The Hollywood Reporter Moss has done a sensational job with Giant, She has accessed the extensive files in the George Stevens Collection at the Academy Library, so her primary research is impeccable. She gives us both production histories and critical analysis of the films, and also does an estimable job of capturing Stevens' rather cryptic character. Along with Robert Birchard's volume on Cecil B. DeMille, this is the best director bio of 2004. -- The National Board of Review At a time when Hollywood is so disappointing, it is good to recall that once there were giants who thought of filmmaking beyond moneymaking. George Stevens stood tall among them with a fascinating life and stellar career. Marilyn Moss has written Giant with a clarity, elegance, and humanity that echoes his great films. --Patrick McGilligan, Edgar-nominated author, Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light Stevens is not so well remembered today. Perhaps that's because he didn't work the self-promotion angle as well as his contemporaries. Or perhaps it's because he broke enough budgets and schedules to have gotten himself crossed off the canonical list of the greats, on which only the budget- and schedule-breaking Orson Welles still has much of a place these days. On that score alone, film journalist Marilyn Ann Moss does a fine turn for Stevens in Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film by calling attention to the influential work he did throughout five decades in Hollywood. . . . Moss honors the innovative storyteller who, it seems, had trouble finding his way but who merits reconsideration. An engaging book. -- The Hollywood Reporter Ms. Moss' Giant is the first biography of Stevens, so it's a very welcome addition to the bookshelf, even if, by itself, it's unlikely to reverse decades of critical drift. --Scott Eyman, New York Observer Moss' work is extensive and draws on the huge George Stevens Collection at the Academy's Beverly Hills Library. She balances her findings there with comments from many of the director's friends and provides penetrating insights of her own. . . . Stevens constitutes a vast, nearly impossible subject and it's to Moss' supreme credit that she gets so much of what makes him unique. --culturevulture.net Moss has done a sensational job with Giant . She has accessed the extensive files in the George Stevens Collection at the Academy Library, so her primary research is impeccable. She gives us both production histories and critical analysis of the films, and also does an estimable job of capturing Stevens' rather cryptic character. Along with Robert Birchard's volume on Cecil B. DeMille, this is the best director bio of 2004. -- The National Board of Review At a time when Hollywood is so disappointing, it is good to recall that once there were giants who thought of filmmaking beyond moneymaking. George Stevens stood tall among them with a fascinating life and stellar career. Marilyn Moss has written Giant with a clarity, elegance, and humanity that echoes his great films. --Patrick McGilligan, Edgar-nominated author, Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light Moss has done a sensational job with Giant. She has accessed the extensive files in the George Stevens Collection at the Academy Library, so her primary research is impeccable. She gives us both production histories and critical analysis of the films, and also does an estimable job of capturing Stevens' rather cryptic character. Along with Robert Birchard's volume on Cecil B. DeMille, this is the best director bio of 2004. -- The National Board of Review Stevens is not so well remembered today. Perhaps that's because he didn't work the self-promotion angle as well as his contemporaries. Or perhaps it's because he broke enough budgets and schedules to have gotten himself crossed off the canonical list of the greats, on which only the budget- and schedule-breaking Orson Welles still has much of a place these days. On that score alone, film journalist Marilyn Ann Moss does a fine turn for Stevens in Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film by calling attention to the influential work he did throughout five decades in Hollywood. . . . Moss honors the innovative storyteller who, it seems, had trouble finding his way but who merits reconsideration. An engaging book. The Hollywood Reporter Ms. Moss' Giant is the first biography of Stevens, so it's a very welcome addition to the bookshelf, even if, by itself, it's unlikely to reverse decades of critical drift. Scott Eyman, New York Observer Moss' work is extensive and draws on the huge George Stevens Collection at the Academy's Beverly Hills Library. She balances her findings there with comments from many of the director's friends and provides penetrating insights of her own. . . . Stevens constitutes a vast, nearly impossible subject and it's to Moss' supreme credit that she gets so much of what makes him unique. culturevulture.net Moss has done a sensational job with Giant. She has accessed the extensive files in the George Stevens Collection at the Academy Library, so her primary research is impeccable. She gives us both production histories and critical analysis of the films, and also does an estimable job of capturing Stevens rather cryptic character. Along with Robert Birchard s volume on Cecil B. DeMille, this is the best director bio of 2004. The National Board of Review At a time when Hollywood is so disappointing, it is good to recall that once there were giants who thought of filmmaking beyond moneymaking. George Stevens stood tall among them with a fascinating life and stellar career. Marilyn Moss has written Giant with a clarity, elegance, and humanity that echoes his great films. Patrick McGilligan, Edgar-nominated author, Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light

<p> Moss' work is extensive and draws on the huge George Stevens Collection at the Academy's Beverly Hills Library. She balances her findings there with comments from many of the director's friends and provides penetrating insights of her own. . . . Stevens constitutes a vast, nearly impossible subject and it's to Moss' supreme credit that she gets so much of what makes him unique. --culturevulture.net

Author Information

Marilyn Ann Moss is a film historian and a scholar of literature. A television critic for The Hollywood Reporter, she lives in Los Angeles. This is her first book.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available