King Vidor on Filmmaking (1972)

 

King Vidor is unquestionably one of the greatest American filmmakers of all time. His run of films during the late silent era still remains unmatched today (The Big Parade (1925), La Bohème (1926), Bardelys the Magnificent (1926), The Crowd (1928), The Patsy (1928), Show People (1928)). These are movies that still remain as fresh, powerful, moving, funny and entertaining today as they were back then. They also hold their own with any great movie in the years afterwards. This does not mean his talkie work should be dismissed as it includes some real classics as well (The Champ (1931), Our Daily Bread (1934), Stella Dallas (1937), Duel in the Sun (1946), The Fountainhead (1949), Ruby Gentry (1952)). Because of this a book written by him about the filmmaking process is indispensable. 

Though the intended audience for this book is aspiring filmmakers, this book holds just as indispensable to movie buffs who never plan to make their own films. Reading how one of the greatest filmmakers of all time approached filmmaking is endless fascinating for movie lovers. Not only does he discuss all of the technical aspects of filmmaking in great depth, but he offers his own insight into how these aspects should be used. He even lets us know how many classic scenes in his films were shot. He gives his own examples of films where that he feels where made very well and why the technical aspects worked in those movies. This even includes his opinions on "modern" movies (this book was written in the 1970's) and how films have changed over the years. Unlike many filmmakers from his era, he welcomed this new era of filmmaking that was occurring. He even speaks highly of the rise of various arthouse and foreign movies. There are many more highlights here including a chapter where he talks about many of the famous actors and actresses, he worked with over the years. 

However, what truly makes this book special is the way it is written. As technical as this book gets, the writing style is quite casual, accessible and personal. The result is that the book feels like you are talking directly to the great filmmaker. Because of this by the end of the book, you don't only feel like you know more about filmmaking but that you know the writer himself. For fans of King Vidor, this makes this book feel incredibly worthwhile.