You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet: The American Talking Film, History and Memory, 1927-1949

by Andrew Sarris

Book Overview

Andrew Sarris has long been one of America's most celebrated writers on film, author of the seminal work The American Cinema, and for decades a highly regarded critic, first for The Village Voice and more recently for The New York Observer. Now comes Sarris's definitive statement on film, in a
masterwork that has taken 25 years to complete.
Here is a sweeping--and highly personal--history of American film, from the birth of the talkies (beginning...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195038835
• ISBN13: 9780195038835
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 592 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

superb

This is a magnificent book - Sarris' love for movies and his beautiful writing make reading it a joy. It is selective and very personal, and is filled with the authors reflections based on years of watching and rewatching old Hollywood movies.The book should not be regarded as a complete survey of the talking film from 1927 to 1949. The early part of the book seems to have been pulled together from various other pieces Sarris has written, as there is repetition of information and key phrases. Some of the pieces seem sketchy or unresolved - for example, his piece on Vivien Leigh seems to be a juxtaposition of a brief glowing tribute and a review of Gone With the Wind - with little reference to her other movies. Sometimes his languange is a little opaque, or his interpretations occasionally seem tenuous. But despite these flaws, I give the book 5 stars for the richness of it's beautiful language and the wealth of fascinating information. This is a book to ignite a passion for old movies.I only wish Sarris hadn't limited himself to the 1927-1949 period - in the section on the pantheon directors, I often wanted him to continue his survey into the 50s and beyond.This guy is a treasure, and any of his books, including out of print ones, should be eagerly consumed by film buffs.

A Subjective But Knowledgable Perspective

This is a book for film buffs. It is chock full of opinions, many of which you may disagree with. So what? Sarris examines a wide range of subjects (covering the 1927-1949 timeframe) which are organized within five chapters:The Hollywood Studios ["The Golden Age" at MGM, Paramount, Warner Brothers, 20th-Century-Fox, RKO, Universal, and Columbia]Genres [eg the musical, gangster film, the horror film, the screwball comedy, the western, the film noir, the war film]Directors [eg Chaplin, Ford, Hitchcock, Hawks, Welles, Sturges, Wilder, Capra, and Stevens] Actors and Actresses [eg Garbo, Cagney, Bogart, Davis, Grant, Bergman, Harlow, Fields, the Marx Brothers, Tracy and Hepburn, and Gable and Lombard]Guilty Pleasures [eg the "B" picture] Sarris then provides four appendices: Academy Award nominations and winners (1927-1949), New York Critics Circle Awards (1935-1949), Best Directors (1927-1949), and Best Performances (1929-1949). The various lists are interesting but the book's greatest appeal derives from the comprehensive coverage of 22 years of the American talking film's history in combination with Sarris' own opinions about most of those who created that history.I highly recommend this book to film buffs, not as a definitive history of the period (there is none) nor as the single best source of film criticism (there is none); rather, as a collection of thoughtful, generally well-written essays which inform as well as entertain. If you are a film buff and if, after reading this book you are motivated to see films you have not as yet seen or to see once again films you last saw years ago, Sarris will have achieved what seems to be his primary objective.

A Great Book For Film Buffs

This is a comprehensive survey of the early years of the American sound film. You may not always agree with the author (I don't always) but he is always worth reading and is never dull. Sarris is excellent on all manner of film genres, stars, directors, etc. He is a key writer on John Ford and on Alfred Hitchcock, for example. You cannot often predict which way he will go and he does seem to have slightly modified his previous auteur (director is the author of the film) theories, derived from French critics- he acknowledges the influence of actors in some instances more than before. I love this book!

A Great Book For Film Buffs

This is a comprehensive survey of the early years of the American sound film. You may not always agree with the author (I don't always) but he is always worth reading and is never dull. Sarris is excellent on all manner of film genres, stars, directors, etc. He is a key writer on John Ford and on Alfred Hitchcock, for example. You cannot often predict which way he will go and he does seem to have slightly modified his previous auteur (director is the author of the film) theories, derived from French critics- he acknowledges the influence of actors in some instances more than before. I love this book!

Original, readable movie history.

Sarris, a writer for the Village Voice among other publications, brings wisdom, wit, and love for the medium to this highly entertaining history of "talkies" from their inception to the decline of the studio system. After a brief survey of the major studios and an enlightening discussion of genres, the author focuses on the work of the great directors, and, of course, the stars; evaluated affectionately but not uncritically. His appreciation of Garbo alone is worth the price of admission. He concludes with a chapter on "Guilty Pleasures" in which he admits to his weakness for "culturally defenseless" pictures and figures. Sarris' writing, sparkling with original insights on every page, is warm and affectionate and wonderfully free of the academic jargoneering which disfigures so much film criticism. Highly recommended for the serious film buff, and the casual browser alike. (The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)