cover image The Universal Story

The Universal Story

Clive Hirschhorn. Hamlyn (UK), $50 (496pp) ISBN 978-0-600-59736-0

Film and theater critic Clive Hirschhorn tells the stories behind two major motion picture studios that epitomized the Golden Age of Hollywood in The Columbia Story and The Universal Story; he studies the works of these studios' tycoons and chronicles each film made, with numerous pictures and facts. Each year of the companies' existences is displayed showing the movies produced and reviews of the major films of that year. All the films that earned or were nominated for an Oscar appear in a timeline at the end of each book with specific award distinctions for the studio, from Columbia's It Happened One Night, Tootsie and The Shawshank Redemption to Universal's Dracula, ET and Jaws. These two volumes stand as excellent references for the powerhouses of American film. (Dec.)