Ron Briley Review of Parody as Film Genre Never Give a Saga an Even Break

Book Reviews | Regular Feature son provides a comparison ofthe two major Lincoln films which ended the decade of the 30'due south—Abe Lincoln in Illinois and Immature Mr. Lincoln. The text concludes with three exhaustive lists chronologically detailing the names and credits associated with Lincoln in films, on television receiver, and in assorted venues. If, like Terry O'Quinn in his lead function in the movie The Stepfather, you lot are obsessively looking for "a little club," you lot won't find it here. Thompson'south loose knit structure and affiliate contents most defy description. The chapter dealing with the "slap-up Lincoln impersonators" fails to mention Henry Fonda, despite the author'south opinion that Young Mr. Lincoln "must exist considered amidst the greatest of Lincoln films" and that not only was Fonda "perfectly cast," only "his performance is flawless." Similarly, onewonders whythe authorchoseto practise aseparatechapter on D. W. Griffith and not John Ford, whom he describes every bit "the movie house's greatest poet," particularly when he clearly is astoundedby the critics' acclamation ofGriffith's but true Lincoln film, Abraham Lincoln. The apparent haphazard organisation of the book makes specific information more difficult to find and contributes to a sure level of redundancy—as when Thompson repeats almost verbatim the story of Henry Fonda'southward reluctance to accept the proffered office of Lincoln in Immature Mr. Lincoln. Despite the apparent lack of "order," Thompson manages to exist deceptively thorough in his coverage ofthe subject, and to do so in an entertaining fashion. Peradventure it is just this depression key sense of organization which makes the book every bit impressive as it is; like a tour guide who seems to be lost, Thompson seems to be leading frantically all over the map just somehow he manages to become you to your destination with the added benefits of seeing a few unexpected breathtaking wonders which were not in the brochure. It is only in looking dorsum that you realize he knew what he was doing all along. Like a Monet painting, if yous look at it also closely information technology appears to exist a mass ofconfusion; it is but when you lot expect at itfrom across theroomthat you can appreciate the method in the madness. Frank Thompson clearly favors the poetic over the historical interpretations of Lincoln. William Paquette Tidewater Community College TCPAQUW@tc.cc.va.the states Wes D. Gehring. Parody as Motion-picture show Genre: Never Give a Saga an Fifty-fifty Break. Greenwood Press, 1999. 223 pages; $60.00. Why Don't You Come and Read Me Old? Space is not the terminal frontier. Film is! That is exactly how I felt after reading Wes Gehring's Parody as Film Genre. Each chapter was a trip at warp speed to a moon surrounding planet Parody in a galaxy far, far abroad where Gehring beamed me down to Star Wars space bars of familiars and aliens from Hollywood's past. The knowledge imparted was similar a shooting star, shower-brilliant, only at times overwhelming. Beam me up, Wes, my circuits are on overload! Wes Gehring, a Ball Country Academy film professor, brings a deep dearest ofmotion pictures and extensive writing on the field of study and some of its stars to this project. In what could take been a literary quagmire by a less skilled writer, Gehring, writes a logical, sequential guided tour through the seven characteristics of parody, the distinctions between parody and satire, and the cultural movements that have shaped filmmaking. However , as well as the subject is covered, the reader benefits if he comes to this bookwith a goodknowledge ofthe titles discussed or rents some of the titles reviewed earlier continuing a affiliate or going on to the next. What I really liked about this book was Gehring's inclusion of gimmicky film reviews, detailed footnotes with references , and the all-encompassing bibliography. I was comforted by the noesis that moving picture critics sometimes missed the multifaceted meanings ofa screenplay'south parody when it was released. In fact, some photodramas and actors went unappreciated for decades merely to exist rediscovered every bit cultural icons past later generations . A case in bespeak is Bob Hope. I had always perceived Hope, Dorothy Lamour, and Bing Crosby as nothing more than than a comedie 1930s edition of Modern...

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Source: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/400722/summary