Movie Love in the Fifties

Although I agree that, for some film fans, Harvey's analysis can be infuriating, this text is one of the more engrossing studies I've come across in recent years. But you should pick it up and browse the chapters to see if the actors, films, and directors he selects are ones that you'd like to read about. Being a huge fan of the majority of the works he does choose to focus on, I find this book to be a valuable companion. His chapter on Out of the Past is entertaining and informative and I love all the attention he gives to Nicholas Ray and Douglas Sirk.

I think Harvey's "Romantic Comedy" is one of the best books ever written on Hollywood films, so I really looked forward to reading "Movie Love." I was not disappointed. The new book is as thoughtful and well-written as the previous book. My only complaint is that "Movie Love" is not chronologically organized.Harvey sets up an opposition between traditional Hollywood cinema and the "new realism" of the Fifties. He comes down in favor of the traditional filmmaking of Douglas Sirk, Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Siodmak, as opposed to the emotionalism of, say, "East of Eden" or other movies influenced by "Method" actors.Reading "Movie Love in the Fifties" is like listening to a wonderfully informed person talk about the movies he is enthusiastic about. Harvey's style is free of academic jargon, and he makes you remember that people went to movies because they were fun. I found myself dying to see "Vertigo" and "Written on the Wind" again after reading this book, and Harvey has persuaded me that I've got to track down and see "Christmas Holiday," "Lured," and "Imitation of Life" now.