The International encyclopedia of film;

As a young teen in the early 70s, I was quite a dedicated fan of American film and film history. I was given The International Encyclopedia of Film for Christmas one year (probably '72) and since I hadn't ask for it or really know what is was, after the perfunctory thumbing through the pages and the initial 'this is great' thank you's, it sat on the shelf for several months. As you must of guessed, I finally got around to opening it one evening. The first thing that struck me was the level of detail and scope it achieved in trying to chronicle the complete history of the movies into 550 large format pages. By necessity it had to be hit and miss. But the hits were vastly different from most film books published in America at the time. While firmly focused on the American and to some degree British film industry, there was significant information on Italian, French, German, Spanish, Indian and Russian Film history as well, with numerous images to add context. In fact, the book contains thousands of pictures overall (black and white and about 40 full color pages). Another strikingly different aspect of this book is that it consistently detailed the technical aspects of film making. While not in anyway a textbook, the books brief descriptions of the movies making process, systematically remind you that there is a 'how-to' to making movies as well. Of Particular note is an expanded explanation of the development of color film processes from the beginning through Technicolor, complete with beautifully full color pages showing various aspect ratios and film size examples. I've never seem anything like it in a non-technical book before or since. But the main reason I am writing this review is that upon re-reading it this week for the first time in 25 years, I realize it's greatest strength and biggest appeal is that taken into historical context, this is a snap shot of the complete history of the national and international movie industry circa 1970-71. Pre-Star Wars, Pre-Titanic, Pre-Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro. No Copolla, No Lucas, No Spielberg. And even though it had already been made, no Godfather to speak of. Brando yes, but Pacino, Duvall, Keaton? No, No. No. Even Nicholson didn't make the cut. It was a different world then and sadly, there will be some, even a lot of it, you've never seen or heard of before. Important films that are now lost and simply footnotes in history. People you've never heard of that in 1970 were important enough in the history of the business to merit a mention and definition. To it's credit, The International Encyclopedia of International Film still deserves a place on every entertainment writer or fact checkers desk. After all, if you call yourself a film historian, you need to know that Una Merkel and Thelma Ritter were not just pretty faces. PS.. You'll never get my copy, but I see that the marketplace shops still have copies at really low prices - if you've read all the way d