Book Review

You Must Remember This is a heavy book - not heavy intellectually, but physically, like a coffee-table book. It may not be "intellectual," but in addition to being nostalgic and entertaining, it is informative.

Richard Schickel is the author of over 30 books, the creator of documentary films, and a movie reviewer for Life and Time. George Perry is an author, broadcaster, and former film editor. They collaborated on the mini series to which this is a companion volume.

It is subtitled "The Warner Brothers Story" and gives the history of the studio chronologically. Leading each chapter is a detailed account of the careers of the owners, directors, stars, and lesser lights who made the company successful and entertained the nation. The authors do not leave out the scandals surrounding the Warner brothers themselves or the typical Hollywood stories that may remind the reader of the old movie magazines. (Today the movies have to share the limelight with television and music figures.)

Schickel states that in Hollywood's "classic age," the 1930s and 1940s, Warner Brothers was the working class studio. It featured a degree of social consciousness, and the endings were not always happy. Among his examples are Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. Clint Eastwood wrote a foreword for the book, and continues the "bleak" outlook in Million Dollar Baby and Letters from Iwo Jima.

We can read sketches about significant movies over the years, from The Jazz Singer to Batman Begins. Most people who are interested in this book will already know some of the actors' stories, but many biographical selections are included: Bette Davis, James Cagney, James Dean, George Clooney, and many more. A favorite may be the star who saved the studio from bankruptcy after World War I. His name was Rin Tin Tin, a dog who was found on the battlefield and brought home to fame and fortune.

Unfortunately, none of Rin Tin Tin's movies have survived, but there are charming shots of him here, in his own chair and being directed by his trainer. The pictures are, of course, the best part of the book for most of us.

The text is well-written and absorbing; however, this is a visual medium that we are talking about, and we do, indeed, remember this.

You Must Remember This is available at the Mary Willis Library.