I’m doing a bio of a British actress, and am trying to find overviews of British films stars of the 1940s and '50s. Can’t find anything decent—I used those book-search sites and bought “A Who’s Who of British Actors and Actresses” and “An Illustrated Who’s Who of British Films” and they both SUCK.
You can’t throw a brick without hitting all kinds of books on US films stars: by decade, by genre, by hair color for chrissakes. Does anyone know of a good book on old movie stars in the UK?
Eve says, “Does anyone know of a good book on old movie stars in the UK?”
Apparently not.
But giving this thread a bump might help it track on the radar of the after work posters.
Have you tried writing to a British library? Or surely London has a little bookstore secreted away somewhere that specializes in movie books; there are enough of those in the US.
Any English Dopers have a suggestion for who Eve should write to?
I could probably suggest lots of titles by browsing my local film and TV bookstore (North London), but I have no idea which ones are good or bad.
Sorry!
It depends on the stars. I have a couple of volumes of “The Great Movie Stars,” which does cover British stars fairly well, especially the second volume “The International Years.” Unfortunately, it’s pretty much a list of their films with little comments. You could probably find much of the same information at the Internet Movie Database (I’m not adding a link, since you probably already have it bookmarked. 
)
Have you tried Halliwell’s Filmgoer’s Companion? It contains potted biographies and filmographies of all the major stars (and some character actors) going back to the early years of cinema and has a distinctly British flavour.
They changed the title for the 2000 edition to Halliwell’s Who’s Who in the Movies. Here’s the Amazon link.
There’s also a book called Great British Character Actors which was published in the mid-1980s. I’ve lost my copy, I’m afraid, and it’s not listed on Amazon so I guess it’s out of print. It’s worth picking up if you see it second hand, though.
My first thought for a reference source was the TLS at : http://www.the-tls.co.uk/
Unfortunately they want a not unsubstantial sum for access to their back issues of book reviews – which is a shame.
I’d have a stab at: http://www.bfi.org.uk/
They do have the largest archive in Europe concerning film and the site has a range of resources. It’s also a charitable org so you might have a bit of luck if you e-mail them for suggestions. They also have a book review section.
This site has a discussion forum for ‘professional’ film makers. You might ask there, they seem enthusiastic: http://exposure.co.uk/
In your boots, I’d take a chance with a phone call to the bookshop at the NFT (National Film Thatre). About 8cents a minute but they will know what you’re looking for. The BFI link above is an org tied in with the NFT, the number will be there somewhere.
Any problems or no luck with the above, just post again. I’ll think on……
Who’s the actress ?
I dunno, how about David Thomson’s A Biographical Dictionary of Film? It’s a love it or hate it kind of book, because it doesn’t pretend to objectivity, but it may have the coverage you’re looking for. He also wrote Rosebud: The Story of Orson Welles, so your response to that book could determine how useful you’d find his Dictionary.
Thanks, all!
Unca—I’m pretty much a “hate it” gal when it comes to David Thomson.
London—I will try those links, thanks!
Tom—I’ll go to Lincoln Center and look at their Halliwell and see if it’s worth investing in. Sounds like the best bet so far!
Reality—I have all those “Great Movie Stars” books, but they only cover the major stars; I also need the minor players. They are great books, though, for what they are!
Matt—If you do happen to see any books that cover old British film stars (silents through WWII) that have, say, a photo, credits, brief bio, let me know!
Again, thanks all—I am putting the Teeming Millions in my acknowledgement page!