A scene from "The Red Badge of Courage," the butchering of which is recounted in Lilian Ross's book "Picture"
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls How the Sex-Drugs-And Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, by Peter Biskind, 1998
In this half sociological survey, half gossip-fest, Peter Biskind set out to chronicle the triumphs and personal excesses (and excesses may be too mild a word) of the maverick generation of American directors (Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, Warren Beatty, among others) who challenged the studios in the late sixties. But most fascinating of all is how that generation carried within it the seeds of its own destruction in the form of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Their blockbuster mentality would eventually doom their peers to a slow extinction.
Adventures in the Screen Trade A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting, by William Goldman, 1985
More than any other facet of filmmaking, there's a plethora of screenwriting books on the market. Rather than placing your faith in Syd Field or Robert McKee, however, why not listen to someone who actually managed to get a slew of terrific movies made ( Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men and The Princess Bride, to name just a few)? Wade though Goldman's ego-driven anecdotes and focus on his sensible advice about screenplay structure and the art of characterization. This is the book in which Goldman's famous rule about Hollywood filmmaking appears: Nobody knows anything.
The Age of Movies Selected Writings of Pauline Kael, edited by Sanford Schwartz, 2011
Undoubtedly it's a little strange to include a book on this list that will not be published until October, but this edition will collect the most notable pieces of the great New Yorker critic's writings. Kael revolutionized film criticism because she unapologetically injected her own personality into her writing. Unabashed about her preferences, she liked movies that were violent, profane, even a little messy. She despised contrived studio productions, and she was a crucial voice in tearing that whole edifice down – however briefly.
Making Movies By Sidney Lumet, 1995
What exactly does a director do, anyway? One of the greatest, the recently deceased Sidney Lumet ( Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network) explains how to choose lenses, handle the sometimes fragile egos of actors and fit everything you have to do into 12 hours plus lunch. Some Lumet advice is uniquely his own (I prefer not to rehearse the entire film as if it were a stage play for weeks on end prior to production, thank you), but then that's what makes him a brilliant director: the canny mix of the eccentric and the extremely practical.
The Conversations Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film, by Michael Ondaatje, 2002
Ondaatje's brilliant career has been built on the unapologetic pursuit of fascination, and in this case he became fascinated with veteran film editor Walter Murch. Ondaatje met Murch on the adaptation of The English Patient,(for which he won an Oscar), but Murch has also been involved in a host of other exceptional movies, including many directed by Francis Ford Coppola ( The Conversation, Apocalypse Now). This erudite, informed and ultimately very pragmatic book is like eavesdropping on a couple of geniuses while they shoot the breeze over coffee.
An Empire of their Own How the Jews Invented Hollywood, by Neal Gabler, 1988
Simply a very entertaining book about how this monster we call Hollywood came to be. Gabler knows enough to get out of the way of the larger-than-life, mercurial personalities (Louis B. Mayer and Jack Warner, most notably) that occupy the centre of this group biography. His thesis – that the Jews had to live a dual existence, both taking advantage of their natural drive as immigrants while simultaneously denying their cultural identity – is a sharp perception about the contradictory nature of America itself.
Picture By Lillian Ross, 1952
There's no lack of terrific books about films going terribly, entertainingly wrong ( Final Cut about Heaven's Gate and The Devil's Candy about Bonfire of the Vanities spring to mind), but Ross's account of John Huston directing The Red Badge of Courage is unparalleled. Caught by a regime change at MGM, Huston, arguably the greatest director of his generation, is forced to watch helplessly as his beautifully evocative, poignant war film is butchered. Old Hollywood might have been bad, but new Hollywood, it turned out, was even worse.
What Makes Sammy Run? Budd Schulberg, 1941
Like a shiv to the gut, screenwriter Schulberg (who would later pen On the Waterfront) eviscerates Hollywood with his novel about Sammy Glick, a man who never met an ethical boundary he wasn't happy to sail past. As a companion piece, pick up The Kid Stays in the Picture, Robert Evans's autobiography, which could easily be thought of as a portrait of Sammy Glick in his dotage. Shocking that there has never been a film adaptation, although for years it was rumoured that Tom Cruise was interested.
The New Biographical Dictionary of Film By David Thomson, 1975
Thomson is the greatest living writer on film and the Biographical Dictionary is his masterpiece. In a world where most film criticism is consumerist, Thomson is adamantly, maddeningly not. But be prepared that when you pick up this heavy tome full of opinion that you may end eventually feel like hurling it across the room. I, for one, still believe John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath is an indisputably great movie. Brilliant writing on film, nevertheless.
Hitchcock By François Truffaut, 1967
The greatest book ever composed on filmmaking. This volume, now more than 50 years old, simply places in conversation two of the most important directors of all time. Added to that is the fact that there was never a greater fan of Hitchcock's work than Truffaut. And while Truffaut appreciates the movies for the pleasure they bring, he never ignores their deeper currents. So while this is a riveting book for the movie fan, it might have even greater meaning for the aspiring director. Hitchcock explains how he achieved his trademark suspense, what he looked for in his actors (about whom, despite his reputation, he is very astute), and how his astonishing visual technique evolved. As Truffaut questions the master, you see him defining his own sensibility against Hitchcock – and keep growing as a filmmaker himself.
David Weaver's latest film is The Samaritan, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tom Wilkinson.