Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood

Not having read any other book on Hollywood film history I can confidently say it is a definitive insider view of what's it like to make a movie A to Z. Plenty of anecdotal stories, but this is not just a slick gossip edition of Hollywood history. There is respect for filmmaking in all its aspects. There's a certain amount of cross-over narrative from each of the five nominated films, but you get into the flow of it after awhile. Sometimes it can be hard to keep up with the pace of the book, but it is so well-written that a quick look back keeps you more or less oriented. If you're considering entering the film industry I would consider this a primer on what to expect. Enjoy it! I did.

Harris's book is well-written and manages to present its material without pandering or (the other extreme) becoming nerdy. That's high praise for any book these days, no matter what the topic.As promised, "Pictures at a Revolution" does tell the stories of the five films nominated for the 1967 Best Picture award, from conception of the films through the awards night, with a quick "Where are they now?" (or more accurately, a "Where did they go immediately after?") section at the end. The organization is loosely chronological, swapping among the story lines of the movies in question. Since the films were only connected by their place in time (there was no common director or writer among the five, they weren't all from the same studio; that sort of thing), the interlacing of the stories does lead to a mental stop-start for the reader. But Harris's style keeps it all entertaining enough that it is well worth remembering just where "Dr. Dolittle" was when we last had a sighting of it.The book has received high praise from other reviewers with deep knowledge of the industry and the art, and the good news is that those recommendations hold up for the casual reader. I give the book four stars rather than five because I, at least, did not come away with any new way of looking at that time in moviemaking or model for understanding it. Perhaps the word "Revolution" overpromises. Harris does a wonderful job of capturing the sense of the new and the sense of change that was afoot in 1968, as the awards were being given. The fact that following that landmark year some good "big" movies were made and many very bad "little" movies were released is undeniable. And in looking at those years, that may simply be a case of art imitating life: it felt like a revolution at the time.Highly recommended.

Pictures at a Revolution captures the essence of the “New Hollywood” with highly nuanced and detailed writing that captures the emergence of actors such as Dunaway and Hoffman, the insight and artistry of directors Nichols and Penn embodied in a dynamic that captures not only the turbulence of the 60’s but also the conflict in Hollywood with the old breed of Studio filmmaking versus the emerging spirit of independence manifested in four of the five films referenced, and in response to an audience that expected films and acting to reflect and capture the spirit and nature of the times.Harris delves deep into the evolution of each movie providing rich detail and perspective relative to casting, screenplays, direction, production, actors. The strength of Harris’ book is the narrative which is a tightly woven mosaic of each film’s conception leading to its final manifestation with an abundance of behind the scenes happenings in between, ensconced in Hollywood’s historical past and the uncertainty and frenetic energy of the 60’s.In my opinion, one of the best books not only about Hollywood, but one of the best books about the anatomy and physiology of filmmaking.

This is a product review for the Audio Book Unabridged version of Mark Harris's  Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood . I greatly enjoyed the voice of the Lloyd James reading the book. His diction was excellent and his voice was pleasant on the ears. The story itself was well written and engaging. I especially enjoyed the analysis of the Sydney Poitier movies vis-a-vis the Civil Rights movement. But I want to tell potential buyers something about the actual CD's themselves. I sold this product used on Amazon and now I'm having to do a refund because the buyer says he is unable to play the CD's. So I returned to the actual listing and sure enough the Amazon listing for the product does not tell you what it says on the package. The audio CD's are "MP3 PLAYER READY" (I think the package may actually say IPOD READY. They do not play in regular stereo or walkman CD players. They are meant to be placed in a computer and ripped by Itunes for upload to one's IPOD. There are two CDs which have multiple duplicate files of the audio book on them. One file format is MP3, another is the file format used by Sony's PSP (I think), and another is for the file format used by ZUNE (I think). NONE of the file formats are WAVE formats, which is the format played by regular stereo CD players. The listing really should state this fact but since it does not I am putting it in the review. I hope this review assists people in making a decision about whether or not buying this very well written book in audio format is the best for them.

By concentrating on five key movies from the end of the 60s author Mark Harris perfectly explains the revoluntionary shift that was about to happen in Hollywood. The movies in question are the five Best Picture nominees for the Academy Awards in early '68 and they range from the influential and enduring classics Bonnie & Clyde and The Graduate to Doctor Dolittle, a lumbering box-office flop that foretold the end for costly, old-school studio musicals. Meticulously researched and packed with revealing anecdotes this is one of the best studies of an essential moment in the history of moviemaking

Well researched! An excellent book!

For those who may still believe that movie making is exciting and wondrous, this very well researched book by Mark Harris will deliver some cold hard truths. Many of our favourite films from the 1960's almost did not get made because of a variety of problems facing the producers, the screenwriters and many others. Finding a lead actor for "The Graduate" proved to be a daunting task and even when Dustin Hoffman came along, his original read-through of the script thrilled nobody. Several other actresses had been considered for the female lead in "Bonnie and Clyde" and the high strung behavior of Faye Dunaway alienated many on the set. The cost overruns while filming "Dr. Doolittle" became astronomical as one disaster followed another and Rex Harrison's drunken and obnoxious temperament made him almost impossible to work with. The difficulties in making these films along with the problems faced by those involved in bringing "In The Heat Of The Night" and "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" to the screen make for an excellent book with loads of behind the scenes insights.

I found this a well researched and interesting book to read. The author takes the point of view that 1967 was a watershed year for movies - going from somewhat stodgy, old style, studio made pictures, to an era when films became more individual realizations of directors, paving he way for Coppola, Lucas, etc. (Of course, now the pendulum has swung back and we are back to mammoth movies that have little to say and are aimed to make huge dollars the first weekend or two.) The book touches on censorship and how it changed that year (leading to the end of the Production Code) and race relations and how even something as innocuous as a black and white person holding hands could be cut out when films were shown in the southern States. Thank god there has been some progress. It was also interesting to read about the production of the movies themselves - the nonsense that went on to create Dr. Doolittle - a horribly, boring film and that when The Graduate first came out critics were a little aghast that someone who looked like Dustin Hoffman, could have the lead role. All in all, if you are a movie fan, I recommend it heartily.

Increíble el viaje que te hace pasar la lectura de este libro. Datos importantes que, aplicados al contexto histórico actual, nos pueden dar una guía de cómo buscar la posibilidad de presentar algo interesante en el cine.