Rongo Univesity Library

Includes bibliographical references (p. 323-325)

Heroes in capes : Batman (1989) -- Abba strikes gold : Mamma mia! (1999) -- Rashômon in Mafia land : The Godfather (1972) -- Crime gets prime time : CSI (2000) -- The Hobbit's big payday : The lord of the rings (2001) -- Geek speak : The Blair Witch Project (1999) -- Global beach party : Baywatch (1989) -- Controlled reality : Real world (1992) -- Feel-good felines : Cats (1981) -- Queen of daytime : Oprah (1986) -- Revenge of the king nerd : American graffiti (1973) -- Archie's last laugh : All in the family (1971) -- Kaleidoscope of the sixties : Easy rider/Hair (1969) -- Alpine sing-along : The sound of music (1965) -- Sword-and-sandal swan song : Ben-Hur (1959) -- Caught in the shower : Psycho (1960) -- Return of the "oater" : Gunsmoke (1955) -- Saving the marriage : I love Lucy (1951) -- Painful homecoming : The best years of our lives (1946) -- As time goes by : Casablanca (1942) -- Family time : Life with Father (1939) -- Walt's folly : Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) -- Fadeout for the LIttle Tramp : Modern times (1936) -- Studio gorilla tactics : King Kong (1933) -- Rule of the rustics : Tobacco Road/Abie's Irish Rose (1933/1922) -- Hollywood in the trenches : The big parade (1925) -- Jump-starting the epic : The birth of a nation (1915)

The formula for Hollywood success has long baffled even its greatest visionaries. For every blockbuster there are countless flops. Directors, producers, and actors who achieve great success with one film often suffer abject humiliation on the next. Here, journalist and former studio executive Bart reveals the backlot secrets behind the biggest hits and misses in film, television, and theater: how some projects with the biggest stars and budgets turned out to be bombs, and how unknowns overcame great adversity to make entertainment history. In so doing, Bart tells the history of pop culture itself. Bart offers his signature straight-shooting analysis of the silk purses and the sows' ears of the entertainment world.--From publisher description.