Post by Richard Weddle on Dec 25, 2010 12:21:36 GMT -5
Arizona's Little Hollywood
Sedona and Northern Arizona's Forgotten Film History 1923–1973
by Joe McNeill
Having played host to more than 60 Hollywood productions—from the early years of cinema through the 1970s—Sedona, Arizona’s impact on the film industry is revealed here for the first time. Detailing its role as a silent but stunning backdrop to all types of movies, this volume covers the silent films, B westerns, World War II propaganda, and film noirs filmed on location in Arizona. Lavishly illustrated, this reference tells the story behind an anti-American Nazi propaganda western; the true history of filmmaking in Monument Valley; the first-ever inclusive guide to the location filming of Stagecoach; and descriptions of each Arizona production from conception through reception by critics and audiences, with plot summaries and complete details of cast and crew.
Joe McNeill is the cofounder of Sedona Monthly magazine and the former vice president and design director at CMP Media. He has created promotional material for the Chrysler Corporation, Mutual of New York, Piels beer, and MTV. He lives in Sedona, Arizona.
Sedona and Northern Arizona's Forgotten Film History 1923–1973
by Joe McNeill
Having played host to more than 60 Hollywood productions—from the early years of cinema through the 1970s—Sedona, Arizona’s impact on the film industry is revealed here for the first time. Detailing its role as a silent but stunning backdrop to all types of movies, this volume covers the silent films, B westerns, World War II propaganda, and film noirs filmed on location in Arizona. Lavishly illustrated, this reference tells the story behind an anti-American Nazi propaganda western; the true history of filmmaking in Monument Valley; the first-ever inclusive guide to the location filming of Stagecoach; and descriptions of each Arizona production from conception through reception by critics and audiences, with plot summaries and complete details of cast and crew.
Joe McNeill is the cofounder of Sedona Monthly magazine and the former vice president and design director at CMP Media. He has created promotional material for the Chrysler Corporation, Mutual of New York, Piels beer, and MTV. He lives in Sedona, Arizona.
I am easily bored by movie histories and rarely finish reading them. Not this time. I consider Arizona's Little Hollywood the best book on early westerns ever written and one of the most informative histories of early filmmaking. Joe McNeill is not merely a movie buff, he is a real nuts-and-bolts researcher who understands the day-to-day reality of the production process. And he's a discerning historian of Arizona, too. It helps to have a story no one has told before, and this book is full of surprises. Think you know the history of John Ford's Stagecoach? McNeill contributes substantial new information about that film, too.
The book has a website:
www.arizonaslittlehollywood.com/
and the author has a blog that's worth keeping up with:
arizonaslittlehollywood.blogspot.com/
You can also buy it on amazon:
www.amazon.com/Arizonas-Little-Hollywood-Forgotten-1923-1973/dp/0615323219/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_a
Of course, the history of early westerns and film making in southern Arizona is another story.
Richard Weddle