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Capra, Frank : The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography

Macmillan, New York, 1971

Fine copy in nearly fine dust jacket, 8vo, 513 pp.

2nd prt.

CAPRA, FRANK: : THE NAME ABOVE THE TITLE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

US.NY.THE MACMILLAN COMPANY,1971.

ISBN No ISBN.

US,thick 8vo HB,wth cellophane+paper protective,protected dw/dj,1st edn. [Published a year earlier than the UK issue by W.H. Allen in 1972.This edn stated FIRST PRINTING.This example bears a previous bookseller's label pasted to the lower,inner corner of front pastedown.That bookseller is Larry Edmunds Bookshop, Inc.6658 Hollywood Blvd.Hollywood,CA 90028.World's Largest Collection of Books on Motion Pictures.Bookshop situated along the Hollywood Walk of Fame,and has been around since 1938.] No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean, glossy laminated,monochrome super-imposed biographical photograph of author/subject to a monochrome photograph negative illustrated background,illustrated dw/dj, with red+white lettering to front panel, orange but now faded/sunned and black letters to spine/backstrip; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present.Both head+foot of dw/djs' spine/ backstrip minimally creased with reciprocal creasing.Top+fore-edges both lightly aged/toned - as usual/normal - with some minimal,faint and sporadic foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain red cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters within a black ink panel to spine/backstrip,a red+white(?) striped headband and immaculate plain black endpapers.US,thick 8vo HB+protected dw/dj, 1st edn,viii-xiipp+4-513pp [paginated] includes contents list/table,John Ford foreword,author's preface,Pts I-IV comprising 8,8,2 and 5 chapters respectively,profuse b/w contemporary film,biographical and autobiographical photographs interspersed throughout the text and the book and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,and dedication page. Laid in loosely a two-gate fold b/w photographic illustrated paper ephemera item of Los Angeles County Museum of Art's proposed showing of Capra's films on Fridays during the months of August and September (6th August through to 17th September),1971.An introduction by Bob Epstein and dates+times of showings of the selected Capra films and information on ticket purchases and their cost. 'The Name Above The Title' provides a star vehicle for one of the few really great men of moviedom.The history of Hollywood and the story of Frank Capra's forty-year career (then 1971) there run parallel: the rise of the motion picture from Mack Sennett's Keystone Klown Kollege through the triumphant years of the best and best-loved movies ever made - many of them with Capra's name above the title. From the time young Capra left his Sicilian ghetto in Los Angeles for Columbia Pictures,Harry Kohn's then second-rate studio on Poverty Row,he had his eye on the Holy Grail - the Oscar - and after nine fantastic years he got his first one,followed by the longest unbroken string of Motion Picture Academy Awards in theatrical annals: three for best director,two for best picture,and one for best documentary.'It Happened One Night' received all five major awards. Among the titles with his name above them: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,State of the Union,It's a Wonderful Life,Lost Horizon,You Can't Take It with You,and many others. 'The Name Above The Title' is full of good stories about such famous stars as Jean Arthur,Barbara Stanwyck,Katharine Hepburn,Spencer Tracy,Bette Davis,Harry Langdon,Frank Sinatra,Clark Gable,Jimmy Stewart,Gary Cooper,Claudette Colbert, Walter Huston,and hosts of others.There is even a fascinating full-length portrait of that archetype of a Hollywood S.O.B., Harry Kohn - and,amazingly,Capra makes you rather like the guy! There is also much about the art of movie-making: an analysis of the great directors,the techniques of photography,the methods pioneered by Capra,advice to young filmmakers,and what does - and doesn't - make for good comedy. Throughout,the reader will find ample evidence of Capra's characteristic sense of pace and his ear for dialogue.It even has,rare in a book of reminiscences, suspense. George Seaton remarks: "There are more cliff hangers in it than a Pearl White serial.Will Mack Sennett relent and rehire Capra? Will Jack Holt punch Frank in the nose? Will the Directors Guild win?" "If it hits you right off it's good entertainment," Frank Capra says of films. He also holds that "there are some things you can take with you." 'The Name Above The Title' offers both: good entertainment,and many fine memories that you can take with you. Since April 2013,again in March 2015,and in this year too,the UK Post Office has altered it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering it's prices,weight allowances,dimensions and lowered it's qualifying compensation rates too! So,please contact seller,because of the weight - in excess of 1Kg unpackaged - and the value of this item for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

US,thick 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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