Reviews
What we see in this volume is a writer much like Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard . At the end of a long day spent negotiating titanic egos, he simply wants to sit down and write the thoughts that race through his head like a dozen locomotives., Reading Brackett's diary entries is like stepping into a time machine. It provides a vivid and valuable account of day-to-day life in the heyday of Hollywood's studio system -- and a bittersweet chronicle of his volatile relationship with Billy Wilder. I couldn't put the book down., Brackett's 1932-49 dispatches from Hollywood's front line, are crammed with sugar-free, often salty observations. The author's honesty is certified by the fact that he can admire a man one minute and put him down the next. When that man is Billy Wilder, which it often is, the result is a day-by-day, year-on-year, pointilliste portrait of a sacred monster, warts and all., The diaries give us a view of Brackett, Wilder, the collaboration, and life at the studio with an immediacy that memoirs don't have., Reading Charles Brackett's diary entries is like stepping into a time machine. It provides a vivid and valuable account of day-to-day life in the heyday of Hollywood's studio system--and a bittersweet chronicle of his volatile relationship with Billy Wilder. I couldn't put the book down., A collection of Charles Brackett's diaries, expertly edited by Anthony Slide to paint a multifaceted portrait of Brackett's long-term collaborator Billy Wilder. This feels as close as we can get to being in the presence of Wilder's genius, and he emerges as the cruellest as well as the wittiest of men., Reading Charles Brackett's diary entries is like stepping into a time machine. It provides a vivid and valuable account of day-to-day life in the heyday of Hollywood's studio system-and a bittersweet chronicle of his volatile relationship with Billy Wilder. I couldn't put the book down., Charles Brackett has always lived in the shadow of his high-profile writing partner, Billy Wilder. This valuable compendium of diary entries from 1933 to 1950, painstakingly edited by Anthony Slide, not only sheds light on that renowned collaboration but evokes the reality of daily life in the heyday of the Hollywood studio system., The book is packed with revealing cameos from some of the greatest names of Hollywood's greatest era, and is a valuable record of the texture of life there in those years., Charles Brackett was an outstanding writer and producer of his era. Like him, I have served as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and also like him, I had had a long association with Billy Wilder. I am therefore delighted that Charlie's diaries are being published, providing us with his unique insight into Billy and Hollywood's golden age., Slide has culled from Brackett's voluminous diaries a treasure trove of scenes and wit from Golden Age Hollywood.... A book to be skimmed and referenced--but primarily relished.... Recommended., What is possibly most fascinating about the book is its insight into the operation of Hollywood in the golden years of the studio system., "It's the Pictures That Got Small": Charles Brackett on Billy Wilder and Hollywood's Golden Age edited by Anthony Slide, offers not only rare insight into their often-stormy partnership but also an insider's view of Hollywood during that era., A fascinating look into the Golden Age of Hollywood from an insider's personal, unbiased point of view.... It's the Pictures That Got Small will find a permanent spot on many a film buff's bookshelf., Above all, "It's the Pictures That Got Small" is an indispensable guide to the complex, increasingly awkward relationship between two men who had next to nothing in common and yet contrived to make a fair number of the studio system's finest films., [ "It's the Pictures That Got Small" ] reveals the conflicts that led to some of the best pictures of the last century., This is a book I was literally unable to put down once I began reading, and I suspect everyone with a reverence for Hollywood in its glory days will feel the same. Here's a rare chance to read what was going on in Brackett's mind and in his world while making so many of the movies we revere so highly today., This is a book I was literally unable to put down once I began reading it, and I suspect everyone with a reverence for Hollywood in its glory days will feel the same. Here is a rare chance to read what was going on in Charles Brackett's mind and his world while he made so many of the movies we revere so highly today., Anyone interested in the golden age of film should enjoy this very entertaining and illustrative look at the film industry of the 1930s and 1940s., This superbly edited and annotated book is a worthy testimony to a troubled individual in an industry he unjustly denigrated but which he undoubtedly enriched., Charlie was always very kind and friendly to me and I very much look forward to the publication of his diaries., Fascinating passages are lightly sprinkled throughout.... The accounts of how Sunset Boulevard arrived on screen in its finished form are among the most entertaining in Brackett's diaries., Reading Brackett's diary entries is like stepping into a time machine. It provides a vivid and valuable account of day-to-day life in the heyday of Hollywood's studio system--and a bittersweet chronicle of his volatile relationship with Billy Wilder. I couldn't put the book down., Charlie would often talk about his diaries as I worked with him and Billy Wilder on the screenplay of. I am thrilled that those diaries are now published and gratified to be a part of them., Brackett's book is a fascinating look at Hollywood in its classic period, and a unique and indispensable must-have for any movie buff., Slide has culled from Brackett's voluminous diaries a treasure trove of scenes and wit from Golden Age Hollywood.... A book to be skimmed and referenced-but primarily relished.... Recommended., An absorbing chronicle of a tempestuous collaboration and the lifestyles of an era.... "It's the Pictures That Got Small" is a plump album packed with tiny but revealing snapshots., While anecdotes... sustain readers across almost four hundred pages of diary entries, their value to scholars and historians lies in the ways they exemplify the daily working life of writers in the studio system., This view from deep inside the studio system at its height is one of the best books ever about Hollywood, as well one of the finest on writing in years., Charlie would often talk about his diaries as I worked with him and Billy Wilder on the screenplay of Sunset Blvd. I am thrilled that those diaries are now published and gratified to be a part of them.
