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Universal Story, The

The Complete History of the Studio and Its 2,641 Films

Author: Clive Hirschhorn
Hardback: 400 pages
Publisher: Crown Publishers (1983)
Avg. Rating: [ Unrated ]
ISBN: 0706418735
In Print? No

All of the Universal films that featured Shemp Howard receive entries in this book, as does Ted Healy & His Stooges' MYRT AND MARGE (1933).

  • A softbound version was published in 1986 by publisher Octopus Books.
  • Updated hardbound edition (496 pgs.) in 2001 from Hamlyn Publishers.

(Refreshing the page will alternate the editions pictured.)

From the dust jacket…

"Universal is the most active motion picture studio in the world today and with the phenomenal success of E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL, the richest.  But it was not always so.  Founded by ‘Uncle’ Carl Laemmle in 1912, it struggled hard in those early years to compete with its rivals, finally achieving recognition in the twenties with a handful of silent films, including THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.  With the arrival of sound, the studio gave the world two early talkie masterpieces –  the pacifist war drama ALL’S QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT and the innovative, colorful musical revue KING OF JAZZ.

Also on the agenda at that time was a definitive cycle of horror films.  But Universal then went into a decline and, despite a temporary uplift following the arrival in 1936 of a bright new star called Deanna Durbin, mislaid for a decade or more the prestige it had fought so hard to gain.  How Universal won, lost and eventually regained that prestige to become the great entertainment complex it is today is an enthralling story.  In the form of a year-by-year presentation of all the feature films, that story, spanning 70 fascinating years, is compellingly told in this handsome and lavishly illustrated book.  Clive Hirschhorn tells this story with skill, wit and infectious enthusiasm.  Formerly film critic and now theatre critic of the London Sunday Express, his previous books  in the series include “The Warner Bros. Story” and “The Hollywood Musical.”  This latest addition is another definitive volume no movie enthusiast will want to be without."


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