An epic account of how the revolution hit Hollywood, told through the stories of the five films nominated for the 1967 Academy Awards
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reviews
Mar 05, 2008
Mike
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One of the best books about films I've ever read, and a masterfully-crafted, thrilling read at that.
Harris untangles how we got to the Best Picture slate of 1967, a fine representative case study of a shift in Hollywood conventions. And also, obviously, situated in a time of significant cultural change. But unlike many other such film histories, which tend to center on readings of the films (technique and thematics) to make the cultural argument, Harris masterfully traces the comp More...
Harris untangles how we got to the Best Picture slate of 1967, a fine representative case study of a shift in Hollywood conventions. And also, obviously, situated in a time of significant cultural change. But unlike many other such film histories, which tend to center on readings of the films (technique and thematics) to make the cultural argument, Harris masterfully traces the comp More...
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Nov 14, 2007
Spiros
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As a rule, I tend to fight shy of "watershed" books, books that purport to show you how "this changed everything"; to his credit (and despite the marketing blurbs on the back), Harris attempts to do no such thing. Instead, what he has written is a diligently constructed book, chronicling the making of the five films which received Best Picture nominations at the 1968 Academy Awards. Two of the films (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT and GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER) were directed by
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Jun 30, 2011
Kris
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This is your book if you appreciate thoroughness, historical accuracy and narrative momentum with your cinema journalism. Mark Harris captures the essence of mid-60s filmmaking in a bottle, exhaustively documenting the making and promotion of the five films nominated for the best picture Oscar in 1967: Bonnie & Clyde, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and (seriously) Dr. Doolittle. Harris masterfully weaves the story of each film's creation into a united thre
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Feb 11, 2011
Josh
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Immediately the best, most fascinating and rigorously researched book on film I've ever read; but of course, it isn't JUST about movies, but about entire cultural paradigm shift, and so much more. It took me, oh, maybe twenty pages or so to get a feel for Harris' rhythm-- initially, I wondered if it might be just a bit dry-- but once I got the hang of it I was never anything less than totally captivated by it, and the kinds of historical anecdotes he digs up are s utterly bizarre, they couldn't
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May 26, 2010
James
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I started reading this book this morning, and despite my rather hectic Monday schedule (on a truck I haven't driven in toto since forever ago), I am now roughly halfway through it, and if I don't finish it tonight, I certainly will tomorrow. This is one hell of a read, and deftly written.
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Feb 13, 2009
Don
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Excellent!
Other books I have read about the motion picture industry have, for the most part, been full of interesting and fun facts and anecdotes, but not particularly solid histories. This book scores on both accounts.
A fascinating history examining the production of each of the 5 Best Picture nominees for the 1967 Academy Awards (In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate, Dr. Doolittle, Bonnie and Clyde and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), this book attempts to identify the More...
Other books I have read about the motion picture industry have, for the most part, been full of interesting and fun facts and anecdotes, but not particularly solid histories. This book scores on both accounts.
A fascinating history examining the production of each of the 5 Best Picture nominees for the 1967 Academy Awards (In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate, Dr. Doolittle, Bonnie and Clyde and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), this book attempts to identify the More...
Feb 13, 2009
Jonathan
rated it:
If the 1960s were a time of great social and cultural ferment in the US, reactionary, conservative Hollywood didn't seem to get the memo. Slowly, however, a new crop of filmmakers, influenced by European cinema – and by the French New Wave auteurs in particular – began to break out of the classic Hollywood mould and make movies that were darker, grittier and more morally complex than ever before. But these Young Turks faced an established order that wasn't going to to relinquish its turf so easi
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Feb 05, 2009
Mark Harris, a former editor for Entertainment Weekly, combines his remarkable knowledge of film history with interviews and research that capture the Zeitgeist of the late 1960s, particularly the cloistered, changing world of Hollywood. The films that challenged the industry's expectations were, Harris writes, "game changers, movies that had originated far from Hollywood and had grown into critics' darlings and major popular phenomena." In the manner of Otto Friedrich's City of Nets,
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Nov 19, 2010
Kenneth
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This book is the finest work of film history I have ever read, or more precisely listened to on audiobook.
It is a fascinating look at 1967, a pivotal time in Hollywood film when a new generation rose to challenge the old with challenging new work like the European influenced storytelling of Bonnie and Clyde or the irreverent comedy of The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman, a brilliant young actor who would redefine star appeal ever since. Meanwhile the old guard was falling on its fac More...
It is a fascinating look at 1967, a pivotal time in Hollywood film when a new generation rose to challenge the old with challenging new work like the European influenced storytelling of Bonnie and Clyde or the irreverent comedy of The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman, a brilliant young actor who would redefine star appeal ever since. Meanwhile the old guard was falling on its fac More...
Jul 28, 2010
Shawn
rated it: 
This is beautifully written and well researched. It's a great example of how a highly researched book can be compelling and complete without feeling the need to exhaustively go through every single piece of information the author unearthed on the subject matter.
Harris does a fantastic job of depicting what working in film was like in the 60s: the commercial pressures, the mechanics of how projects were put together, the cultural milieu and the personalities driving the industry. More...
Harris does a fantastic job of depicting what working in film was like in the 60s: the commercial pressures, the mechanics of how projects were put together, the cultural milieu and the personalities driving the industry. More...
Dec 06, 2009
Charles
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Oscar plays it safe. You can trust the Academy to pick a “Forrest Gump” over a “Pulp Fiction,” an “Ordinary People” over a “Raging Bull,” or a “Kramer vs. Kramer” over an “Apocalypse Now.”
Or a well-made, socially conscious melodrama like “In the Heat of the Night” over groundbreaking movies like “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Graduate.” That’s part of the story that Mark Harris tells in his richly fascinating book, “Pictures at a Revolution,” which focuses on the five nominees for best More...
Or a well-made, socially conscious melodrama like “In the Heat of the Night” over groundbreaking movies like “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Graduate.” That’s part of the story that Mark Harris tells in his richly fascinating book, “Pictures at a Revolution,” which focuses on the five nominees for best More...
Jun 22, 2011
Megankellie
rated it:
This is pretty film-geekily interesting and just the complete detail you want behind the scenes of the five movies that were nominated for Best Picture in 1967 - In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate, Bonnie and Clyde, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and Dr. Dolittle. Great history and context and the detailed battle of getting something produced and marketed. So detailed, you start from the second the screenwriters behind Bonnie and Clyde thought of the script and the million years until they sa
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Jul 24, 2009
Kasa
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The reader doesn't have to had been around in 1968 to find this book interesting, but it enhances the enjoyment. Those who remember movies prior to the formation of the rating system, when the infamous Hays Code was dictating what could and could not be seen, will recognize the advances in maturity nascent in four out of the five movies nominated for the Oscar that are featured here. Harris employs a straight chronological structure, following the development of all five films, managing to mak
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May 22, 2010
John
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Mark Harris interviewed writers, directors, actors, and other associated people, who worked on the Best Picture nominees for 2007 (Bonnie & Clyde; Doctor Doolittle; The Graduate; Guess Who's Coming To Dinner; In The Heat Of The Night). This is the launchpad for an investigation of the end of the old studio system and the rise of independent film.
What a great read!
Sidney Poitier is one of the main characters of the book and the author spends a lot of time setting the sc More...
What a great read!
Sidney Poitier is one of the main characters of the book and the author spends a lot of time setting the sc More...
May 26, 2009
Trish
rated it:
My boss passed this on to me, knowing I'd enjoy the behind-the-scenes (or screens) information about the five films competing for the 1968 Academy Awards: Bonnie and Clyde, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, Dr. Doolittle, In the Heat of the Night, and The Graduate. Harris does a wonderful job of weaving together the disparate stories behind each film's (often convoluted) genesis and (frequently fraught) filming. If I had to pick a favorite anecdote, it would be the tipsy squirrel on the set of Dr.
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Jan 08, 2009
Taylor
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The book is essentially a production history of the 5 films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 1968. The strength of the book lies in the way Harris compares and contrasts the production histories, seperating the films into New Hollywood, Old Hollywood and MOR. Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate represent New Hollywood, Doctor Doolittle represents Old Hollywood and In The Heat of the Night and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner represent something in the middle - films that tackled the subject of
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Jan 06, 2012
James
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At the tail end of the 1960s, America was full of social activism, as the young protesters were fed up with the old guard. In Hollywood, mirroring reality in microcosm as its movies mirrored reality on celluloid, the old was also on its way out: the studio system was about to end, the Hays Code was being phased out, and young up-and-coming directors and stars were starting to make their mark. This book tells the story of the five movies nominated for Best Picture at the 1967 Oscars and how, in t
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Nov 13, 2010
Steven
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Fantastic book about the American film industry, circa 1967. By examining the five Academy Award nominations for Best Picture of 1967, Harris dissects the movies, the people associated with them, and the effects that each film has had since. It was a turning point in American movie making. The old guard (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Doctor Doolittle) were being brushed aside by the new upstarts (Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate). In the Heat of the Night rounded out the five and in many ways
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Jan 09, 2009
James
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This is one of the best books I have read in recent memory and certainly one of my favorite non-fiction reads in a very long time. The book follows the five 1967 Oscar nominated films (The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Bonnie and Clyde and Doctor Dolittle) from inception right up to the awards ceremony. The thesis of the book is that this awards ceremony and these films mark a transition point in Hollywood. The social commentary is interesting the book and
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Mar 19, 2011
Sharmayne
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As good a book as exists about one of my favorite subjects...behind scenes Hollywood. This masterpiece succeeds on every level. Following five movies from conception, casting, filming, theatrical release and ending at the Oscars in 1969. Balanced between the emergence of an upstart generation of filmmakers inspired by Europes New Wave and Old Guard Hollywood who just don't 'get it.' Of course, lots of great stories about the Stars! Spencer Tracy and Kathering Hepburn during his last days, their
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Dec 04, 2011
Elderberrywine
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A rare treat for filmoholics like myself. Harris takes the five Oscar nominees for Best Picture in 1967 (a watershed year when the major studios truly lost their firm grip on the industry), and examines their convoluted paths to that point. The movies were Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, and, believe it or not, Doctor Dolittle, and their histories are far more entwined than one could ever imagine. Hollywood is a very small town, after al
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Dec 08, 2011
Jay
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Wonderful production history of the five movies up for the Best Picture Academy Award in 1967. The movies are a diverse lot, including "The Graduate" and "Bonnie and Clyde" as movies that set new conventions in film. Also included were "Doctor Doolitle", a big budget musical, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and "In the Heat of the Night", Sidney Poitier's two entries. The descriptions of these films starts with their source material, and continues
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Jan 04, 2010
Chris
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A terrific book. Harris looks at the five Oscar nominees for Best Picture in 1967 and reveals nuanced layers to the seismic changes that were about to occur in 1970's American cinema. Page-turing anecdotes center around some of the more revolutionary movies nominated in '67 like The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde, but I found the stories and interviews surrounding 20th Century Fox's mess of a musical Doctor Dolittle to be the most interesting part of the book. The bloat and excess of Dolittle was
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Jan 20, 2009
A great story about a critical time in American movie making- the early to mid-60s when you saw a transition from the big musicals, and Doris Day comedy romances, and big war epics to racier, disturbing, and anti-hero driven films. You can see how "Mean Streets", "The Conversation", "Midnight Cowboy" and even "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs" are the offspring of "Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Graduate".
My one crit More...
My one crit More...
Sep 02, 2011
Carrie
rated it:
Pictures at a Revolution is an incredibly well-researched history of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1968. Harris argues that this particular class of nominees represents the shift in power from Old Hollywood to New Hollywood. His point is made strongest (and most interestingly) when he analyzes the ways in which Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate challenged the Motion Picture Production Code and the differences between In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who's C
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Jan 02, 2009
Steven
rated it:
This made a list of best non-fiction book for 2008 in the New York Times, and since it was in my library, I thought I'd check it out -- and it seems I was the first person to do so.
I have only seen one of the five 1967 Best Picture Nominees which are the subject of this book -- and that one, arguably the worst of the lot, "Doctor Dolittle" not since I was a child. My first mission is to put all five of these films on my Netflix list and bump them to the top of the queue. Ho More...
I have only seen one of the five 1967 Best Picture Nominees which are the subject of this book -- and that one, arguably the worst of the lot, "Doctor Dolittle" not since I was a child. My first mission is to put all five of these films on my Netflix list and bump them to the top of the queue. Ho More...
Jul 29, 2010
Joel
rated it:
For serious movie history buffs only. Harris does a pretty good job picking apart the changing winds in Hollywood during the late 1960s, and the book is meticulously researched and footnoted. At times, especially as he gets caught up in the wonderful(ly boring) world of budgets and detailing the history of seemingly everyone even loosely connected with these five films. That said, when he gets into the meat of what makes this movies work (or not work), production history, etc. it's a pretty fasc
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May 03, 2011
Painstakingly researched nonfiction about a watershed year for Hollywood, 1967, in which the five films who would be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award were representative of the slide from old guard to "new Hollywood" -- Doctor Doolittle, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate, and Bonnie and Clyde. Tons of behind the scenes stuff, insightful and never heavy-handed analysis of what it all meant, colorful characters indeed, most with huge egos.
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Apr 30, 2011
Kevin
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Old Hollywood versus New Hollywood, although a highly interesting topic and consuming matchup with tremendous stories to tell, has some equally dull ones to go along with them. Pictures at a Revolution focuses on many things, but mainly on the journey of five films: Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, In the Heat of Tonight, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and Doctor Dolittle. These five movies are described as highlighting a revolution and becoming the turning points in a year of film that saw New
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Jan 28, 2010
matt
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I thought this book was pretty great, striking a good balance between entertaining gossip and detailed and well-researched analysis. That is, it was fun to read and also really informative about the business and culture out of which five very different films were nominated for Best Picture in 1968. I also had a very new and different appreciation for the five films as I watched (or re-watched) them in conjunction with reading. One of the better film books I've read in some time.
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