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The Films of Oliver Reed
From the obscure 1958 Sonja Henie vehicle Hello London to the 2000 Academy Award winner Gladiator (released posthumously), the screen career of dynamic British actor Oliver Reed (1937-1999) is thoroughly documented in this illustrated filmography. Following a concise capsule biography, the authors chronologically list all 96 of Reed's films, among them The Curse of the Werewolf, Oliver!, The Devils, The Three Musketeers and Tommy. Each entry contains extensive cast and production credits, a synopsis, critical commentary and contemporary reviews.
268 pages, Paperback
First published September 12, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 7, 2016
The late, great Oliver Reed was the British film industry's only pure film actor (never did stage work), so this book is a nice review of all the films he made. Reed was definitely different...he turned down the Robert Shaw roles in JAWS and THE STING, and was the only British film actor to stay in England, which killed him in taxes. You have to admire loyalty in a world devoted to desperate Hollywood celebrity-ism.
The authors do a decent job, although there should have been better proofreading. Still, they give it a good shot. They also recognize his most elite performances and acknowledge his uplift at the end (CAPTIVE, CASTAWAY, THE BRUCE, GLADIATOR). The comments from various co-workers are rare and much appreciated by the fan. This is a much-needed volume of reference for fans and very helpful when searching for DVDs and downloads.
UPDATED: April 2016
I am updating this review having seen the Blu-Ray version of THE PARTY'S OVER, which was a cult film from the early 1960s. It's another tight BFI restoration, undoing all the cuts that destroyed it on its original release. Reed is outstanding and there's a good John Barry score.
Book Season = Year Round (shadows and dust)
The authors do a decent job, although there should have been better proofreading. Still, they give it a good shot. They also recognize his most elite performances and acknowledge his uplift at the end (CAPTIVE, CASTAWAY, THE BRUCE, GLADIATOR). The comments from various co-workers are rare and much appreciated by the fan. This is a much-needed volume of reference for fans and very helpful when searching for DVDs and downloads.
UPDATED: April 2016
I am updating this review having seen the Blu-Ray version of THE PARTY'S OVER, which was a cult film from the early 1960s. It's another tight BFI restoration, undoing all the cuts that destroyed it on its original release. Reed is outstanding and there's a good John Barry score.
Book Season = Year Round (shadows and dust)
September 7, 2023
Oliver Reed was my all time favourite actor. However, I am a reader more than a film watcher and am very selective about the movies I give my time to. As a result, there were many Oliver movies I never watched. No matter how enamored I become of any actor - it is generally the character he is playing in combination with the charisma of the actor himself. This does not translate into being willing to see the actor as a character I would not like, in a film not to my taste. This book introduced me to all of Oliver's movies - so many of which I had never seen and some I had not even heard of. The reviews of his performances in all the films confirmed my personal view that he was underrated as an actor his entire career - likely due to the more news worthy performances he gave in his private life.
From the obscure 1958 Sonja Henie vehicle Hello London to the 2000 Academy Award winner Gladiator (released posthumously), the screen career of dynamic British actor Oliver Reed (1937-1999) is thoroughly documented in this illustrated filmography. Following a concise capsule biography, the authors chronologically list all 96 of Reed's films, among them The Curse of the Werewolf, Oliver!, The Devils, The Three Musketeers and Tommy. Each entry contains extensive cast and production credits, a synopsis, critical commentary and contemporary reviews.
From the obscure 1958 Sonja Henie vehicle Hello London to the 2000 Academy Award winner Gladiator (released posthumously), the screen career of dynamic British actor Oliver Reed (1937-1999) is thoroughly documented in this illustrated filmography. Following a concise capsule biography, the authors chronologically list all 96 of Reed's films, among them The Curse of the Werewolf, Oliver!, The Devils, The Three Musketeers and Tommy. Each entry contains extensive cast and production credits, a synopsis, critical commentary and contemporary reviews.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews