New Film Books: Basinger and Blondell

Next month will see the release of two books of interest to cinema buffs. The first is THE STAR MACHINE by the excellent historian Jeanine Basinger. Basinger's book explores the studio system and its "star making machine" from the '30s to the '50s.

For good measure, an updated version of Basinger's book on director Anthony Mann is being released in November.

In the '70s Basinger wrote some wonderful entries in the Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies, with books on Lana Turner, Shirley Temple, and Gene Kelly. These books can often be picked up affordably from used book dealers on Amazon, and they are well worth collecting, as are the other titles in the Pyramid series.

October's other release of interest is a new biography, JOAN BLONDELL: A LIFE BETWEEN TAKES. It's by Matthew Kennedy and is advertised as the first major biography of the actress. More details can be found at TCM.