Riccardo Freda - The Life and Works of a Born Filmmaker

In an eclectic career spanning four decades, Italian director Riccardo Freda (1909-1999) produced films of remarkable technical skill and powerful visual style, including the swashbuckler Black Eagle (1946), an adaptation of Les Miserables (1947), the peplum Theodora, Slave Empress (1954) and a number of cult-favorite Gothic and horror films such as I Vampiri (1957), The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) and The Ghost (1963). Freda was first championed in the 1960s by French critics who labeled him "the European Raoul Walsh," and enjoyed growing critical esteem over the years. This book covers his life and career for the first time in English, with detailed analyses of his films and exclusive interviews with his collaborators and family.

List of contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

¿1.¿A Portrait of the Filmmaker as a Young Man

¿2.¿Learning the Craft

¿3.¿Filming During Wartime

¿4.¿Adventure, ­Italian-style

¿5.¿Brazil ... and Back

¿6.¿Under the Sign of Melodrama

¿7.¿Historia Magistra Vitae

¿8.¿Diving into Genres

¿9.¿Exploring the Myth

10.¿Intermezzo-A Director for Hire

11.¿The Gothic Years

12.¿In Exile

13.¿A Sort of Homecoming

14.¿The Twilight Years

Epilogue

Filmography

Chapter Notes

Essential Bibliography

Index

About the author

Roberto Curti is an Italian film historian and the author of numerous published books and articles. He lives in Cortona, Italy.

Product details

• Authors: Roberto Curti, Curti Roberto
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.05.2017
• EAN: 9781476669700
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-6970-0
• No. of pages: 376
• Dimensions: 178 mm x 254 mm x 19 mm
• Weight: 671 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Photography, film, video, TV; 20th Century, PERFORMING ARTS / Screenplays, Italy, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, PERFORMING ARTS / Film / General, Individual Film Directors, Film-Makers, Film Scripts & Screenplays, Film scripts and screenplays, PERFORMING ARTS / Individual Director