In his 1929 Hollywood production The Case of Lena Smith , director Josef von Sternberg vividly brought to life his youthful memories of the turn of the 20th century through the story a young woman fighting the oppressive class system of Imperial Vienna. Critic Dwight Macdonald called it "the most completely satisfying American film I have seen." And yet, only a short fragment survives. Assembling 150 original stills and set designs, numerous script and production documents and essays by eminent film historians, the book reconstructs one of the legendary lost masterpieces of the American cinema. It also includes essays by Janet Bergstrom, Gero Gandert, Franz Grafl, Alexander Horwath, Hiroshi Komatsu and Michael Omasta, a preface by Meri von Sternberg, as well as contemporary reviews and excerpts from Viennese literature of the era.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Synema Gesellschaft Fur Film U. Medien
ISBN-10
3901644229
ISBN-13
9783901644221
eBay Product ID (ePID)
64184081
Product Key Features
Author
Michael Omasta
Publication Name
Josef Von Sternberg : the Case of Lena Smith
Format
Trade Paperback
Language
English
Subject
Film / General, Individual Director (See Also Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts), Film / History & Criticism
Publication Year
2008
Series
Austrian Film Museum Bks.
Type
Textbook
Subject Area
Performing Arts
Number of Pages
304 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
0.8 in
Item Height
0.1 in
Item Width
0.7 in
Item Weight
22.7 Oz
Additional Product Features
LCCN
2008-365194
Lc Classification Number
Pn1993.5
Grade from
College Graduate Student
Reviews
These images show that Sternberg was already at the absolute zenith of his shimmery mise-en-scène powers...and that should be enough to embolden readers to plummet into these dreamy pages with the conviction they're going to a better place.