Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1277477
47 F A L L Q 3 I S S U E B O O K R E V I E W By Betsy A. McLane T he subtitle of "Cinema '62: The Greatest Year at the Movies" is an on-the -mark description of this light, entertaining work . More t h a n a t re a t i s e o n c i n e m a , t h i s i s a b o o k a b o u t m o v i e s : F i l m s m a d e fo r popular entertainment. D e b a t i n g t h e m e r i ts o f d i f fe re n t eras, productions, and filmmakers is a long tradition for everyone involved in filmmaking, on and off the set, including those in post-production. Farber and McCellan offer ample ammunition to anyone who champions films from the early 1960s. Editors will especially appre- ciate the attention given to the legendary Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang WAS 1962 THE BEST YEAR FOR MOVIES? A NEW BOOK MAKES THE CASE editor Anne V. Coates. Her skills are cel- ebrated in "Cinema '62" for her artistic contributions to "Lawrence of Arabia." Readers are even treated to a photograph of Coates at her Moviola. Coates recom- mended to the director David Lean that he watch the films of Truffaut, Godard, and others of the French New Wave to observe their innovative cutting. The authors write that after she put together a rough cut of the first scene sent to her, Lean "said one of the best things anyone has ever said to me: 'you've cut that exactly like I would'." They spent three months in London editing together, in the process creating what Farber and McCel- lan call, "One of the most famous cuts in film history, [the one] that jumped from Lawrence blowing out a match to the sun rising in the desert." "C i n e m a ' 6 2 " d e v o te s a n e n t i re chapter to "Lawrence," calling it the "Crowning Achievement" of the year. This may be debatable, but the picture was certainly one of the year's biggest releases. It easily bested Cinerama's "How the West Was Won." "Lawrence," with Robert Boyle's emotionally nuanced script, Lean's direction, breathtaking locations shot in Super Panavision 70 mm by Freddie Young, acting by an en- semble of non-stars, and Maurice Jarre's score, were all backed by producer Sam Spiegel's willingness to take on risk. Peter O'Toole in "Lawrence of Arabia." P H O T O : P H O T O F E S T