Orson Welles, Shakespeare, and Popular Culture
Editorial Reviews
Review
"On 15 October 1956 the I Love Lucy show aired an episode guest-starring Orson Welles....Welles's appearance in this bizarre episode of a popular television situation comedy is Michael Anderegg's point of departure in his fine, extremely well-written, compact contribution to Shakespeare and film studies....Anderegg proceeds to make clear Welles's centrality to any history of Shakespeare and film: he begins with two illuminating chapters focused on Welles' s theatrical background and his production of Everybody's Shakespeare (Mercury Text Records)....In his fascinating last chapter (the best, in my view) Anderegg compares Welles to Brecht and focuses on Welles's auteur status in relation to his star qualities....Anderegg does not generally aim to produce 'new readings of Welles's Shakespearean films' but 'to place each film within a larger contextual field and to suggest the extent to which the meaning and significance of each are intimately tied to the circumstances in which it was produced, distributed, exhibited, and received.' And here Anderegg succeeds admirably, providing much new and very interesting information about the films' reception....Anyone interested in Shakespeare and American film will find this book extremely useful....I very much enjoyed readinng Orson Welles, Shakespeare, and Popular Culture, and I strongly recommend it. It's a wonderful book." -- Richard Burt, Shakespeare Quarterly
"Andregg provides an eloquent illustration of how, when Welles scholarship is at its best, it avoids the biographical and panoramic in favor of a particular theme or angle of investigation and, in the course of pursuing that angle, brings a fresh understanding to the Wellesian tapestry as a whole." -- Catherine Benamou, Michigan Quarterly Review
"A valuable and much-needed contribution to Welles studies. Anderegg's book represents for me an important intervention that throws light not only on certain neglected aspects of Welles's work -- particullarly Everybody's Shakespeare and the Mercury Text Records -- but also on a fresh new approach toward understanding his career as a whole." -- Jonathan Rosenbaum, editor of This is Orson Welles
Jonathan Rosenbaum
A valuable and much-needed contribution to Welles studies. Anderegg's book represents for me an important intervention that throws light not only on certain neglected aspects of Welles's workparticullarly Everybody's Shakespeare and the Mercury Text Recordsbut also on a fresh new approach toward understanding his career as a whole.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Orson Welles, Shakespeare, and Popular Culture
Orson Welles, Shakespeare, and Popular Culture,Michael Anderegg,Columbia University Press,0231112297,1564-1616,20th century,Appreciation,English drama,Film & Video - Direction & Production,Film & Video - History & Criticism,Film adaptations,Film and video adaptations,History,History and criticism,Performing Arts,Performing Arts/Dance,Pop Arts / Pop Culture,Popular Culture - General,Popular culture,Shakespeare, William,,United States
Orson Welles, Shakespeare, and Popular Culture
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