Showmanship: The Cinema of William Castle

Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Showmanship: The Cinema of William Castle by Joe Jordan, BearManor Media
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Author: Joe Jordan ISBN: 9781310755224
Publisher: BearManor Media Publication: July 30, 2015
Imprint: Smashwords Edition Language: English
Author: Joe Jordan
ISBN: 9781310755224
Publisher: BearManor Media
Publication: July 30, 2015
Imprint: Smashwords Edition
Language: English

William Castle was cinema’s Abominable Showman – the marketing genius who thought “outside the coffin” to dream up outrageous public relations gimmicks, such as PERCEPTO! and EMERGO! He was also the talented director of fifty-six feature films, from the Film Noir When Strangers Marry and the Whistler mysteries to Westerns, swashbucklers, and – his fearsome forte – celebrated shockers, such as House on Haunted Hill, Strait-Jacket, Homicidal, and The Tingler.

Author Joe Jordan provides exhaustive scholarly analysis of each of Castle’s directorial efforts, as well as production background, little-known anecdotes, and succinct plot synopses.

“Joe Jordan dissects the films of William Castle with delicious abandon, as if he wields the razor edge of Joan Crawford’s axe from Strait-Jacket. Like slicing tendons from marrow, he carves into the masterful showman’s work with surgical precision and pulls the mask from the myths. A genuine thriller from A-Z. Hardly a shadow misses his myopic scrutiny. Every page keeps you on the edge of your seat.” – David W. Menefee, Pulitzer nominated author of Wally: The True Wallace Reid Story.

“Fills in the missing ‘Fright Break’ in every horror aficionado’s film library!” – Lucy Chase Williams, author of The Complete Films of Vincent Price.

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William Castle was cinema’s Abominable Showman – the marketing genius who thought “outside the coffin” to dream up outrageous public relations gimmicks, such as PERCEPTO! and EMERGO! He was also the talented director of fifty-six feature films, from the Film Noir When Strangers Marry and the Whistler mysteries to Westerns, swashbucklers, and – his fearsome forte – celebrated shockers, such as House on Haunted Hill, Strait-Jacket, Homicidal, and The Tingler.

Author Joe Jordan provides exhaustive scholarly analysis of each of Castle’s directorial efforts, as well as production background, little-known anecdotes, and succinct plot synopses.

“Joe Jordan dissects the films of William Castle with delicious abandon, as if he wields the razor edge of Joan Crawford’s axe from Strait-Jacket. Like slicing tendons from marrow, he carves into the masterful showman’s work with surgical precision and pulls the mask from the myths. A genuine thriller from A-Z. Hardly a shadow misses his myopic scrutiny. Every page keeps you on the edge of your seat.” – David W. Menefee, Pulitzer nominated author of Wally: The True Wallace Reid Story.

“Fills in the missing ‘Fright Break’ in every horror aficionado’s film library!” – Lucy Chase Williams, author of The Complete Films of Vincent Price.

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