With film books, I have read many, many more than those listed here, but I have opted to only highlight the absolute best of what I have discovered. The chosen biographies are both informative AND a great stand-alone story of a fascinating and (often) troubled person. The Reviews & Lists books are references which I dip into constantly and have put me onto many classic movies which I otherwise may have missed. And the Film History books accurately illuminate aspects of the artform / business which were previously unknown to me. But again, the stories they tell are also more than mere information. Reading is a leisure-time pursuit after all.
I can heartily recommend them all, and will continue to add to the list when new and impressive reads turn up in my life.
BIOGRAPHIES & MEMOIRS
Jean Arthur
JEAN ARTHUR: THE ACTRESS NOBODY KNEW
Author: John Oller First Published: 1997
Clara Bow
CLARA BOW: RUNNIN' WILD
Author: David Stenn First Published: 1988
Montgomery Clift
MONTGOMERY CLIFT: A BIOGRAPHY
Author: Patricia Bosworth First Published: 1978
Judy Garland
JUDY GARLAND
Author: David Shipman First Published: 1992
Sam Goldwyn
GOLDWYN: A BIOGRAPHY
Author: A. Scott Berg First Published: 1989
Alec Guinness
ALEC GUINNESS
Author: Piers Paul Read First Published: 2003
Jean Harlow
BOMBSHELL
Author: David Stenn First Published: 1993
Walter Huston & John Huston
THE HUSTONS
Author: Lawrence Grobel First Published: 1989
Buster Keaton
BUSTER KEATON: CUT TO THE CHASE
Author: Marion Meade First Published: 1995
Fritz Lang
FRITZ LANG: THE NATURE OF THE BEAST
Author: Patrick McGilligan First Published: 1997
Charles Laughton
CHARLES LAUGHTON: A DIFFICULT ACTOR
Author: Simon Callow First Published: 1987
David Lean
DAVID LEAN
Author: Kevin Brownlow First Published: 1996
Vincente Minnelli
A HUNDRED OR MORE HIDDEN THINGS
Author: Mark Griffin First Published: 2010
Robert Mitchum
ROBERT MITCHUM: BABY, I DON'T CARE
Author: Lee Server First Published: 2001
Margaret Rutherford
MARGARET RUTHERFORD: DREADNOUGHT WITH GOOD MANNERS
Author: Andy Merriman First Published: 2009
Robert Ryan
THE LIVES OF ROBERT RYAN
Author: J.R. Jones First Published: 2015
Barbara Stanwyck
A LIFE OF BARBARA STANWYCK: STEEL-TRUE Vol. 1 1907-1940
Author: Victoria Wilson First Published: 2013
Preston Sturges
MADCAP: THE LIFE OF PRESTON STURGES
Author: Donald Spoto First Published: 1990
Irving Thalberg
THALBERG
Author: Bob Thomas First Published: 1969
Spencer Tracy
SPENCER TRACY
Author: James Curtis First Published: 2011
Billy Wilder
ON SUNSET BOULEVARD: THE LIFE & TIMES OF BILLY WILDER
Author: Ed Sikov First Published: 1998
William Wyler
A TALENT FOR TROUBLE
Author: Jan Herman First Published: 1995
REVIEWS & LISTS & TRIVIA
ALTERNATE OSCARS
Author: Danny Peary First Published: 1993
THE COMPLETE HITCHCOCK
Authors: Paul Condon & Jim Sangster First Published: 1999
CULT MOVIES 1, 2 & 3
Author: Danny Peary First Published: 1981 / 1983 / 1988
FILM FACTS
Author: Patrick Robertson First Published: 2001
5001 NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES
Author: Pauline Kael First Published: 1982
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE GOD-AWFUL
Author: Kurt Loder First Published: 2011
THE GREAT MOVIE STARS: THE GOLDEN YEARS
Author: David Shipman First Published: 1970
GUIDE FOR THE FILM FANATIC
Author: Danny Peary First Published: 1986
HALLIWELL'S HUNDRED
Author: Leslie Halliwell First Published: 1982
"HAVE YOU SEEN...?"
Author: David Thomson First Published: 2008
100 GREAT FILM PERFORMANCES YOU SHOULD REMEMBER - BUT PROBABLY DON'T
Author: John Dileo First Published: 2002
101 MARVELLOUS MOVIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Author: David Stratton First Published: 2018
PAST IMPERFECT: HISTORY ACCORDING TO THE MOVIES
Editor: Mark C. Carnes First Published: 1995
QUINLAN'S FILM DIRECTORS
Author: David Quinlan First Published: 1983
QUINLAN'S ILLUSTRATED DIRECTORY OF FILM CHARACTER ACTORS
Author: David Quinlan First Published: 1985
VARIETY BOOK OF MOVIE LISTS
Editor / Author: Fred Lombardi First Published: 1994
FILM HISTORY
CITY OF NETS
Author: Otto Friedrich First Published: 1986
[A portrait of Hollywood in the 1940's]
EALING STUDIOS
Author: Charles Barr First Published: 1977
[A look at the output of the iconic British film studio]
THE GENIUS OF THE SYSTEM
Author: Thomas Schatz First Published: 1988
[The Studio Era of Hollywood]
HOLLYWOOD BE THY NAME
Author: Cass Warner Sperling & Cork Millner First Published: 1994
[The Warner Brothers story]
HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN YEAR, 1939
Author: Ted Sennett First Published: 1989
[The great Hollywood films made in 1939]
THE RKO STORY
Authors: Richard B. Jewell & Vernon Harbin First Published: 1982
[History of the great pioneering studio, told through its movies]
ROSS & TOM: TWO AMERICAN TRAGEDIES
Author: John Leggett First Published: 1974
[Tragic lives of two Hollywood writers]
ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Author: Aljean Harmetz First Published: 1992
[The making of Casablanca]
TENDER COMRADES: A BACKSTORY OF THE HOLLYWOOD BLACKLIST
Author: Patrick McGilligan & Paul Buhle First Published: 1997
[A collection of interviews with Hollywood Blacklist victims]
TINSELTOWN: MURDER, MORPHINE & MADNESS AT THE DAWN OF HOLLYWOOD
Author: William J. Mann First Published: 2014
[The mysterious 1922 murder of film director William Desmond Taylor]
WHO THE DEVIL MADE IT
Author: Peter Bogdanovich First Published: 1997
[Interviews with great film directors]
