Desert Wonderland

Film Composers in America is a landmark in the history of film. Here, renowned film scholar Clifford McCarty has attempted to identify every known composer who wrote background musical scores for films in the United States between 1911 and 1970. With information on roughly 20,000 films, the book is an essential tool for serious students of film and a treasure trove for film fans. It spans all types of American films, from features, shorts, cartoons, and documentaries to nontheatrical works, avant-garde films, and even trailers. Meticulously researched over 45 years, the book documents the work of more than 1,500 composers, from Robert Abramson to Josiah Zuro, including the first to score an American film, Walter C. Simon. It includes not only Hollywood professionals but also many composers of concert music--as well as popular music and other genres--whose cinematic work has never before been fully catalogued. The book also features an index that lets readers quickly find the composer for any American film through 1970. To recover this history, much of which was lost or never recorded, McCarty corresponded with or interviewed hundreds of composers, arrangers, orchestrators, musical directors, and music librarians. He also conducted extensive research in the archives of the seven largest film studios--Columbia, MGM, Paramount, RKO, 20th Century-Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros.--and wherever possible, he based his findings on the most reliable evidence, that of the manuscript scores and cue sheets (as opposed to less accurate screen credits). The result is the definitive guide to the composers and musical scores for the first 60 years of American film.

Rediscover the simple pleasures of a day trip with Day Trips from Phoenix, Tucson, and Flagstaff. This guide is packed with hundreds of exciting things for locals and vacationers to do, see, and discover within a two-hour drive of these popular Arizona cities. With full trip-planning information, Day Trips from Phoenix, Tucson, and Flagstaff. helps makes the most of a brief getaway.

V. 12 contains: The Archer...Christmas, 1877.

Includes where to stay and eat, must-see sights and local secrets, and a map to get you where you are going.

Short subject films have a long history in American cinemas. These could be anywhere from 2 to 40 minutes long and were used as a "filler" in a picture show that would include a cartoon, a newsreel, possibly a serial and a short before launching into the feature film. Shorts could tackle any topic of interest: an unusual travelogue, a comedy, musical revues, sports, nature or popular vaudeville acts. With the advent of sound-on-film in the mid-to-late 1920s, makers of earlier silent short subjects began experimenting with the short films, using them as a testing ground for the use of sound in feature movies. After the Second World War, and the rising popularity of television, short subject films became far too expensive to produce and they had mostly disappeared from the screens by the late 1950s. This encyclopedia offers comprehensive listings of American short subject films from the 1920s through the 1950s.

The Backroads of Route 66 explores the landmarks, natural wonders, and historical gems left to be explored off the beaten path of America’s most famous byway.