The Films Of Doris Day

Kaufman has written Doris Day's incredible, previously untold story. While Day symbolized virtuous America to the rest of the world, she was in many ways the opposite of her image as "the girl next door."

The biggest female box office attraction in Hollywood history, Doris Day remains unequalled as the only entertainer who has ever triumphed in movies, radio, recordings, and a multi-year weekly television series. America's favorite girl next door may have projected a wholesome image that led Oscar Levant to quip "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin," but in Considering Doris Day Tom Santopietro reveals Day's underappreciated and effortless acting and singing range that ran the gamut from musicals to comedy to drama and made Day nothing short of a worldwide icon. Covering the early Warner Brothers years through Day's triumphs working with artists as varied as Alfred Hitchcock and Bob Fosse, Santopietro's smart and funny book deconstructs the myth of Day as America's perennial virgin, and reveals why her work continues to resonate today, both onscreen as pioneering independent career woman role model, and off, as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor. Praised by James Cagney as "my idea of a great actor" and by James Garner as "the Fred Astaire of comedy," Doris Day became not just America's favorite girl, but the number one film star in the world. Yet after two weekly television series, including a triumphant five year run on CBS, she turned her back on show business forever. Examining why Day's worldwide success in movies overshadowed the brilliant series of concept recordings she made for Columbia Records in the '50s and '60s, Tom Santopietro uncovers the unexpected facets of Day's surprisingly sexy acting and singing style that led no less an observer than John Updike to state "She just glowed for me." Placing Day's work within the social context of America in the second half of the twentieth century, Considering Doris Day is the first book that grants Doris Day her rightful place as a singular American artist.

The most up-to-date study of the Hollywood romantic comedy film, from the development of sound to the twenty-first century, this book examines the history and conventions of the genre and surveys the controversies arising from the critical responses to these films. Provides a detailed interpretation of important romantic comedy films from as early as 1932 to movies made in the twenty-first century Presents a full analysis of the range of romantic comedy conventions, including dramatic conflicts, characters, plots, settings, and the function of humor Develops a survey of romantic comedy movies and builds a canon of key films from Hollywood's classical era right up to the present day Chapters work as discrete studies as well as within the larger context of the book

This lyrical biography explores the life and art of Yoko Ono, from her childhood haiku to her avant-garde visual art and experimental music. An outcast throughout most of her life, and misunderstood by every group she was supposed to belong to, Yoko always followed her own unique vision to create art that was ahead of its time and would later be celebrated. Her focus remained on being an artist, even when the rest of world saw her only as the wife of John Lennon. Yoko Ono’s moving story will inspire any young adult who has ever felt like an outsider, or who is developing or questioning ideas about being an artist, to follow their dreams and find beauty in all that surrounds them.

Doris Day, once called an Actors Studio unto herself, was one of the twentieth century's greatest entertainers, with a career spanning 39 films, more than 150 television shows, and more than 500 recordings. This work covers the life and career of the singer and star of such films as Pillow Talk, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Calamity Jane. The work is divided into four sections, beginning with a biography of Day's life from her birth in Cincinnati, Ohio, through four marriages, near-bankruptcy, and her dedication to animal rights, and concluding with her contented present life. A filmography lists each film with full credits, synopsis and reviews, plus her popularity rankings and awards. The third section lists complete record album releases with notes, single record releases, unreleased songs and recordings, music awards and nominations, radio appearances from big bands to solo work, her seven million-sellers, and chart placements. The final section lists Day's television appearances, including synopses and credits for her five-season run with The Doris Day Show on CBS, the cable show Doris Day's Best Friends, and her appearances in variety specials, talk shows, and documentaries.

The events of the popular, thrice-married, blonde singer-actress's life, as told to Hotchner, are given a wider frame through candid interviews with her son, mother, friends, and co-stars.