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Earth vs. the Sci-Fi Filmmakers
20 Interviews
Tom Weaver

ISBN 978-0-7864-2210-4
163 photos, index
396pp. hardcover (7 x 10) 2005

Description
Back in the era of black-and-white horror and sci-fi movies, "we didn’t have special effects, or the money for ’em," says Peter Graves, one of the genre’s most popular stars. "But in those days, an unlimited amount of money wouldn’t have gotten us much better special effects, because they didn’t exist. We had to go with the stories and try to make them as believable as possible, and flash the outlandish things by quickly, so the audience never got a good, in-focus look at them!"

Perhaps no films attracted more rabid fans and less critical acclaim than the genre movies of that era. The men and women who made the characters come to life are interviewed here, talking about their work, the behind-the-scenes action, and the impact the movies had on their careers. The interviewees are Gene Barry, Gary Clarke, Gary Conway, Merian C. Cooper, Robert Dix, Donnie Dunagan, Alex Gordon, Peter Graves, Gary Gray, Arch Hall, Jr., Stephen Kandel, Carolyn Kearney, Ken Kolb, Robert L. Lippert, Jr., Jan Merlin, Mary Mitchel, Elliott Reid, Stanley Rubin, Frankie Thomas and Burt Topper. Extensively illustrated.

About the Author
Tom Weaver lives in Sleepy Hollow, New York, and has been interviewing moviemakers since the early 1980s. The New York Times called him one of the leading scholars in the horror field and USA Today has described him as the king of the monster hunters. Classic Images called him "the best interviewer we have today." He is a frequent contributor to numerous film magazines including Starlog, Fangoria, Monsters from the Vault and Video Watchdog, and he has been featured in the prestigious Best American Movie Writing. A frequent DVD audio commentator, he is the author of numerous reference and other nonfiction books about American popular culture, including Universal Horrors: The Studio’s Classic Fims, 1931-1946.

Other Book(s) by Tom Weaver Available from McFarland:

Poverty Row HORRORS!

I Was a Monster Movie Maker

Double Feature Creature Attack

It Came from Horrorwood

Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Flashbacks

Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers

Science Fiction Stars and Horror Heroes

Universal Horrors

Eye on Science Fiction

John Carradine

I Talked with a Zombie

Science Fiction Confidential

A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde



Table of Contents & Excerpts

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