Admirably well-sourced, consistently evenhanded, and remarkably succinct, A Life is now the authoritative biography of an appalling, albeit fascinating, figure of cinema.

In his biography of the half-forgotten yet indomitable African-American film pioneer, McGilligan deftly assembles the sterling research of several scholars into a compelling account of a quixotic life.

An adjunct professor at UCLA, Schreibman presents an essential outline - culled from his own experience in theater, film, and TV - of what is needed to get the unbelievably complex job done.

With in-depth interviews of Billy Wilder, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Ingmar Bergman and more, you can read this Playboy offering "for the articles."

As this Taschen volume makes clear, the Master of Suspense remains appealing to cineastes young and old, with 50-plus features underscoring his timeless ingenuity.

Author Gwenda Young makes the case that from the silent era to the golden age, Clarence Brown deserves a place among the giants.

Director Ernst Lubitsch, who was idolized by Wilder and Welles, is brought into sharp focus.

The making of George Stevens' Texas-sized epic is recounted in Don Graham's meticulously chronicled book.

As the newly scaled down yet no less comprehensive Taschen book Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Made demonstrates, Kubrick was nothing if not a completist.