Thank you to everyone who reached out to me in anticipation of the new roundup of classic film books! I've been hard at work on this list and I finally have something to share. I was quite impressed with the new offerings and happy to see names like Marya Gates, Alex Kittle, Lies Lanckman, Mary Mallory and Alicia Malone out with new books. I was also thrilled to see new biographies and memoirs on Ray Milland, Josephine Baker, Merle Oberon, Nancy Kwan, Michael Caine, Judy Garland, Vera Miles and more.
Are you new to my list? Here are the details. The books include biographies, memoirs, scholarly texts, coffee table books and more from a variety of publishers. For any scholarly books I make sure the ones included are affordable. There are also some reissues and paperback editions added to the bunch. Publication dates range from January to June 2025 and these are subject to change. These are U.S. release dates. International release dates and availability may vary.
Links go to Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Powell's. I receive a small commission if you shop through some (not all) of my buy links.
Happy reading!
JANUARY
**Paperback Edition**
9798874812683
Dancing on the Edge
A Journey of Living, Loving, and Tumbling Through Hollywood
By Russ Tamblyn and Sarah Tomlinson
Blackstone Publishing
416 pages — January 2025
9781478031222
Feminism and the Cinema of Experience
By Lori Jo Marso
Duke University Press Books
256 pages — January 2025
9781788842884
Hollywood Confidential
by Dafydd Jones
Acc Art Books
96 pages — January 2025
**Paperback Edition**
9781639368761
Kubrick
An Odyssey
by Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams
Pegasus Books
656 pages — January 2025
9780300254495
Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg
The Whole Equation
by Kenneth Turan
Yale University Press
392 pages — January 2025
**Paperback Edition**
9780806542331
The Way They Were
How Epic Battles and Bruised Egos Brought a Classic Hollywood Love Story to the Screen
by Robert Hofler
Citadel
340 pages — January 2025
9781639368051
Where Madness Lies
The Double Life of Vivien Leigh
by Lyndsy Spence
Pegasus Books
256 pages — January 2025
FEBRUARY
9781613166284
The Black Curtain
by Cornell Woolrich
American Mystery Classics
216 pages — February 2025
9780847846610
Cinema Her Way
Visionary Female Directors in Their Own Words
by Marya E. Gates
illustrated by Alex Kittle
Rizzoli
256 pages — February 2025
9781335007933
Daughter of Daring
The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood’s First Stuntwoman
by Mallory O’Meara
Hanover Square Press
384 pages — February 2025
9781448314447
Death Upon a Star
by Amy Patricia Meade
Severn House
224 pages — February 2025
**First time published in US**
9780593853696
Fearless and Free
A Memoir
by Josephine Baker
foreword by Ijeoma Oluo
translated by Anam Zafar and Sophie Lewis
Tiny Reparations Books
304 pages — February 2025
9781835950647
The Films of Aleksandr Rou
Father of Soviet Fairy-Tale Cinema
by Deborah Allison
Intellect Ltd
240 pages — February 2025
9781788405492
Hollywood Blackout
The Battle for Inclusion at the Oscars
by Ben Arogundade
Cassell
352 pages — February 2025
**Paperback Edition**
9781464221989
A Murder in Hollywood
The Untold Story of Tinseltown's Most Shocking Crime
by Casey Sherman
Sourcebooks
336 pages — February 2025
9781399505918
Stars, Fan Magazines and Audiences
Desire by Design
edited by Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Lies Lanckman and Sarah Polley
Edinburgh University Press
296 pages — February 2025
9780472133581
When Charlie Met Joan
The Tragedy of the Chaplin Trials and the Failings of American Law
by Diane Kiesel
University of Michigan Press
408 pages — February 2025
9780062941336
Woody Allen
A Travesty of a Mockery of a Sham
by Patrick McGilligan
Harper
848 pages — February 2025
9780228023791
Y tu Mamá También
Queer Film Classics
by Juan Llamas-Rodriguez
McGill-Queen’s University Press
138 pages — February 2025
MARCH
**New Edition**
9780520419285
Anita Loos Rediscovered
Film Treatments and Fiction by Anita Loos, Creator of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
by Anita Loos
edited by Cari Beauchamp and Mary Anita Loos
University of California Press
350 pages — March 2025
9781915316431
Art! Trash! Terror!
Adventures in Strange Cinema
by Chris Alexander
Headpress
452 pages — March 2025
9781493068081
Audrey Hepburn
A Life of Beautiful Uncertainty
by Tom Santopietro and Jeffrey Banks
Applause
448 pages — March 2025
9780520419292
Buñuel and Mexico
The Crisis of National Cinema
by Ernesto R. Acevedo-Muñoz
University of California Press
214 pages — March 2025
**Updated Edition**
9798855801613
Cavell on Film
by Stanley Cavell
edited by William Rothman
introduction by William Rothman
SUNY Press
514 pages — March 2025
9781399739979
Don't Look Back, You'll Trip Over: My Guide to Life
My Guide to Life
by Michael Caine
Mobius
272 pages — March 2025
9781526780768
Early Buster Keaton
From the Vaudeville Stage to Comique Films, 1899-1920
by Lisa Stein Haven
White Owl
224 pages — March 2025
**Paperback Edition**
9780813081045
The First Hollywood
Florida and the Golden Age of Silent Filmmaking
by Shawn C. Bean
University Press of Florida
240 pages — March 2025
9781493089307
First Women of Hollywood
Female Pioneers in the Early Motion Picture Business
by Mary Mallory
Lyons Press
304 pages — March 2025
9798890130075
L.A. Coroner
Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood
by Anne Soon Choi
Third States Books
304 pages — March 2025
9781324050810
Love, Queenie
Merle Oberon, Hollywood's First South Asian Star
by Mayukh Sen
W.W. Norton & Company
320 pages — March 2025
**Reissue**
9781917382045
Luckier Than Most
An Autobiography
by David Tomlinson
Dean Street Press
190 pages — March 2025
9780063392229
Notorious
Portraits of Stars from Hollywood, Culture, Fashion, and Tech
by Maureen Dowd
Harper
400 pages — March 2025
9781036109363
The Real Pink Panther
Stories Behind the Classic Films
by Robert Sellers
White Owl
224 pages — March 2025
9781985902190
Vera Miles
The Hitchcock Blonde Who Got Away
by Christopher McKittrick
University Press of Kentucky
312 pages — March 2025
9781036107642
When the Carry On Stopped
Why Britain's Most Successful Comedy Film Franchise Suddenly Halted
by Dave Ainsworth
White Owl
224 pages — March 2025
APRIL
9780226479828
The Attractions of the Moving Image
Essays on History, Theory, and the Avant-Garde
by Tom Gunning
edited by Daniel Morgan
University of Chicago Press
592 pages — April 2025
9798886637724
Casablanca Cocktails
We'll Always Have Aperitifs
by S. T. Bende
Insight Editions
160 pages — April 2025
9781476693682
The CinemaScope Years
Films That Revolutionized Moviegoing, 1953-1967
by Aubrey Solomon
McFarland
378 pages — April 2025
**Revised and Expanded Edition**
9780762488261
Dark City Dames
The Women Who Defined Film Noir
by Eddie Muller
Turner Classic Movies/Running Press
288 pages — April 2025
9781797232195
Good Movies as Old Books
Films Reimagined as Vintage Book Covers
by Matt Stevens
Chronicle Books
256 pages — April 2025
9781985901728
Horses of Hollywood
by Robert Smoodin
University Press of Kentucky
216 pages — April 2025
9781985901926
June Mathis
The Rise and Fall of a Silent Film Visionary
by Thomas J. Slater
University Press of Kentucky
304 pages — April 2025
9781496856128
The Musicals of Cole Porter
Broadway, Hollywood, Television
by Bernard F. Dick
University Press of Mississippi
240 pages — April 2025
9780806543239
Nothin' Comes Easy
The Life of Rodney Dangerfield
by Michael Seth Starr
Citadel
240 pages — April 2025
9781839027550
People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag)
by Jon Hughes
BFI Classics
104 pages — April 2025
9780806543574
The Rambo Report
Five Films, Three Books, One Legend
by Nat Segaloff
Citadel
304 pages — April 2025
9781476696454
The Screen Chills Companion, 1940-1946
Films of the Golden Age of Hollywood Horror
by Chris Fellner
McFarland
120 pages — April 2025
9781770867833
The Silent Film Star Murders
by Melodie Campbell
Cormorant Books
300 pages — April 2025
9780762488483
TCM Imports
Timeless Favorites and Hidden Gems of World Cinema
by Alicia Malone
Turner Classic Movies/Running Press
336 pages — April 2025
9781839026430
When a Woman Ascend the Stairs (Onna ga kaidan o agaru toki)
by Catherine Russell
BFI Classics
104 pages — April 2025
9780306834271
The World of Nancy Kwan
A Memoir by Hollywood’s Asian Superstar
by Nancy Kwan with Deborah Davis
foreword by Kevin Kwan
Legacy Lit
256 pages — April 2025
MAY
9781839025075
100 Queer Films Since Stonewall
by Chelsea McCracker and Matt Connolly
BFI
224 pages — May 2025
9780764369278
The Art of Classic Crime and Mystery Movies
From the Earliest Poverty Row Movies to the Films of the 1970s
by Ed Hulse
foreword by Glenn Kenny
Schiffer
320 pages — May 2025
9781419779916
Audrey Hepburn
An Illustrated Biography
by Eileen Hofer
Illustrated by Christopher Longe
Abrams ComicArts
320 pages — May 2025
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Powell's
9781978842915
Back to Black
Jules Feiffer’s Noir Trilogy
by Fabrice Leroy
Rutgers University Press
228 pages — May 2025
**New Edition**
9798855803099
Bobby Darin
Roman Candle
by David Evanier
Excelsior Editions
272 pages — May 2025
**Paperback Edition**
A Chronology of Film
A Cultural Timeline from the Magic Lantern to the Digital Screen
by Ian Haydn Smith
Thames & Hudson
272 pages — May 2025
9780063306868
Cooler Than Cool
The Life and Work of Elmore Leonard
by C. M. Kushins
Mariner Books
512 pages — May 2025
9781496831491
Dashing to the End
The Ray Milland Story
by Eric Monder
University Press of Mississippi
400 pages — May 2025
9781250805942
The Giant
Orson Welles, the Artist and the Shadow
by Youssef Daoudi
23rd St./Macmillan
272 pages — May 2025
9781501181177
Hollywood High
A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies
by Bruce Handy
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster
384 pages — May 2025
9780300279986
Josephine Baker's Secret War
The African American Star Who Fought for France and Freedom
by Hanna Diamond
Yale University Press
352 pages — May 2025
9781476690032
Mel Brooks—Seriously!
Essays on the Films, Television Shows and Standup
edited by Sue Matheson
McFarland
224 pages — May 2025
9781978838376
Mervyn LeRoy Comes to Town
by Murray Pomerance and R. Barton Palmer
Rutgers University Press
274 pages — May 2025
9780806544328
Robert Shaw
An Actor’s Life on the Set of JAWS and Beyond
by Christopher Shaw Myers
Citadel Press
304 pages — May 2025
9781839027314
Some Like it Hot
By Steven Cohan
BFI Classics
104 pages — May 2025
9781978836389
Thrillers, Chillers, and Killers
Radio and Film Noir
by Frank Krutnik
Rutgers University Press
228 pages — May 2025
9781476695495
Thrills Untapped 2
More Discoveries for Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movie Fans, 1928-1936
by Michael R. Pitts
McFarland
332 pages — May 2025
9780228023760
Tomboy
Queer Film Classics
by Cristina Johnston
McGill-Queen’s University Press
138 pages — February 2025
9781839023040
Wanda
By Elena Gorfinkel
BFI Classics
120 pages — May 2025
JUNE
9781839027352
Black Girl (La Noire de)
By Vlad Dima
BFI Classics
104 pages — June 2025
** New Edition**
9781878972446
Chris Marker: Immemory
Gutenberg Version
by Chris Marker and edited by Isabel Ochoa Gold
D.A.P. Artbook
480 pages — June 2025
9781682196410
Ed Wood
Made in Hollywood USA
by Will Sloan
OR Books
150 pages — June 2025
**Revised Edition**
9781839027895
Heat
by Nick James
BFI Classics
112 pages — June 2025
**Revised Edition**
9781839028281
In the Mood for Love: (Huayang Nianhua)
by Tony Rayns
BFI Classics
104 pages — June 2025
9781493086542
Judy Garland
The Voice of MGM
by Scott Brogan
Lyons Press
416 pages — June 2025
9781368095945
The Life of Singleton
From Boyz N the Hood to Snowfall
by Thomas Golianopoulos
Andscape Books/Penguin Random House
320 pages — June 2025
9781476697512
Movies to Listen To
Great Scores and Their Composers
by Megan E. Goldstein and Pamela A. Marx
McFarland
235 pages — June 2025
9781839026850
Riddles of the Sphinx
by Kimberly Lamm
BFI Classics
104 pages — June 2025
9781639732548
Sick and Dirty
Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness
by Michael Koresky
Bloomsbury Publishing
320 pages — June 2025
COMING LATER THIS YEAR
9781538739297
Ready for My Closeup
The Making of Sunset Boulevard and the Dark Side of the Hollywood Dream
David M. Lubin
Grand Central Publishing
320 pages — August 2025
Which books are you putting on your wishlist?
