"Soundies" were the granddaddies of music videos: single-song musical movies that played in special jukeboxes during the 1940s. Some of the biggest musical stars (and stars of the future) appeared in these films: Louis Armstrong, Spike Jones, Liberace, Fats Waller, Stan Kenton, Cab Calloway, and many others. Thanks to Soundies, hundreds of unique musical performances were photographed for posterity. These mini-musicals were originally nothing more than a ten-cent novelty. Today, to film and music fans, they're a priceless part of history. Scott MacGillivray and Ted Okuda, authors of the landmark resource book "The Soundies Distributing Corporation of America," now offer this revised and expanded guide to the Soundies musicals. This all-new book picks up where the original left off: more than 1800 titles are classified by performer, title, and date-many with new, individual annotations and all with new cross-references for easy reading and consultation. There is also a historical account of the prolific Soundies production companies, a look at Soundies' many competitors and descendants (including telescriptions and Scopitones), a checklist of the dozens of Soundies home-movie editions, and a listing of alternate titles to help collectors identify the films more easily. All in one handy volume: "The Soundies Book."

Scott MacGillivray is the author of The Soundies Book (with Ted Okuda), Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven (with Jan MacGillivray), and Castle Films: A Hobbyist's Guide.

Scott MacGillivray's "Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward" was the first book to fully chronicle the later careers of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and everything that followed, from theatrical reissues to home videos. If you enjoyed the book the first time, you'll like this new edition even more. The author has expanded the original text by more than 50 percent, to include new insights, new information, and new discoveries in Laurel & Hardy history, never before published. (Which Laurel & Hardy comedy of the 1940s was withheld from release for almost four years? Which "forties" movie was their all-time biggest hit? Which movie was almost shut down by federal intervention?) You'll read much more about Stan and Ollie's unrealized projects, including five more feature films, two TV series, and two Broadway shows. A must-read for Stan and Ollie's fans everywhere, "Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward" is better than ever

Praise for the first edition of "Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward."..

"What a marvelous book I read it straight through, getting happier by the minute to think that more and more material is being set into history about the boys. The writing is so lucid - and that in this day of film books that aren't is high praise. Really wonderful "
- JOHN McCABE, Laurel & Hardy's authorized biographer

"Scott MacGillivray has accomplished something that most historians can only dream of doing: overturning the conventional wisdom... he rewrites the book on the movie-comedy team."
- BOSTON HERALD

"All the world's admirers of Laurel & Hardy will now forever be indebted to Scott MacGillivray for providing so much new information about two of the world's most beloved figures."
- STEVE ALLEN

"Displays a knowledge and affection for its subject that one would be hard pressed to find in most academic texts."
- CLASSIC IMAGES

"To write a book about screen performers as well covered as these two and still present a wealth of heretofore unpublished information is quite an accomplishment."
- FILM QUARTERLY

"MacGillivray takes great pains to provide the context necessary to reassess these films after so many years of knee-jerk dismissal and neglect... His book will remain the definitive study of the late years of the Laurel and Hardy phenomenon."
- ARNE FOGEL, Minnesota Public Radio

Here is the first book-length biography of Gloria Jean, one of Hollywood's finest performers, who starred in film, radio, stage, nightclub, and television productions. And what a story it is! This is the first in-depth profile of her public and private life.

You'll read about her co-stars, including Bing Crosby, Groucho Marx, Donald O'Connor, and Mel Torm .go behind the scenes on the set of "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" and meet W. C. Fields, her 'Uncle Bill."follow her memorable show-business career with its breathtaking heights and heartbreaking depths, guided-and sometimes misguided-by the studio.enjoy dozens of rare photos from Gloria Jean's personal collection.browse vintage posters and lobby cards.

As a special treat for film buffs, you'll see actual frame enlargements of never-before-seen screen tests.and discover three lost Gloria Jean feature films, documented here for the first time anywhere!

Scott MacGillivray is the author of The Soundies Book (with Ted Okuda), Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven (with Jan MacGillivray), and Castle Films: A Hobbyist's Guide.

Scott MacGillivray's "Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward" was the first book to fully chronicle the later careers of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and everything that followed, from theatrical reissues to home videos. If you enjoyed the book the first time, you'll like this new edition even more. The author has expanded the original text by more than 50 percent, to include new insights, new information, and new discoveries in Laurel & Hardy history, never before published. (Which Laurel & Hardy comedy of the 1940s was withheld from release for almost four years? Which "forties" movie was their all-time biggest hit? Which movie was almost shut down by federal intervention?) You'll read much more about Stan and Ollie's unrealized projects, including five more feature films, two TV series, and two Broadway shows. A must-read for Stan and Ollie's fans everywhere, "Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward" is better than ever

Praise for the first edition of "Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward."..

"What a marvelous book I read it straight through, getting happier by the minute to think that more and more material is being set into history about the boys. The writing is so lucid - and that in this day of film books that aren't is high praise. Really wonderful "
- JOHN McCABE, Laurel & Hardy's authorized biographer

"Scott MacGillivray has accomplished something that most historians can only dream of doing: overturning the conventional wisdom... he rewrites the book on the movie-comedy team."
- BOSTON HERALD

"All the world's admirers of Laurel & Hardy will now forever be indebted to Scott MacGillivray for providing so much new information about two of the world's most beloved figures."
- STEVE ALLEN

"Displays a knowledge and affection for its subject that one would be hard pressed to find in most academic texts."
- CLASSIC IMAGES

"To write a book about screen performers as well covered as these two and still present a wealth of heretofore unpublished information is quite an accomplishment."
- FILM QUARTERLY

"MacGillivray takes great pains to provide the context necessary to reassess these films after so many years of knee-jerk dismissal and neglect... His book will remain the definitive study of the late years of the Laurel and Hardy phenomenon."
- ARNE FOGEL, Minnesota Public Radio

"Soundies" were the granddaddies of music videos: single-song musical movies that played in special jukeboxes during the 1940s. Some of the biggest musical stars (and stars of the future) appeared in these films: Louis Armstrong, Spike Jones, Liberace, Fats Waller, Stan Kenton, Cab Calloway, and many others. Thanks to Soundies, hundreds of unique musical performances were photographed for posterity. These mini-musicals were originally nothing more than a ten-cent novelty. Today, to film and music fans, they're a priceless part of history. Scott MacGillivray and Ted Okuda, authors of the landmark resource book "The Soundies Distributing Corporation of America," now offer this revised and expanded guide to the Soundies musicals. This all-new book picks up where the original left off: more than 1800 titles are classified by performer, title, and date-many with new, individual annotations and all with new cross-references for easy reading and consultation. There is also a historical account of the prolific Soundies production companies, a look at Soundies' many competitors and descendants (including telescriptions and Scopitones), a checklist of the dozens of Soundies home-movie editions, and a listing of alternate titles to help collectors identify the films more easily. All in one handy volume: "The Soundies Book."

Here is the first book-length biography of Gloria Jean, one of Hollywood's finest performers, who starred in film, radio, stage, nightclub, and television productions. And what a story it is! This is the first in-depth profile of her public and private life.

You'll read about her co-stars, including Bing Crosby, Groucho Marx, Donald O'Connor, and Mel Torm .go behind the scenes on the set of "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" and meet W. C. Fields, her 'Uncle Bill."follow her memorable show-business career with its breathtaking heights and heartbreaking depths, guided-and sometimes misguided-by the studio.enjoy dozens of rare photos from Gloria Jean's personal collection.browse vintage posters and lobby cards.

As a special treat for film buffs, you'll see actual frame enlargements of never-before-seen screen tests.and discover three lost Gloria Jean feature films, documented here for the first time anywhere!

Do you remember the first movie you ever owned? It was probably a product of Castle Films. Before home video, Castle Films made every living room a screening room.

For four decades the 16mm and 8mm film products of Castle Films were sold in every department store and hobby shop. Castle had big-screen movies for everybody: comedies with Abbott & Costello, The Marx Brothers, and W. C. Fields...monster movies with Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolfman...cartoons with Woody Woodpecker, Chilly Willy, and Mighty Mouse...westerns with Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and James Stewart...travelogues of the world's picturesque places...newsreels of major headline stories...musicals with top singers and bandleaders.

Collectors have always wanted a reference book detailing the total output of Castle Films. Here it is. "Castle Films: A Hobbyist's Guide" is a complete filmography of every title printed between 1937 and 1977. For handy reference, there are separate indexes by title, subject, and serial number, a listing of Castle's color film releases, and a special section "decoding" Castle's various pseudonym titles and disclosing the "true identities" of many films.

"Castle Films: A Hobbyist's Guide" is a fascinating, nostalgic look at one of the pioneers of home entertainment.