Classic American Films explores the origin and development of many of the most influential and revered films in cinema history, and does so with the aid and insight of the people who actually wrote the screenplays. These lively, candid, in-depth interviews are filled with fascinating new material (details, anecdotes, judgments, and opinions) about the creative and collaborative processes that went into the making of these extraordinary films. In the past, Hollywood screenwriters--the original artists-- have often been overlooked. This book is a special tribute to the invaluable contributions of these cinematic visionaries, many of whom are considered among the greatest screenwriters in American film history. As Orson Welles once said, "In my opinion, the writer should have the first and last word in filmmaking." This book allows them to have that exciting opportunity. Some of the highlights from these interviews include: Betty Comden and Adolph Green's explaining how a nightclub skit became the premise for Singin' in the Rain; Ernest Lehman's description of how, while in conversation with Hitchcock, his "unconscious" suddenly solved the plot problems in North by Northwest; Carl Gottlieb's remembrance of the terrible pressure involved with writing the script for Jaws while shooting was already underway; and Sylvester Stallone's account of how he received final approval to star in Rocky from studio executives who thought he was just another actor.

Amid extraordinary controversy at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1999, Elia Kazan was belatedly presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for his distinguished career as a director of American films. Despite the protests regarding his "friendly" testimony at the HUAC hearings in 1952, there was never any question that Kazan's cinematic accomplishments merited the long-overdue award. Few would dispute his being one of the great creative artists of the twentieth century.

Born an Anatolian Greek in Istanbul in 1909, Kazan emigrated with his parents from Turkey to the United States when he was four. As a young New York director, Kazan revolutionized American theater with his productions of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Death of a Salesman." He was the director also of some of Hollywood's most acclaimed films, including "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," "Gentleman's Agreement," "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Viva Zapata ," "East of Eden," and "On the Waterfront." Nevertheless, all his accomplishments since 1952 were greatly affected by his decision during the Cold War to testify at the HUAC hearings and to give the names of Communists he knew in the film industry.

In this collection as he discusses his social themes, his relationship with actors, his collaborations with writers, and his film style, Kazan is passionate, blunt, and often colorfully opinionated. The interviews cover nearly forty years and reveal a man who is remarkably thoughtful, candid, and willing to discuss any aspect of his long career. He speaks of his close relationships with Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Marlon Brando, and James Dean; of his involvement with the Group Theatre, the Actors Studio, Lincoln Center, and "method" acting; of his many artistic successes and failures; and of his difficult decision to testify at the HUAC hearings.

William Baer, an associate professor of English at the University of Evansville, is the author of "The Unfortunates" and the editor of "Conversations with Derek Walcott" (University Press of Mississippi).

When Derek Walcott was awarded the Nobel Prize, he was cited for "a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment." The lively interviews in this collection reveal Walcott's generous and brilliant intelligence as well as his strong, forthright opinions. He discusses the craft of poetry, the status of contemporary poetry and drama, his founding of the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, and his views on a number of influential writers, including Eliot, Auden, Brodsky, Heaney, and Naipaul.

Boldly speaking his mind, Walcott takes many controversial positions on a wide range of subjects, such as Caribbean and U.S. politics, literary instruction in American universities, the proper role of sound in modern poetry, and the "ego" apparent in contemporary American poetry, and problems of race. Whatever the subject, Walcott responds fully and candidly.

Fourteen on Form: Conversations with Poets by William Baer. Interviews with Willis Barnstone, Robert Conquest, Wendy Cope, Douglas Dunn, Anthony Hecht, John Hollander, Donald Justice, X. J. Kennedy, Maxine Kumin, Frederick Morgan, John Frederick Nims, W. D. Snodgrass, Derek Walcott, and Richard Wilbur. When free verse and its many movements seemed to dominate poetry, other writers worked steadfastly, insistently, and majestically in traditional forms of rhyme and meter. Such poets as Anthony Hecht, Donald Justice, Derek Walcott, and Richard Wilbur utilized sonnets, villanelles, blank verse, and many other forms to create dazzling, lasting work. Their writing posed a counterpoint to free verse, sustained a tradition in English language verse, and eventually inspired the movement called New Formalism. Fourteen on Form: Conversations with Poets collects interviews with some of the most influential poets of the last fifty years. William Baer, editor of The Formalist, asks incisive questions that allow writers to discuss in detail a wide range of topics related to their work, methods of composition, and the contemporary poetry scene. Maxine Kumin reflects on being a woman poet during a period in which women were not encouraged to submit to journals. With clarity and passion, Walcott remembers the impetus of his famous "Eulogy to W. H. Auden." British poet Wendy Cope talks about the differences between how her barbed poems are received in England and abroad. The conversations return continually to the serious matter of poetic craft, especially the potential power of form in poetry. These well-paced conversations showcase poets discussing their creative lives with insight and candor. The sum total of their forthright opinions in Fourteen on Form not only elucidates the current situation of the art form, but it also serves as a primer for understanding the fundamental craft of poetics. William Baer is a professor of English at the University of Evansville and the editor of The Formalist. He edited Elia Kazan: Interviews and Conversations with Derek Walcott, both published by University Press of Mississippi.