Amazon.com (ISBN 0062734784, Paperback)

A standard directory of actors, directors, and film technicians, this book has since been superseded by more detailed one-volume guides such as Ephraim Katz's The Film Encyclopedia. Still, Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion--now in its 12th edition--continues to be updated and contains a number of special features the competition doesn't have. Most notable are its citations of quips by famous actors and directors (Errol Flynn: "My difficulty is trying to reconcile my gross habits with my net income"; Alfred Hitchcock: "The cinema is not a slice of life, it's a piece of cake"); its discussion of characters, events, and motifs as they play out in film history (e.g. Tarzan, The Gunfight at the OK Corral, "custard pies"); and its bestowing of special awards to the men and women who have produced significant work in the movies. The volume's appendices, which include guides to further reading, a brief history of the cinema, critical "best films" lists, complete notations of film festival prizes, and every Academy Award given through 1995 make it a terrific source of information.