Richard J. Anobile (1947–2023)

It is hard to emphasise how groundbreaking the concept of the photostory film book was, in a world before personal VCRs, let alone the modern full media internet. When the only way to re-view your favourite movie was reading the novelisation and using your imagination, the photostory came along and bridged the gap between this and actually watching the film itself (in the days when that was not an option).
The range of these books were limited (Star Trek the original series, and the first show more couple of movies, etc) The actual printed numbers were also limited and hard to find.
As a result, in the short 15 year window between when VCRs were owned by only a few, and when pre-recorded videos dropped in price overnight from £100.00 to just £9.99, these Movie Novels were priceless, and jealously coveted by their lucky owners.

I remember being invited to a kids house, after school, just for him to show-off his Alien Movie Novel book; and I remember being blown away at the time, and that I was only allowed to look through it for a couple of minutes before having to hand it back - not being worthy to handle it too long lest I absorb too much of the magical value of this rare item (yeah. He was a bit if a dick about it).
It was undoubtedly the most impressive single item of comercial movie memorabilia of its time and very expensive from what I remember. I have no idea if it was true, but I think he said that it cost him £50 from Forbidden Planet 2 (the then film and television off-shoot of Forbidden Planet - the comic book store), although that may have all been part of the general boasting (since the cover price was $8.95) Either way, it felt a little believable at the time.

The value of this book, both monetary and as a tool, has depreciated drastically sinse those days; but, when I got my hands on a second hand copy recently I still felt a great sense of awe and wonder - something probably limited to those of my generation, for an item few would give a second look at today. Still, if you have watched the film 100 times and miss that special 'first time' feeling; you may be able to recapture it by re-viewing the film in a different way with the Movie Novel (a.k.a. fotonovel).

If you fancy capturing the retro feeling; why not give it a go!

...and if you find yourself humming the background music and 'doing the voices' and 'sound effects' too, then you'll see what this book was like when it came out in 1979. ;) show less

Every line of Allen’s script is set alongside over 1,000 frames from the film, to create a kind of ’talking book' version of the movie, itself adapted from his hit Broadway play. Ah, for those days when one had to wait for a movie to be shown again at a revival house, or to simply read about it in the library. (Heck, by the '90s when I was a kid, I still had to do that for plenty of older films!)

This may be a completely unnecessary blast from the past, but it's a reminder of how good show more Allen is as a comic writer that you can simply set the script against photos and still find laughs or insights on most every page. show less

'Movie Novel' is the phrase used on the cover of this book; trademarked it perhaps should be noted. It's basically a live action graphic novel with the images taken from the original film along with Dan O'Bannon's dialogue and some basic Basil Exposition. Because you control the pace you read, how long or how little time you look at each image, you are in effect seeing a different edit of the film. I don't know if that would please Ridley Scott or drive him mad!
In truth it's a pale copy of show more the film. There is no real tension, perhaps because there's no music, no sound effects, and dialogue on the page only allows one person to talk at a time. Memorabilia for film buffs. show less

I bought Why a Duck?: Visual and Verbal Gems from the Marx Brothers Movies, edited by Richard J. Anobile, in 1973 and I have read it numerous times over the last 39+ years. For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed the Marx Brothers. To me, Groucho Marx was a comedic genius in both a visual and witty-dialogue sense. Likewise, Groucho’s brother Harpo, who did not speak in the Marx Brothers movies, and his brother Chico, were both gifted comedic actors. Their brother Zeppo also appeared show more in non-comedic roles in the first four movies covered in this book (listed below). Why a Duck? presents photographs made from actual movie-frame blow-ups and printed dialogue from segments of eight Marx Brothers movies. Anobile selected wonderfully entertaining sequences from the movies, which enable the reader to enjoy these hilarious comedic actors in book form. The book includes significant photo/written-dialogue sequences from the following movies: The Cocoanuts (1929), Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932), Duck Soup (1933), A Night at the Opera (1935), and A Day at the Races (1937). It also provides a smidgen of sequences from At the Circus (1939), Go West (1940), and The Big Store (1941). It also includes an introduction by Groucho. Again, I have read this book numerous times over the years. Every time I read almost any part of Why a Duck?, it makes me laugh out loud. Of course, I highly recommend seeing the movies, but you can get a quick hit of laughter anytime by reading even small sections of this book. show less