Mack Made Movies
by Don Brown
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A simple biography of the director whose silent films immortalized such slapstick clowns as the Keystone Kops, Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, and Ben Turpin.Tags
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Member Reviews
This is the first time I've heard of Mack Sennett. This was really an exceptionally well written biography. Great beginning and the anecdotal knowledge of the book was great. This is a great biography for anyone's collection.
I've become a big fan of Don Brown. He takes historical figures - often people not-particularly-well-known - and writes good, comprehensive, easy-to-understand picture books on them.
The artwork is simple and distinctive (not overly bright and colorful, though - I find this restful, some people find it boring), and the well-researched books are enlivened by actual quotes by the hero in question.
This one is about a pioneer of the early movies industry and his life. Even if you're not familiar with the subject already, it's interesting and engrossing.
The artwork is simple and distinctive (not overly bright and colorful, though - I find this restful, some people find it boring), and the well-researched books are enlivened by actual quotes by the hero in question.
This one is about a pioneer of the early movies industry and his life. Even if you're not familiar with the subject already, it's interesting and engrossing.
A fun, short picture book about the beginning of comedy in silent films. Tells the ups and downs in the life of a successful movie maker, who never-the-less ended up in bankruptcy by 1935 (The Depression).
Explains why the big movie studios are in California and relates the humble beginnins of both Universal Studios and Warner Brothers. Probably is most enjoyable for those already familiar with some of the earliest actors and with movie companies.
Explains why the big movie studios are in California and relates the humble beginnins of both Universal Studios and Warner Brothers. Probably is most enjoyable for those already familiar with some of the earliest actors and with movie companies.
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ThingScore 100
Julie Cummins (Booklist, Mar. 1, 2003 (Vol. 99, No. 13))
Using his inimitable picture-book-biography style, Brown turns a camera's eye on film pioneer Mack Sennett. The opening line sets the stage for this witty, fascinating profile of the King of Comedy: "In 1900, twenty-year-old Mack Sennett was a horse's rear end." It was "a silly role in a foolish skit on a shabby Manhattan stage, but it show more was his stage debut and Mack dreamed of being a show business star." In concise, brilliantly understated text, Brown recounts how Sennett broke into the new entertainment business, how he applied slapstick techniques from Vaudeville to the movies, how his Keystone Kops became the hit of silent pictures, and how he introduced Charlie Chaplin to the world. Especially fine in conveying facial expression, Brown's spare, fluid sketches, softly washed in sepia and butterscotch tones, cunningly capture the look of the times. A tiny sketch of a dog dancing appears in the lower right-hand corner of each spread, forming a miniature flipbook, and boxed quotes spliced into the scenes add bits of Sennett's droll personality. A one-page author's note provides a wide-angle view of Sennett, followed by a seven-book bibliography of adult books. From its alliterative title and a narrative as precise as comic timing, to a cinematic beginning that spotlights Sennett donning the horse suit, this is like watching a pie-in-the-face routine; it simply smacks with delight. Ingeniously staged and picture perfect, it's Brown's best book yet. Category: Books for the Young--Nonfiction. 2003, Millbrook/Roaring Brook, $16.95, $23.9. Gr. 1-4. Starred Review show less
Using his inimitable picture-book-biography style, Brown turns a camera's eye on film pioneer Mack Sennett. The opening line sets the stage for this witty, fascinating profile of the King of Comedy: "In 1900, twenty-year-old Mack Sennett was a horse's rear end." It was "a silly role in a foolish skit on a shabby Manhattan stage, but it show more was his stage debut and Mack dreamed of being a show business star." In concise, brilliantly understated text, Brown recounts how Sennett broke into the new entertainment business, how he applied slapstick techniques from Vaudeville to the movies, how his Keystone Kops became the hit of silent pictures, and how he introduced Charlie Chaplin to the world. Especially fine in conveying facial expression, Brown's spare, fluid sketches, softly washed in sepia and butterscotch tones, cunningly capture the look of the times. A tiny sketch of a dog dancing appears in the lower right-hand corner of each spread, forming a miniature flipbook, and boxed quotes spliced into the scenes add bits of Sennett's droll personality. A one-page author's note provides a wide-angle view of Sennett, followed by a seven-book bibliography of adult books. From its alliterative title and a narrative as precise as comic timing, to a cinematic beginning that spotlights Sennett donning the horse suit, this is like watching a pie-in-the-face routine; it simply smacks with delight. Ingeniously staged and picture perfect, it's Brown's best book yet. Category: Books for the Young--Nonfiction. 2003, Millbrook/Roaring Brook, $16.95, $23.9. Gr. 1-4. Starred Review show less
added by kthomp25
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40+ Works 6,654 Members
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