Leslie Halliwell was the right man at the right time. Born in 1929, just as the talkies were beginning to become popular, his passion for films became not only his hobby but also his job, for he worked as chief programme buyer for television companies selecting and purchasing films for them to show. Initially, in his spare time, he concocted the Halliwell Film Guide, the first reliable film‐listing book for the general public and Halliwell’s Filmgoers Companion, which was the precursor of the title under review. Sadly, he died in 1989, but these titles, having been so popular, continue to be updated and reissued in both the UK and the USA. This has produced a parallel series of editions and the above edition is the 15th to appear in the UK.
Regular readers of this book will be aware that the main section consists of an alphabetical listing of people associated with film‐making, concentrating, but not exclusively, on US and UK personalities and on “feature” films. People involved in making short films of less than 50 minutes duration are rarely included. Rosettes are awarded to those whose significant work in a particular field over a sizeable period of film history is regarded as outstanding and for those with remarkable talents that are not easily duplicated. This part of the book is 509 pages, but it should be noted that these are closely printed in four columns so the amount of data offered is considerable. Readers will need their reading glasses when consulting this guide.
The A‐Z personalities section is followed by 11 invaluable sections that are easily overlooked. These begin with 50 pages of movie remakes, series, themes and genres and continue with chapters on studios and production companies, movie awards, film periodicals and books, resources on the Internet and, by way of conclusion, a brief history of the cinema. A few movie lists are also given – The Guardian’s Top 100 Contemporary Films 1980‐1993, Royal Film Performances, etc., but this section is not comprehensive enough to be of much interest. This is the indispensable encyclopedia about movie people, while Halliwell’s Film and Video Guide is about the films themselves. More than ever, this is the title to look up the work of an actor, director, scriptwriter, editor, cinematographer or other key moviemaker. The book is made even more attractive by its reasonable price. David Thomson’s New Biographical Dictionary of Film, the fourth edition of which was published by Knopf in 2002, is the main rival to this title.
