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Nat Segaloff is a writer, broadcaster, teacher, film historian, and raconteur with a varied background in motion picture publicity, journalism, producing, and covering up other people's mistakes. Having begun his career during the exciting transition between the old studios and the film generation of the New Hollywood, he provides both perspective and commentary on a wide range of subjects, many of them having to do with movies. He also tries to return phone calls. Ever since Covid he has been holed up in his secret fortress writing books and recording audiobooks in the companionship of his faithful Italian greyhound, Louie the Wonder Dog. That's Louie on the left. (Photo by Ivanna Lahmani)
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The Rambo Report
Perfect for the Rambo fan -- and those who aren't -- who wants to know the backstory of the books, films, and phenomenon. Written with the cooperation of David Morrell, who created the character of Rambo in his 1972 book First Blood, this is a look not only at Rambo himself but at the changing social and political climate in America throughout the last 50 years. I cover all five films, David's three novels (#2 and #3 are novelizations that enrich and expand the screenplays for the second and third films), the animated TV series, the knives, the politics, and the controversy.
Bogart and Huston: Their Lives, Their Adventures, and the Classic Movies They Made Together
Between 1941 and 1953 director John Huston and actor Humphrey Bogart made one classic film after another: The Maltese Falcon, Across the Pacific, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, The African Queen, and Beat the Devil. All of them would be at home on any list of the best movies ever made. They were the result of a close but often combative friendship between the two disparate men: the actor and his best director. Bogart was a homebody who acted tough but wasn’t; Huston was a quiet presence who masterminded storms. This book reveals how they worked with each other and how they took on the world. It covers nine marriages, three wars, the blacklist, one cult, and explains why their collaborations stand the test of time. The text includes biographical information, the histories of making their films, and appendices that enrich the narrative.
Between 1941 and 1953 director John Huston and actor Humphrey Bogart made one classic film after another: The Maltese Falcon, Across the Pacific, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, The African Queen, and Beat the Devil. All of them would be at home on any list of the best movies ever made. They were the result of a close but often combative friendship between the two disparate men: the actor and his best director. Bogart was a homebody who acted tough but wasn’t; Huston was a quiet presence who masterminded storms. This book reveals how they worked with each other and how they took on the world. It covers nine marriages, three wars, the blacklist, one cult, and explains why their collaborations stand the test of time. The text includes biographical information, the histories of making their films, and appendices that enrich the narrative.
THE EXORCIST LEGACY
Here's the trade paperback edition of THE EXORCIST LEGACY expanded to cover the latest entry in the franchise, Exorcist: Believer, and news about the future of the series. An interview with Michael Blatty, son of EXORCIST author William Peter Blatty, enriches the backstory of the powerful bestseller and the varied films that spun off from it. (NOTE: The Author isn’t responsible for this cover, either.)
Here's the trade paperback edition of THE EXORCIST LEGACY expanded to cover the latest entry in the franchise, Exorcist: Believer, and news about the future of the series. An interview with Michael Blatty, son of EXORCIST author William Peter Blatty, enriches the backstory of the powerful bestseller and the varied films that spun off from it. (NOTE: The Author isn’t responsible for this cover, either.)
THE NAUGHTY BITS
Between 1934 and 1968, no Hollywood studio could make a movie without the permission of, and a seal of approval from, the Production Code Administration. Formed in 1930 but not enforced until 1934, the Production Code was Hollywood’s official censorship edict. Screenplays, books, plays, costumes, and even story ideas and songs had to be okayed by the Code before they could be filmed, and the Code staffers watched every stage of the production process to ensure compliance. The correspondence between the Code and the studios was confidential, and the memos within the Code office itself were even more so. Well, not any more. The Naughty Bits pores through those files to show how the censors did their job, and yields some surprising results. What was the world prevented from seeing in some of the greatest movies ever made as well as some of the most scurrilous? Here is the sometimes funny, sometimes outrageous, always riveting history of movie censorship revealed in letters, notes, and tantrums on both sides of the screen. (NOTE: Buyers in the U.K. can order it from a British printer without tariff or U.S. postage charges.)
Between 1934 and 1968, no Hollywood studio could make a movie without the permission of, and a seal of approval from, the Production Code Administration. Formed in 1930 but not enforced until 1934, the Production Code was Hollywood’s official censorship edict. Screenplays, books, plays, costumes, and even story ideas and songs had to be okayed by the Code before they could be filmed, and the Code staffers watched every stage of the production process to ensure compliance. The correspondence between the Code and the studios was confidential, and the memos within the Code office itself were even more so. Well, not any more. The Naughty Bits pores through those files to show how the censors did their job, and yields some surprising results. What was the world prevented from seeing in some of the greatest movies ever made as well as some of the most scurrilous? Here is the sometimes funny, sometimes outrageous, always riveting history of movie censorship revealed in letters, notes, and tantrums on both sides of the screen. (NOTE: Buyers in the U.K. can order it from a British printer without tariff or U.S. postage charges.)
It's been half a century since "The Exorcist" possessed the world's imaginations, and Nat Segaloff was on board from the day before the film opened in 1973. Here is a minute look at not only William Friedkin's monumental motion picture but at all the sequels, prequels, and TV series that spun off of it. Nat is Friedkin's biographer and brings his insights into what has been called the scariest movie of all time. This book hit #1 on Amazon's ranking of horror movie books. (This collectable hardcover has an expanded paperback edition. See above.)
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Shooting its way into existence for the 40th anniversary of Brian DePalma's epic, operatic, controversial chronicle of the rise and fall of cocaine king Tony Montana (Al Pacino), this is a behind-the-scenes exploration of the 1983 movie, its 1932 original, and the world of cocaine, rap music, and Hollywood's love of the Mob. It features a personal foreword by Steven Bauer who plays the pivotal role of Manny in the 1983 movie.
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The biggest and best disaster film of all time was a tribute to its uber-producer Irwin Allen who could not have known while he was basking in its success that his career would never again hit those heights. Read the behind-the-scenes stories, relive the excitement, and learn about fire safety by the author ho was on the film's original publicity team.
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A writer embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan witnesses a war crime, and the man who committed it follows him home to his small Southern town. It's a novel about who we are versus who we think we are. Soon to be a motion picture! (Okay, it's been optioned, but let's not split hairs.)
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For most of his noteworthy career, producer-director Otto Preminger fought censorship in such films as :"The Moon is Blue,""The Man with the Golden Arm,""Advise and Consent," and "Anatomy of a Murder." This is the inside story of his efforts that eventually broke the Production Code. Also: :Code Blue," a comedy by Arnie Reisman & Nat Segaloff about Preminger vs. Joe Breen, who headed the Coder.
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Almost fifty years in the making! This is the definitive interview book with John Milius, the provocateur who has etched -- no, make that blasted -- a name for himself with such films as "Dillinger," "Big Wednesday," "Red Dawn," "Flight of the Intruder" and written, among other breakthroughs, "Apocalypse Now." John is bigger than any film he ever made, and these covers barely contain his bravura personality. He and I have been friends since 1973 and the intimacy, cheek, and wit (from him) of this encounter are the result.
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Second Edition both print and e-book available now from NESFA Press
HUGO and LOCUS Award nominee
The first and only biography of the talented, prolific, cantankerous, and brilliant speculative fiction writer ("A Boy and His Dog," "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream," "Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever."). |
For almost half a century, celebrated ventriloquist and entertainer Shari Lewis (1933–1998) delighted generations of children and adults with the help of her trusted sock puppet sidekick, Lamb Chop. For decades, the beloved pair were synonymous with children's television, educating and entrancing their young audience with their symbiotic personalities and their proclivity for song, dance, and the joy of silliness. But as iconic as their television personas are, relatively little inside knowledge has been revealed about Lewis herself and the life-changing moments that led her to the entertainment industry, and perhaps most importantly, to Lamb Chop. This book both answers questions and celebrates this incredible woman...and her little friend Lamb Chop.
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