Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death

by Christopher Frayling

Overview

Sergio Leone is a singular figure among Italian filmmakers of the postwar years; his films grow in reputation year after year. Groundbreaking westerns such as his Dollars trilogy and the authoritative Once upon a Time in the West have made Leone one of the most popular and influential directors in world cinema. Christopher Frayling’s remarkable biography of Leone—the first ever—affectionately explores his body of work and casts light on little-known details of his life. A wealth of research, story, and insight, Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death stands as the definitive study of this master filmmaker, crafted by one of our most acclaimed critics and historians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780816646838
Publisher:	University of Minnesota Press
Publication date:	01/26/2012
Pages:	592
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 9.22(h) x 1.44(d)

About the Author

Sir Christopher Frayling is a historian, critic, and award-winning broadcaster. He was chairman of Arts Council England from 2003 until 2010. He was knighted in 2001.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Author's Note to 2012 Edition
Preface

1. Once Upon a Time in Rome
2. Bob, Son of Robert
3. Hollywood on the Tiber
4. Economic Miracles
5. Fistful of Dollars
6. For a Few Dollars More
7. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
8. Once Upon a Time in the West
9. Keep Your Head Down
10. Entr'acte
11. Once Upon a Time in America
12. A Certain Cinema

Notes
Bibliography
Filmography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Comprehensive in scope, epic in achievement, Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death is likely to be the definitive work on Leone."—Times Higher Education Supplement

"Anyone who cares for these violent and poetic films will want to take a look at Frayling’s painstaking biography."—Michael Dirda, Washington Post

"Comprehensive and scrupulously prepared."—Publishers Weekly

"Frayling is a perceptive, witty writer . . . [who] depicts the zany, underconsidered Italian cinematic watershed with haunting clarity."—Kirkus

"Frayling's Sergio Leone...is everything a bio should be."—Milwaukee Shepherd Express

"Thick enough to stop a bullet, Christopher Frayling’s massive biography of Sergio Leone remains as epic and entertaining as any of its subject’s films."—PopMatters

"Sergio Leone: Something To Do With Death is not only a thorough and exhaustive examination of Leone and the ‘Spaghetti Western’ but also a mediation on the myth of America and its frontier as a whole."—Screening the Past

From the Publisher

Frayling's fair-minded, clearly structured and entertaining book makes it clear that Leone was certainly a major director. It is, in addition, a fitting monument to his cinema "of recognition and surprise"—a cinema which retains something of its original impact, even now that the stand-offs and letterbox close-ups have become clichés in their own right.
—Times Literary Supplement

A. Tayler