William Friedkin, who is making the rounds publicizing his memoir “The Friedkin Connection,” gave his picks for the five best books on directors to The Wall Street Journal.
Among his picks was “This Is Orson Welles” by Peter Bogdanovich and Welles. Friedkin says of the book, “Peter Bogdanovich is a respected film historian and critic as well as a fine director … His lively conversations with Welles in various parts of the world took place over a nine-year period in the late 1970s and early ’80s.”
Also on Friedkin’s list was “Searching for John Ford” by Joseph McBride. “McBride has written the definitive work on Ford’s inner life – a respectful but critical study of a complex man, the most “American” of filmmakers.”
As Welles fans know, McBride has written three books about Welles, most recently “What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?: A Portrait of an Independent Career.” He also had a role in the still unfinished “The Other Side of the Wind.”
McBride, a well-respected film historian, was the only author named by Friedkin who was not a filmmaker. In addition to books about Ford and Welles, McBride has also written about Howard Hawks, Frank Capra and Steven Spielberg.
The three other books on Friedkin’s list were: “Elia Kazan: A Life” by Kazan, “Hitchcock” by François Truffaut and “Making Movies” by Sidney Lumet
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