Showing results by author "Justin Murphy" in All Categories

Many have seen and studied the classic films of Alfred Hitchcock, but how many know a lot of these movies were inspired by real life murders? These cases range from his native England in the 1800’s to 1950’s America. Influencing his work from The Lodger, his third directorial effort and first true suspense thriller, all the way down to Frenzy, his next to final film. Such minor details appear in his films as a woman’s necklace or being buried in a garden. Or can be so detailed that one film, about a wrongly accused musician, is based on a true story outright.

Often considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick has been widely praised for taking risks such as doing at least one film in a number of genres to avoid being pigeonholed into certain styles or expectations. Yet he still received a great deal of support from big Hollywood studios and mass audiences. From his humble beginnings as a chess enthusiast and photographer for Look Magazine who did not excel in academics to a legendary filmmaker who eventually had creative and financial autonomy over the majority.

Long before Rod Serling created The Twilight Zone and hid social messages within the context of science fiction and fantasy, Playhouse 90 was among the last of the live television anthology dramas to explore them as straight dramas. This audiobook shall shed light on Playhouse 90, and put into perspective the influence it had on The Twilight Zone and others.

A simple and entertaining listen about one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Unlike the biographies or film studies often published on him, this book aims to take a more fan oriented look at his career. Justin Murphy has written a column on Steven Spielberg for Examiner.com. He has also written several short stories and articles for Associated Content—along with several short story collections and novellas released over the last several years.

Several books have been written about the film Chinatown, starring Jack Nicholson. Yet one has not been published on the trilogy that screenwriter Robert Towne envisioned.