Armed with an eighth-grade education; an inexhaustible imagination; and an innate talent for dancing; Hermes Pan (1909-1990) was a boy from Tennessee who became the most prolific; popular; and memorable choreographer of the glory days of the Hollywood musical. While he may be most well-known for the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals which he choreographed at RKO film studios; he also created dances at Twentieth Century-Fox; M-G-M; Paramount; and later for television; winning both the Oscar and the Emmy for best choreography.In Hermes Pan: The Man Who Danced with Fred Astaire; Pan emerges as a man in full; an artist inseparable from his works. He was a choreographer deeply interested in his dancers personalities; and his dances became his way of embracing and understanding the outside world. Though his time in a Trappist monastery proved to him that he was more suited to choreography than to life as a monk; Pan remained a deeply devout Roman Catholic throughout his creative life; a person firmly convinced of the powers of prayer. While he was rarely to be seen without several beautiful women at his side; it was no secret that Pan was homosexual and even had a life partner. As Pan worked at the nexus of the cinema industrys creative circles during the golden age of the film musical; this book traces not only Pans personal life but also the history of the Hollywood musical itself. It is a study of Pan; who emerges here as a benevolent perfectionist; and equally of the stars; composers; and directors with whom he worked; from Astaire and Rogers to Betty Grable; Rita Hayworth; Elizabeth Taylor; Sammy Davis Jr.; Frank Sinatra; Bob Fosse; George Gershwin; Samuel Goldwyn; and countless other luminaries of American popular entertainment.Author John Franceschina bases his telling of Pans life on extensive first-hand research into Pans unpublished correspondence and his own interviews. Pan enjoyed one of the most illustrious careers of any Hollywood dance director; and because his work also spanned across Broadway and television; this book will appeal to readers interested in musical theater history; dance history; and film.
#2908391 in eBooks 2008-06-26 2008-06-26File Name: B0084FAKHQ
Review
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful. A Great Idea-Executed in a Mediocre FashionBy Marco Antonio AbarcaIn many respects. I am a big fan of Dover Publishing. One of their business strategies is to republish great old books whose copyright protection has expired. They do not have to pay their authors/illustrators and we the reading public get access to some classic books at a reasonable price. Editor Jeff Menges used a variant of this strategy when he assembled "Arabian Nights-Illustrated". But instead of republishing the texts. Menges only selected the images for his compilation.The Golden Age of Illustration is generally considered to have run from the 1880s until the years immediately following the Great War. Gifted illustrators like Edmund Dulac. Maxfield Parrish and N.C. Wyeth prepared sumptous images for childrens books. Using as a resource the many volumes published of "The Arabian Nights". Menges has assembled beautiful images from the great illustrators of the day. Of special note. during this time period. "Orientalism" was one of the crazes that swept the art world. It is interesting to see how this fad for the "Oriental" was integrated into childrens books.What keeps me from giving this book five stars is the mediocre printing that is typical of Dover Publishing. A revolution in book printing has taken place in the last twenty years. Unfortunately. Dover is still stuck in the technology of the 1980s. The books images have that washed out look that speaks eloquently of low production values. If Dover Publishing is going to produce art books. they should make a better printing effort. If you want to see how vibrant the images look in their original volumes. check out Minh Lais beautiful web site. [...]8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Description should be clearerBy DakotaBoyThe illustrations are indeed beautiful. But I think the product description should be a bit clearer as to what the book actually is. I expected some stories as well that I could read to my granddaughter. I was not expecting a book of illustrations only.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. great artworkBy DanceDivaThe photos in this book are stunning! I was a little surprised to see that is was all artwork and no stories. however its a lovely book.
