by Andrew Horton (Author)
As late as 1976, George Roy Hill was the first and only director to have two all-time, top-ten, box-office hits: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting (both starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman). A filmmaker with backgrounds in music, drama and television, he was a popular storyteller. His films reflect an ironic, bittersweet vision of life. The stories entertain, but the subtext is often disturbing. Hill felt that all of his major characters "create an environment, a fantasy, an illusion, and then go on to make it happen."
Individual chapters study in detail the art, craft and style of each of his films, including Period of Adjustment, Toys in the Attic, The World of Henry Orient, Hawaii, The Great Waldo Pepper, Slap Shot, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Slaughterhouse Five, A Little Romance, The World According to Garp, The Little Drummer Girl and Hill's last, Funny Farm.
Back Jacket
In this fascinating and entertaining book Andrew Horton provides the first comprehensive portrait of Hill's entire career, from early theater and television work to The Little Drummer Girl. He depicts the director as an ironic vision of the American experience; a successor to Mark Twain And Herman Melville; a contemporary of Kurt Vonnegut And John Irving.
Author Biography
Andrew Horton is the Jeanne H Smith Professor of Film and Video Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Also an award winning screenwriter and author of numerous books on film, screenwriting and culture, he lives in Norman, Oklahoma.