Alan G. Barbour (1933–2002)

The dwindling number of fans of movie serials and B-Westerns from the 1930s and '40s will perhaps enjoy having their memories jogged by this single volume collection of three books, DAYS OF THRILL AND ADVENTURE, A THOUSAND AND ONE DELIGHTS, and THE THRILL OF IT ALL, by Alan G. Barbour. Typical of many books published in the 1960s and '70s about genre films, the titles of these tomes make clear that nostalgia is far more behind their existence than serious analysis. Barbour was indeed an expert on these sorts of movies, but he writes mostly about thrills and excitement rather than an understanding of the social phenomena these films represented. There is an adequate precís of the kind of film under discussion in each chapter, though usually only a couple of pages, followed by a plethora of photographs from various examples. Readers looking for great depth, either in giving the films what analysis they might justify or in thoroughly looking into the lives of the stars and creators, should look elsewhere, if an elsewhere for this sort of movie exists in serious film studies. The book(s) was a useful nostalgia guide when there were still audiences who missed the cheap action-adventure films of their youths, but a modern reader will in all probability find little enlightenment, even if that reader has even heard of these films or their stars.… (mais)