Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Robert J. Flaherty : A Biography - Paul Rotha

Robert J. Flaherty

A Biography

By: Paul Rotha, Jay Ruby (Editor)

Hardcover | 8 April 1984

At a Glance

Hardcover


RRP $266.00

$249.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $62.44 with

 or 

Available for Backorder. We will order this from our supplier however there isn't a current ETA.

Producer of Nanook of the North, Moana, Man of Aran, and other pioneering documentaries between 1920 and 1940, Robert J. Flaherty was America's first independent film artist. Popular conceptions of Flaherty have led many either to worship his work and regard him in mythical terms or to debunk him as a fraud and castigate him for lack of a social consciousness. Rarely has the attempt been made to understand him in the context of his times. This captivating study presents Flaherty through the eyes of someone who knew him personally--the brilliant British filmmaker and scholar Paul Rotha. A colleague and close friend of Flaherty, Rotha gives us s a powerfully written biography that is a balanced and intimate look at the life and work of an American genius.

Editor Jay Ruby has restored the Rotha biography, including a wealth of anecdotes, letters, and memoirs that begin to bring Robert Flaherty the man into focus. An especially valuable dimension of this work is the appraisal of Flaherty the filmmaker from the viewpoint of a major figure of the British industry. He summarizes in detail the critical response to Flaherty of his contemporaries, about which only sketchy information has previously been available.

Flaherty regarded himself as an explorer as well as a filmmaker. The exciting story of this biography takes us from the Arctic, where Flaherty spent years filming Nanook, to the South Pacific, England, the Aran Islands, and finally the United States. his courage and overarching vision resulted in an unprecedented recording of the human struggle and in documentary films that reached a wider audience than ever before.

Industry Reviews
"[Flaherty's] life and his personality are the stuff of stories, and his work remains a central milestone in the history of film." (Larry Gross, Editor, Studies in Visual Communication) "Of first rate quality and of tremendous importance to students of the documentary film and of world cinema." (William T. Murphy, National Archives)

More in Arts & Entertainment Biographies

Episodes : The Diary of a Recovering Mad Man - Gucci Mane

RRP $49.99

$38.75

22%
OFF
Star of the Show : My Life on Stage - Dolly Parton

RRP $85.00

$61.99

27%
OFF
Wings : The Story of a Band on the Run - Paul McCartney

RRP $79.99

$58.99

26%
OFF
Holbein : Renaissance Master - Elizabeth Goldring

RRP $82.95

$60.75

27%
OFF
The Whole Truth - Jackie O

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
Insomnia - Robbie Robertson

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
Love Stories - Trent Dalton

Hardcover

RRP $34.99

$28.75

18%
OFF
Uses for Obsession : A Chef's Memoir - Ben Shewry

RRP $34.99

$28.75

18%
OFF
Guts : A memoir of food, failure and taking impossible chances - Melissa Leong
Just Kids - Patti Smith

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$21.75

19%
OFF
The Way I Am - Eminem

Paperback

$54.75

Born A Crime : Stories from a South African Childhood - Trevor Noah
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Tell Me Why : Story of My Life and My Music - Archie Roach

RRP $34.99

$28.75

18%
OFF
Sing Backwards and Weep : The Sunday Times Bestseller - Mark Lanegan