Agee Redux, Part 2

A little over a year ago, I noted the forthcoming publication of two new volumes (both of which I copyedited) in the Works of James Agee series by the University of Tennessee Press. I'm happy to announce that one of those, The African Queen and The Night of the Hunter: First and Final Screenplays, has just become available. One could call it a heavy tome in both the literal and figurative senses. It comes in at more than 900 pages and lists for $90. Loaded with annotations and supplementary materials (including variant scenes, correspondence, and Agee's notes), it features the first-draft screenplays and shooting scripts for both movies. The editing of Prof. Jeffrey Couchman (College of Staten Island) represents film scholarship at its best. If you're a serious cinephile interested in Hollywood history and the complex, collaborative processes through which words on a page become images on the screen, the book is one I can't recommend highly enough. Click here for more information.

Due out later this spring is the definitive edition of Agee's film criticism, edited by Prof. Charles Maland (University of Tennessee). It's a superb work as well, presenting a panoramic view of 1940s cinema through the eyes of one of the first film critics to command respectful attention. And this volume will be the first to include all of Agee's unsigned reviews for Time.

To be sure, my involvement with these two books makes me biased. But that doesn't make my praise here any less sincere.