Film Performance- from Achievement to Appreciation (Short Cuts S.)

Klevan focuses entirely on films from Hollywood's 'Golden Age', and explores the way that actors' performances function within those films. I found the book wonderfully illuminating when it comes to the films themselves - it completely transformed the way I see Fritz Lang's 'Secret Beyond the Door' and pointed me in the direction of Vincente Minnelli's extraordinary 'The Cobweb', as well as providing fresh accounts of old favourites like 'Shadow of a Doubt' - but it's Klevan's unique style and approach to film writing that I found most useful of all. As a result, I'd recommend this not only to people interested specifically in film performance, but also to those looking for inspiration for new, cliché-free ways of describing films.