Winner of the 2024 Rondo Award for Book of the Year.
George Pal: Man of Tomorrow
The Life and Films of the Father of Modern Science Fiction Cinema
by Justin Humphreys - Authorized by the George Pal Estate
6x9 size
672 pages
ISBN 9798887710426
The authoritative biography of the twentieth century’s most influential science fiction filmmaker!
George Pal: Man of Tomorrow chronicles the life and films of the trailblazing producer/director/ animator who fathered modern science fiction cinema. Pal’s classics like Destination Moon, When Worlds Collide, The War of the Worlds, and The Time Machine were a quantum leap forward for the genre and inspired generations of filmmakers. Authorized by the George Pal Estate, Justin Humphreys’ compelling biography involved twenty years of exhaustive research-- including unprecedented access to the Pal family’s archive-- and features dozens of new interviews with many of Pal’s coworkers, family members, and admirers. Profusely illustrated, this is the definitive biography of this visionary movie futurist and fantasist.
About the Author: Justin Humphreys is a writer, film historian, and curator. His other books include the Rondo Award-winning The Dr. Phibes Companion.
Praise for Justin Humphreys:
“Justin Humphreys is simply as good as film historians get. He's got brains, heart, range and nuance each in great supply and uses his powers without prejudice: to remind the world of what and who is truly worthwhile in film. Whether reading him or speaking with him, I'm always challenged and strengthened by his point of view.”
-Sam Wasson, New York Times bestselling author of Fosse and The Big Goodbye.
"This 672-page biography has been a long-term labor of love for its author, who has worked with producer Pal’s family and interviewed countless numbers of his colleagues and associates. The end result is an exhaustive chronicle of a great filmmaker’s journey from Hungary to Hollywood. I especially enjoyed learning about the creation of his Puppetoons from the people who labored so long and hard to make them. I suspect most potential readers will want to learn more about the influential science-fiction features Pal is remembered for, like Destination Moon, When Worlds Collide, War of the Worlds, and The Time Machine. You won’t be disappointed, as Humphreys has packed his book with detail upon detail."
- Leonard Maltin
". . . Justin Humphreys' hefty, 672-page biography of George Pal is undoubtedly the next best thing to having met that visionary artist . . . This spectacular book is a celebration of a filmmaker who never allowed his fantastical backdrops to overshadow their stories' inherent humanity."
- Shock Cinema magazine.
"Between Melies and Spielberg was George Pal, a supreme magician of the cinema, an artist entertainer whose name conjures up a world, a universe, of space and time and wonder. He and his fans could not have wished upon a star for a better biography, or a more complete and insightful guide to his marvelous and enduring films. A great book that matches its subject in scope and imagination."
-Lem Dobbs (Screenwriter: Dark City, The Limey)
BOOK REVIEW: Willis Buhle's Bookshelf
Synopsis: The authoritative biography of the twentieth century's most influential science fiction filmmaker!
George Pal: Man of Tomorrow chronicles the life and films of the trailblazing producer/director/ animator who fathered modern science fiction cinema. George Pal's classics like Destination Moon, When Worlds Collide, The War of the Worlds, and The Time Machine were a quantum leap forward for the genre's quality, intelligence, and special effects wizardry. When few people in Hollywood - or elsewhere - took science fiction seriously, Pal steadfastly stood by it, paving the way for SF's enormous future popularity and inspiring generations of filmmakers. Pal's beloved The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao elevated cinematic fantasy to new heights.
Written and researched with the full cooperation of the George Pal Estate, Justin Humphreys' George Pal: Man of Tomorrow involved twenty years of exhaustive research in international archives and private collections, including unprecedented access to the Pal family's archive. This definitive, profusely illustrated biography of this visionary movie futurist includes new interviews with over sixty of Pal's coworkers, family members, and admirers in the film industry, dozens of rare photographs, and gorgeous cover art by renowned science fiction illustrator/historian Vincent Di Fate.
Critique: George Pal: Man of Tomorrow is a thorough biography of visionary filmmaker George Pal and the standout science fiction and fantasy movies he created. A handful of black-and-white photographs, appendices, and an index round out this fascinating tour, written with the blessing and cooperation of the George Pal Estate. Science fiction movie connoisseurs will be especially interested in the life-and-times and behind-the-scenes of the man responsible for classic films such as The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. Highly recommended! It should be noted for personal reading lists that George Pal: Man of Tomorrow is also available in a Kindle edition ($9.95).
Editorial Note: Author Justin Humphreys is a writer, film historian, and curator. His other works include the Rondo Award-winning The Dr. Phibes Companion. George Pal: Man of Tomorrow is his fourth book.
-- Willis M. Buhle, Reviewer
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