Ivor Novello: Portrait of a Star - Hardcover

Webb, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1904950485 ISBN 13: 9781904950486

Publisher: Haus Publishing, 2005

Synopsis

Ivor Novello (name taken by deed poll in 1927 by David Ivor Davis, 1893-1951) was the most glamorous figure in British theatre from the 1920s to the 1950s. Today he is remembered as the composer and star of spectacular musicals, which rescued Drury Lane from closure, and brought escapist romance to a public that had struggled through the Depression and survived the Second World War. Yet he was also an accomplished popular actor, playwright and silent movie star. Alfred Hitchcock’s first British films were Novello vehicles, as was one of the last movies made by the legendary American director, D W Griffith.
This book recalls the career of the most famously handsome matinee idol in the history of the British stage and screen.

About this title

About the Author:

Paul Webb writes and lectures on theatre and film, and has given talks at the National Portrait Gallery throughout the 1990s. He has written editorial for theatre programmes and brochures of most of the recent major West End shows, and is a regular lecturer on Cunard liners. His first play, ' A Dangerous Woman', starring Fenella Fielding as the Duchess of Windsor, was premiered in London in 1998.

Review:

'...Paul Webb is an impassioned believer in the need to resurrect Novello's work and reputation and he castigates the British theatrical industry ... for its failure in this regard. Although Webb is clearly a diehard Novello enthusiast, it is impossible to read this biography without concluding he has a point.' New Statesman 'The best biography of Ivor Novello ... brilliant' -- Sheridan Morley 'An excellent new biography' British Academy of Composers and Songwriters 'Paul Webb's book is admirably researched and highly entertaining' The Spectator

About this edition

• Publisher: Haus Publishing
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1904950485
• ISBN 13: 9781904950486
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 210