4.0 out of 5 stars
Cock-a-doodle-do or fowl play, if you prefer, Jan 10 2010
This review is from: Cluck!: The True Story of Chickens in the Cinema (Paperback)
I've always thought it odd that this book wasn't included in Ash and Lake's `Bizarre Books' (ISBN 0719560187) because it fits the bill. The author has created a fun read though I have to say it does wear a bit thin towards the end.
Each movie is analyzed in two ways: visual and verbal. Obviously the visual aspect has fewer entries but frequently supported by a movie still. Tons of movies have a verbal content even in their titles: Rooster Cogburn (but no actual chicken content) The ghost and Mr Chicken; Little Red Henski or Plucked for example. The copy delves into the chicken aspect of the movies picking up on the deep philosophical significance that Hollywood prefers you didn't know about (and all the time you thought the flickering images were just entertainment). Frequently entries on directors reveal them as secret emissaries of the Chicken First movement but unfortunately I can't name names in this public forum.
I would give the book five stars but the presentation really lets it down. Page numbers are set next to the spine; the movie index at the back has no page numbers; several letters from companies or individuals are reproduced far too small to read (incidentally these letters always have a common theme: `We would like to help but our unpredictably busy production schedule prevents this') the photo selection is very haphazard.
I think the book is worth searching out if you can find it cheap (cheap) enough and you're heavily into movies.
*** The greatest chicken scene: surely the sensual dinner sequence in Tom Jones with Albert Finney and Joyce Redman eating chicken and changing the mealtime habits of millions.
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