Three Hollywood Stalwarts in Literature: A Study in Film Perception Through References to Peck, Mitchum and Holden

Henryk Hoffmann

Mar 2022 · Vernon Press

About this ebook

This book focuses on the perception of the names, personae, performances and films of three Hollywood megastars, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and William Holden, as presented in the references and allusions encountered in American and foreign literature. Its secondary aim is to establish the ‘impact factor’ of the three actors and their major films and provide extensive data for further studies on the complex and bilateral relationships between film and literature.

The pertinent quotations in ‘Three Hollywood Stalwarts in Literature: A Study in Film Perception Through References to Peck, Mitchum and Holden’ have been extracted from nearly 220 works by about 140 authors. The majority of the works were written by acclaimed authors; amongst them are some well-known American mainstream writers such as John Updike, John Irving, Fannie Flagg and Anne Tyler; some leaders of the mystery genre include Martha Grimes, Stuart Kaminsky, Elmore Leonard, Sara Paretsky; and a few masters of other popular genres, such as Stephen King and Dean Koontz. The global flavor of the citations is provided by international authors (e.g., Julio Cortázar, Elizabeth Hay, Henri Charrière, Sebastien Japrisot) and authors born to first-generation U.S. immigrants (e.g., Oscar Hijuelos). Almost seventy films referenced in world literature are discussed in the book, and those mentioned in the biggest number of works include ‘Sunset Boulevard’, ‘The Wild Bunch’, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, ‘Roman Holiday’, ‘Spellbound’, ‘The Guns of Navarone’, and ‘Duel in the Sun’, among others.

This book will appeal to college professors and students interested in film studies, specifically film analysis and criticism, film perception, and film genres. It will also hold interest for the general reader interested in biographies of movie personalities and the careers of the three actors, movie and stage actors, and fans of the western, film noir, and war genres.  

About the author

Henryk Hoffmann was born, raised and educated in Poznań, Poland. Upon his graduation from Adam Mickiewicz University with an M.A. degree in English Philology, he worked as an English teacher, translator and interpreter in several institutions, including the Polish Academy of Sciences and his self-owned firm. Since his immigration to the USA in 1992, he has taught Latin, German, English and History, first in North Carolina and then in Pennsylvania.

His previous publications include seven reference books, ‘“A” Western Filmmakers: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers, Directors, Cinematographers, Composers, Actors and Actresses’ (McFarland, 2000, 2008), ‘Western Film Highlights: The Best of the West, 1914-2001’ (McFarland, 2003, 2009), ‘Leksykon gwiazd kina amerykańskiego’ (‘A Biographical Dictionary of American Movie Stars’, Agencja Producentów Filmowych, Warsaw, 2006; written in Polish in collaboration with his daughters, Beata and Katarzyna), ‘Western Movie References in American Literature’ (McFarland, 2012), ‘Four Hollywood Legends in World Literature: References to Bogart, Cooper, Gable and Tracy’ (BearManor Media, 2016), ‘The Careers of Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas as Referenced in Literature: A Study in Film Perception’ (Vernon Press, 2020) and ‘Latin in Modern Fiction: Who Says It’s a Dead Language?’ (Vernon Press, 2021). He has also written one memoir, ‘Ironies, Coincidences and Absurdities in My Ordinary Life on Both Sides of the Atlantic’ (Higher Ground Books & Media, 2019).

Hoffmann’s professional honors include the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition (2000) for his first book, a two-time inclusion in ‘Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers’ (Educational Communications, 2002 and 2005), an entry in Contemporary Authors (Thomson Gale, 2005), an Honorary Diploma from the Polish Federation of Film Societies (on its 50th Anniversary, 2006).

Hoffmann and his wife Betsy live in Lititz, PA.