As late as 1976, George Roy Hill was the first and only director to have two all-time, top-ten, box-office hits: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting (both starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman). A filmmaker with backgrounds in music, drama and television, he was a popular storyteller. His films reflect an ironic, bittersweet vision of life. The stories entertain, but the subtext is often disturbing. Hill felt that all of his major characters “create an environment, a fantasy, an illusion, and then go on to make it happen.”
Individual chapters study in detail the art, craft and style of each of his films, including Period of Adjustment, Toys in the Attic, The World of Henry Orient, Hawaii, The Great Waldo Pepper, Slap Shot, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Slaughterhouse Five, A Little Romance, The World According to Garp, The Little Drummer Girl and Hill’s last, Funny Farm.

Andrew Horton is the Jeanne H Smith Professor of Film and Video Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Also an award winning screenwriter and author of numerous books on film, screenwriting and culture, he lives in Norman, Oklahoma.

Andrew Horton
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 317
Bibliographic Info: 24 photos, notes, filmography, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010 [2005]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4684-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0872-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Foreword to the Original Edition by Paul Newman      1
Preface to the Revised Edition      5

1. “Creating an Environment”: A Thematic Overview      7
2. Growing Up Amused: Early Life, Television, and Theater      23
3. A Period of Adjustment: Period of Adjustment and Toys in the Attic      33
4. New Directions: The World of Henry Orient      43
5. Who’s in Control? Hawaii and Thoroughly Modern Millie      55
6. “Just So We Come Out Ahead”: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid      67
7. Unstuck in Time: Slaughterhouse Five      83
8. The Big Con: The Sting      99
9. The Corruption of Sport: The Great Waldo Pepper and Slap Shot      113
10. Innocence Revisited: A Little Romance      135
11. A Womb-to-Tomb Personal Epic: The World According to Garp      147
12. “I Am a Map of the Middle East”: The Little Drummer Girl      165
13. “One of Those Small Miracles”: Funny Farm      175
14. Conclusions and Remembrances      183

Filmography      191
Notes      195
Bibliography      205
Index      207

“the book is clear, unpretentious and affectionate. Horton knew his subject well, and he has written a fine tribute to a versatile craftsman”—Film and History.