DK Eyewitness Companions: Film by Ronald Bergan

As a film fan and a reference librarian, I've always been sad that the wonderful Oxford Companion to Film was never updated. The 2006 DK Eyewitness Companions series book Film by Ronald Bergan, corrects that deficit to a large extent. As reference books go, it's a browser's delight -- though far from comprehensive. As browsing film books go, it's a great reference tool.

The 500 plus pages are divided into color-coded sections, with a tab index isdie the front cover. There's also a detailed table of contents and index. Sections include:

• The Story of Cinema (history)
• How Movies are Made (from pre-production through promotion & distribution)
• Genres (with recommended film titles)
  
• World Cinema (with recommended film titles)
• A-Z of Directors (with recommended film titles)
• Top 100 Movies
  
• Reference (lists of awards, polls, box office, plus glossary & index)

As is typical with Dorling Kindersley, the illustrationns are a high point, and well-suited to a book about a visual medium. Numerous sidebars (also indexed), cover subjects such as prominent actors, studios, and other noteworthy items. If all of these were in a single alphabetical sequence and the lists of people and films were greatly expanded, the information content would be comparable to the old Oxford Companion. As it is, the breadth impresses more than the depth. But it's a fun book and would be good in the home of any movie buff and in the circulating collection of most libraries.