Ridgeway (Reggie) Callow began his film career in the early 1930s and for four decades worked as assistant director on some of the most memorable productions in Hollywood. Over several months
in the early 1970s, film historian Rudy Behlmer interviewed Callow, and the result is this edited version of many hours of relatively informal conversations.
In Shoot the Rehearsall, Callow recounts what it was like to work on such celebrated films as Gone with the Wind, Rebecca, Mutiny on the Bounty, and The Sound of Music, recalling the work of
filmmakers Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hughes, David O. Selznick, Michael Curtiz, John Huston, Carol Reed, Lewis Milestone, and Robert Wise. Callow also provides firsthand knowledge and inside
information about stars of the period, including Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Grace Kelly, James Cagney, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, Marlon Brando, and Julie Andrews, Callow
does not romanticize the glamour of Hollywood or echo myths of legendary creative figures but rather recounts the workaday world of film business with revelations about major productions and
personalities. As such, this insider's perspective will appeal to both scholars and fans of the Golden Age of Hollywood and beyond.
