“ Screen Savers: 40 Remarkable Movies Awaiting Rediscovery, a new film book by three-time author John DiLeo , is the freshest movie book to come along in quite some time.   It's not one of those all-too-familiar books about Hollywood 's greatest or worst films, nor is it one of those tiresome list books.   Instead, it manages to be compulsively readable while also fulfilling a necessary service, the bestowing of attention on forty movies that simply are not, for a variety of reasons, as praised and remembered as they deserve to be.   These aren't obscurities, but, rather, wonderful films that have always been overshadowed by, among others, the titles one sees on those American Film Institute lists.   Written in a breezy, lively style, Screen Savers is highly entertaining, with every page brimming with DiLeo's obvious passion for movies and his considerable grasp of Hollywood history.   Organized by genre into eight chapters (Musicals, Westerns, Love Stories, War, Vintage Comedies, Fantasy/Horror, Film Noir, and period films set in America), Screen Savers offers a wide range of films, each one dealt with by DiLeo in an in-depth essay filled with his original insights, probing examinations, and lighthearted sense of humor.

       Among the treasures DiLeo offers are Rachel and the Stranger (1948), featuring the mega-wattage frontier love triangle of Loretta Young, William Holden, and Robert Mitchum ; The Raid (1954), an offbeat Civil War movie set in, of all places, Vermont; Hour of the Gun (1967), a Wyatt Earp (James Garner) western that opens, rather than climaxes, with the O.K. Corral gunfight; Pretty Poison (1968), a darkly funny film-noir update with Tuesday Weld manipulating a helpless Anthony Perkins; The Man Who Laughs (1928), a horror masterwork that inspired the look of Batman 's Joker; The Seventh Cross (1944), a pre-WWII story about German resistance to Hitler's power; Time after Time (1979), a fantasy thriller that pits H.G. Wells against Jack the Ripper in contemporary San Francisco.

       The breadth of films covered is impressive, from Ramon Novarro (The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg – 1927) to George Clooney (Three Kings – 1999) .   As DiLeo moves through the genres and the decades, you start to realize that his book is an alternative history of 20th-century Hollywood , one that gives overdue recognition to some great stars and filmmakers in need of a boost.   Screen Savers offers fine appreciations of stars like Joel McCrea (Stars in My Crown – 1950) , Susan Hayward (The Lusty Men – 1952) , Lee Tracy (The Half Naked Truth – 1932) , and Jeff Bridges (represented in both 1972's Bad Company and 1988's Tucker ), and brilliant directors such as Anthony Mann, honored with three selections:   Border Incident (1949), about illegal operations at our Mexican border; Devil's Doorway (1950) , a moving story of injustice toward Native Americans; and The Tall Target (1951), a crackling thriller about an assassination attempt on Lincoln as he rides the train to his inauguration.

       Screen Savers also restores to glory some classic films that no longer to seem to be regarded as highly as they once were, notably I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), now overlooked in favor of Scarface (star Paul Muni's other 1932 release), and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), which unjustifiably hasn't been mentioned anywhere near Singin ' in the Rain (1952) in ages.   One hopes these reappraisals will get people to revisit two outstanding pieces of work.   Conversely, DiLeo also makes strong cases for some films that have never been taken seriously:   the musicals Cover Girl (1944) and The Harvey Girls (1946), the Gary Cooper-Rita Hayworth drama They Came to Cordura (1959), and the rapturous romantic fantasy Portrait of Jennie (1948).  

       But, whichever film he's addressing, be it the B-horror gem Isle of the Dead (1945), the all-star western The Big Country (1958), or the marvelous Deep South comedy-drama Rambling Rose (1991), DiLeo displays his impassioned focus and an impeccably detailed gift for analysis.   He's equally good at celebrating Golden Age Hollywood fare (Frank Capra's Lady for a Day – 1933) and recent independent fare (Beautiful Thing – 1996); tough film noir ( Criss Cross – 1949) and screwball shenanigans (Hail the Conquering Hero – 1944); Katharine Hepburn (Pat and Mike – 1952) and Audrey Hepburn (Two for the Road – 1967).               

       Essential but also fun to read, this book should appeal to eager novices as well as die-hard cinephiles .   DiLeo has topped himself, surpassing his And You Thought You Knew Classic Movies (1999) and 100 Great Film Performances You Should Remember But Probably Don't (2002).   His new book appears to complete a trilogy of books about our underappreciated film heritage. Screen Savers is a keeper.”