Book Review: In Love With Movies by Dan Talbot

Dan Talbot and Alfred Hitchcock circa 1965

Dan Talbot was one of the most important distributors of international films in the US during the 20th century. Along with his wife Toby, Talbot founded the New Yorker Theater in 1960. It became New York's premiere repertory film house and a haven for those seeking adventurous foreign cinema. Frustrated by the absence of many of his favorite international films on domestic screens, Talbot founded New Yorker Films in 1965 in order to rectify this situation. Films distributed by the company included older films by directors like Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Vigo that, at the time, were relatively unseen in America. Soon, the company was successful enough to distribute contemporary films by such cinematic titans as Bertolucci, Godard, Resnais, Varda, Herzog, Fassbinder, Sembène, Itami, Yimou, and scores more. After the New Yorker Theater closed, Talbot and his wife ran several more repertory theaters in New York, most significantly the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. Talbot died in 2017, but not before leaving behind this memoir which was published in 2022.

This memoir succeeds on a number of levels. Foremost, it is a love letter to cinema. Talbot's affection for the liveliest art permeates each page. He had a warm relationship with pretty much every major non-American auteur of the era and the book is dotted with indelible impressions of these titans. Even when he was taken aback by the demeanor of a figure, he still treats them with warm regard and humor. Of the frosty Robert Bresson he writes, "He and his wife had no children--thank God." The book offers interesting vignettes of the many important critics who passed through the doors of his theater: including Manny Farber, Pauline Kael, and the relatively neglected Vincent Canby. The book also serves as a celebration of the polyglot glories of the Talbot's neighborhood, the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Additionally, the book is a excellent primer for the rare soul who wants to open a repertory film theater. Good luck, brave souls! An ideal yule time gift for your favorite cinephile, In Love With Movies is a witty and avuncular reminiscence.