John Stanley: Preserving Bay Area Movie History in Books and DVDs

John Stanley has been sharing his love of films with Bay Area folks for years. Whether it was an actor interview in his capacity as entertainment writer for 33 years at the San Francisco Chronicle, as the host of KTVU TV’s Channel 2 program Creature Features  from 1978-1984, or as a lecturer at Elderhostel/Bay Area Classic Learning events, John is always out there, enthusiastically talking about films and the folks who make them.

John Stanley

Luckily, John has preserved some of the material from Creature Features on DVD, and has written film books (notably, his Creature Features Movie Guides) some of which are available to the public on John Stanley’s website.  Those of us who grew up with Creature Features are very grateful that John has made these available!

John’s newest book is The Gang That Shot up Hollywood. Packed with over 750 photos, the book contains cameos of stars John has interviewed over the years while at the San Francisco Chronicle such as James Stewart, Robert Mitchum, Barbara Stanwyck, and Jane Russell. Some of John Stanley’s books are also available here in Alameda County Library: check your local library catalog.

 At the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum (37417 Niles Blvd. in Fremont, California), John Stanley will be hosting Tom Wyrsch’s documentary, Back to Space-Con on Sunday, October 30 at 1:00 pm. For more info: http://www.nilesfilmmuseum.org/halloween-30-11.htm

For a history of Creature Features (including the first years, from 1971-78, with host Bob Wilkins): www.stanleybooks.net/creaturefeaturestv.html

For John Stanley’s Creature Features DVDs and books: www.stanleybooks.net/cfstore.html

For The Gang That Shot Up Hollywood: www.stanleybooks.net

For information on John Stanley’s work with Elderhostel/Bay Area Classic Learning: http://www.stanleybooks.net/elderhostel.html