Starring Roles: How Movie Stardom in Hollywood is Won And Lost, by Ron Base (Little Brown, £8.99 in UK)

Mel Gibson as Hamlet - well, there was a time when it was unthinkable. But the unthinkable came to pass, and everybody said how refreshing it was, and a challenge, after, all. But Cary Grant as James Bond? Or Bette Davis partnering Errol Flynn in Gone With The Wind? Ron Base chronicles these and other near misses in this meaty, beautifully written study which will provide movie buffs suffering from post festival syndrome with endless hours of fun. Mind you, Base doesn't get everything right. Analysing the career of one John Travolta, he concludes that as a result of his script choices - including a ghastly gigolo number called Moment by Moment - that particular young man was finished in moving pictures. Just shows you.