Code of Honor: The Making of Three Great American Westerns-High Noon, Shane and The Searchers, a new book by Cal State Northridge alumnus Michael F. Blake, offers detailed accounts of the making of three classic, and some may argue the three best, American Western films ever made.

Blake, who graduated from CSUN in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in film criticism theory, is an Emmy-winning makeup artist and a noted film historian. His book reveals for the first time how these three American classics were made.

"These films are some of my favorites of all time. I was disappointed to find that nobody had done any real research on them, and biographies on the directors only touched on the films, offering no details," said Blake, who wrote the book as an independent study course while a student in CSUN's Cinema and Television Arts Department. "By nature, I'm just fascinated by the behind-the-scenes stuff. I just thought these three Westerns deserved to be recognized for what they are. They are still very popular and exemplify the Western genre during its 100th anniversary."

Blake will sign copies of Code of Honor at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 27, at Bookstar, 12136 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City.

Blake, whose father appeared in High Noon, was granted unprecedented access to the papers of directors Fred Zinneman, George Stevens and John Ford, as well as studio archives, which provided him with intimate details on how High Noon, Shane and The Searchers were made.

Based on original interviews and filled with behind-the-scenes anecdotes, the book reveals the controversies and conflicts on and off the sets; the evolutions of the screenplays, the reasons behind the casting choices; the changes made during filming and after screenings; and the public and critical responses.

Code of Honor includes 60 rare photos, some published for the first time in the book, from the making of the three movies.

"Students from our program are starting to take their place in the world not only professionally but scholastically as well. Michael is definitely an example of that," said CSUN cinema and television arts professor Nate Thomas. "His work is well researched and should be interesting reading for film enthusiasts."

Blake has worked in the film industry for more than 40 years. At the age of three, he began work as a child actor in films and television, appearing in such shows as The Lucy Show; Adam-12; Kung-Fu; Marcus Welby, M.D.; The Red Skelton Show; and Bonanza.

His credits as a makeup artist include ndependence Day, Tough Guys, Soapdish, Star Trek VI, Sister Act, Magnum, P.I. and Happy Days. He won an Emmy Award as part of the makeup team for the television series Buffy, the Vampire Slayer in 1998, and received a nomination in the same category as part of the makeup team on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1999.

Blake was a special consultant for the documentary Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces, for the Turner Classic Movies cable channel, and he recently provided audio commentary for three Lon Chaney films that will be released on DVD by Warner Home Video/Turner Classic Movies in October 2003.

He is currently working on books about the films covering the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and on John Ford's Calvary trilogy.