Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Book Review--Hollywood Cafe: Coffee with the Stars
Hollywood Café: Coffee With the Stars
Stephen Rea
Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2016
Publish date: January 28
Once I recovered from a dorky burst of giggles inspired by the idea of a coffee table book about coffee, I found that I enjoyed the breezy and surprisingly informative Hollywood Café: Coffee With the Stars. When it comes to classic movies, I've found cocktails to be the most mesmerizing onscreen beverage, but now that I think of it, coffee has also had a significant presence in cinema. In this collection of over 150 images, stars of film, television and radio are seen enjoying the drink behind the scenes and on camera.
The opening photo is of java aficionado Preston Sturges drinking from a quart-sized cup. Apparently he has told columnist Rosalind Shaffer that, "he believes coffee drinkers are the real originators of ideas." From there you get Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein monster getting his caffeine fix and Robert Taylor in knightly garb having some joe with the also lavishly-costumed Ava Gardner.
There are shots of glamorous stars at humble craft services tables, publicity photos, and stills of key coffee scenes in the movies. Ingrid Bergman is menaced by a line of poisoned coffee cups in a promotional image for the Hitchcock thriller Notorious (1946), Eddie Cantor shills for his radio show sponsor's brand, and it seems every actress from classic Hollywood has been snapped at home in an apron, proving to all that she can brew a great pot of Joe and be just as domestic as the ladies in her audience.
While there is no real background here of the history of coffee in Hollywood or the movies, there perhaps isn't much to tell. A cup of java was, and continues to be, an easy way to socialize and revive sagging energy. The drink was simply a fact of life, and here it is shown in galleries organized into categories like the more obvious Silver Service and Waitressing and more intriguing sections like Counter Espionage.
Each photo is captioned with a bit of history about the movie and stars in the shot. Some also include the text from the original archival label on the back. I found lots of interesting tidbits in these descriptions.
It's all good fun; an excuse to see gorgeous stars in beautiful costumes, reminisce about favorite movies and pick up new titles for the must-see list. There's unabashed fetishism for elegant coffee pots with long, curvy spouts and groundbreaking brewing methods like the Chemex pot and the French press. After looking at your twentieth shot of trim stars noshing on cookies and doughnuts, you wonder how they got away with eating all that sugar. Did they even swallow a bite, or was it all for the cameras?
Many thanks to Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. for providing a copy of the book for review.
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Book Review,
Book Review--Ziegfeld and His Follies
Ziegfeld and His Follies: A Biography of Broadway's Greatest Producer
Cynthia Brideson and Sara Brideson
University Press of Kentucky, 2015
Though he only produced two films himself, movies would have been much different without the influence of legendary Broadway producer Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.. The high class, but unpretentious style, songs and stars of his shows would all have an immeasurable effect on Hollywood, adding to the glimmer, excitement and timeless feel of many classic productions. Twin authors Cynthia Brideson and Sara Brideson draw out many rich details from the life of this unparalleled showman in their substantial biography of the producer.
Florenz Ziegfeld was a reserved, shy man who would only fully reveal his charm and sense of humor to those closest to him, like his second wife Billie Burke, daughter Patricia and his stars and best friends Will Rogers and Eddie Cantor. He saved most of the show for the stage. Perhaps for this reason, the Bridesons wisely focus much of their attentions on the colorful people in the producer's life.
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| Ziegfeld in 1920 |
Ziegfeld stars like Anna Held, Marilyn Miller, and to a lesser extent Lillian Lorraine set the template for glamour and stardom on the American stage. Comedians Fanny Brice, Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor and W.C. Fields made their names in the great producer's follies and would go on to achieve immortality in the movies. The book is as much their biography as it is his, and it makes sense. Their stories are so tightly intertwined that they must be told in tandem. These characters give the book its endless sparkle. It is never dull.
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| Ziegfeld's first wife (common law) and star Anna Held |
I was surprised to find that Ziegfeld was such a devoted family man. While he had his share of affairs and obsessions with show girls, once the producer became a father, he settled admirably into family life. While he was often absorbed by work, and his excessive gambling troubled Burke, his wife and daughter were the most important women in his life. He made up for his absences, at least enough to build an enduring partnership with Burke, who was equally devoted to family, and raise a surprisingly well-adjusted daughter given the luxury and chaos of her early life.
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| Ziegfeld star and friend Eddie Cantor and the producer's second wife Billie Burke in a 1948 promo photo for a radio show |
More significant, though less profitable for Ziegfeld, was the producer's influence on film. He sold the rights to several of his stage productions, which were then made into popular films like Sally, Rio Rita and Show Boat (all 1929, the latter was filmed again in 1936 and 1951). He also debuted many songs in his Follies that would become standards via films, from Me and My Gal and Look for the Silver Lining to My Man and Blue Skies. Songwriting legends like Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and George Gershwin who found fame with the producer would make their mark in films as well. The style of his productions would also influence movies, from his stately, elaborately-costumed showgirls to the opulent look of his sets.
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| Ziegfeld star Marilyn Miller |
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| A dancer performing on a glass platform above the audience of Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic of 1915 |
The authors are most adept at creating a sense of the times in which Ziegfeld lived and exploring how he adapted at the different stages in his career. Their descriptions of the many shows he produced, accompanied by several photographs of his shows and stars, are also excellent and highly evocative, giving a strong sense of what it must have felt like to be in the audience.
Though Ziegfeld often did not have faith in the success of his productions, the showman had an undeniable knack for picking talent and could lend his shows an aura of class that eluded his competitors. While he spent most of his career struggling to stay ahead of debts, he had the common touch and knew how to please an audience. Ziegfeld and His Follies uncovers a bit of this magic and vividly describes the sweat required to bring the fruits of his intuition to the stage.
Many thanks to University Press of Kentucky for providing a copy of the book for review.
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Book Review,
Book Review--Sharon Tate: A Life
Sharon Tate: A Life
Ed Sanders
Perseus Books Group/ DeCapo Press, 2016
We are lucky to have had Sharon Tate for the brief 27 years she lived. She hardly began to fulfill her potential before her death, but she never wasted a moment, quickly finding screen success and demonstrating a blooming comedic talent. The actress was also a remarkably kind soul, sometimes generous and humble to a fault. Her jaw dropping beauty was stunning in photographs, but more compelling in motion, where you could see the way she glowed with kindness, and how she was remarkably attentive to and respectful of the people in her orbit.
Now in a new biography, Ed Sanders explores Tate's life, in addition to the sinister events of her death. It's a quirky take on her story, but well researched and with several fascinating new interviews with friends and professional contacts.
In some respects, Sanders has a long history with Tate. He published The Family, his book about the Manson family murders, in 1971. He approached that publication, and this biography with the curiosity of a determined detective, drawing from his own contacts and using strong investigative skills to get closer to the truth. With this book, his diligence leads him to new theories about the reasons Manson ordered the murders, though it still remains impossible to be certain what actually happened.
The book is written as a sort of dual biography of Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski, tracking both of their lives from an early age. I might have been more receptive to this approach if it had been presented as a dual story, but as it is, it feels like a distraction from Tate. I thought perhaps it was necessary to take up Polanski's story at such an early age in order to have enough information to fill a book , as this isn't the only time the narrative feels padded as a way to compensate for the few years Tate lived.
Of course, Polanski did play a significant role in Tate's life, and here he is shown to be deeply in love with the actress, but also controlling of her and unwilling to show sensitivity to her concerns about his promiscuity. It is through this relationship that she can be best understood, as the actress was completely focused on making the director happy, not entirely unaware of her own needs, but making her husband a priority. Sanders also describes her other relationships, including significant romances with actor Richard Beymer and Philippe Forquet and she clearly was drawn to controlling men.
The book focuses mostly on Tate's personal life, though it does go into detail about her fast rise to fame. While she was so beautiful that a certain amount of success was guaranteed her, the actress worked hard to learn her craft, and within a few years she had become an accomplished performer. There isn't much here about what specifically made her an appealing screen presence, but you can see how while some things came easily to Tate, she made certain she earned her success and made movies that would make her parents proud of her. It is bittersweet that she never got to hear her father's praise about her performance in The Wrecking Crew (1968); he watched the film the night she was murdered, and left the theater with plans to call to congratulate her the next day.
Sanders has an unusual take on the English language, using words like "stunningness", "unsureness" and "rebegan". Whenever an event in Tate's life seems to foreshadow her violent end, he is fond of ending the paragraph with "oo-ee-oo", which I imagine you are supposed to imagine him saying under his breath. You often sense his presence in the narrative, as if you are watching him at work.
After taking a look at Sanders' own bio. on Wikipedia I'm guessing he's a bit of a character and is letting his personality come through in the text. I can respect that this "poet, singer, social activist, environmentalist, author, publisher and longtime member of the band The Fugs," who has "been called a bridge between the Beat and Hippie generations" and is "considered to have been active and "present at the counterculture's creation" is marching to the beat of his own drum, and perhaps trying to liven up the sometimes unimaginative biography genre, but I felt it distracted from Tate to put so much of his own personality into her story. I can explain it best by sharing my typical comment to chatty movie audience members: "I didn't pay admission to listen to you talk buddy."
These quirks almost entirely disappear when Sanders begins to tell the story behind Tate's death, and as a result, the text becomes much more compelling. He is compassionate in his exploration of Tate's horrific last night and the LaBianca murders that would follow. The author even warns readers when he gets to the graphic material, suggesting that some may wish to skip the rest of the chapter. I was appreciative of that, because it made me stop a moment to reflect, and I realized I'd rather not have those details on my mind the rest of my life.
I picked up the story again after the night of the murder, and didn't feel like I missed anything I needed to understand the impact of what happened. While I was glad I skipped the recounting of the murders, there was still plenty of disturbing information about the aftermath and the activities of the Manson family throughout this period. It isn't an easy read.
The first half of the book is satisfying in itself as a chronicle of Tate's life and career, but there is a lot of suffering in the final chapters. More sensitive readers may wish to skip the book entirely. Devoted fans will find plenty to interest them in the early chapters.
Many thanks to Perseus Books Group/ DeCapo Press for providing a copy of the book for review.
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As I read Sharon Tate: A Life, I looked up some of the videos mentioned in the text. These clips feature Tate in both personal and professional moments. Here are a couple of my favorites and a couple more I found as I searched.
Tate takes Merv Griffin on a tour of Carnaby Street in London during its 1960s heyday. She was the perfect tour guide for this influential center of fashion and culture:
This clip features Tate make-up-free, relaxed, getting stoned and enjoying herself at a house party with a handful of friends. I love the sense of fun here:
Here's some footage from the set of The Wrecking Crew (1968) and a few home movies featuring Tate. You can really get a sense of what a presence she was just by watching her talk. She actually glows. (You might want to turn the volume down; the music isn't a great fit.)
I like this interview with Tate at the premiere of Valley of the Dolls (1967), because you can see how she could be simultaneously innocent and wise:
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