What are you reading?

Films, TV shows, and books of the 'modern' era
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Papermoon
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Papermoon »

Just finished Val Lewton's No Bed of Her Own, I enjoyed it. I'm right now reading Topper by Throne Smith, and yes it the novel that the film is based on.
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JackFavell
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by JackFavell »

I'm going gaga over your avatar, PaperMoon!

Where did you get your copy of No Bed of Her Own?
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Papermoon
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Re: What are you reading?

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I got it through Amazon, Amazon itself doesn't sell it but they have a bunch of affiliated sellers they do sell it. Also I go gaga over my avatar too, what can I say, I'm a sucker for Jack La Rue.... :D
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JackFavell
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!

Post by JackFavell »

You and at least two others on this board....Hubba hubba!
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I've turned into a monster reader on holiday.

Kate by William J Mann, I picked this up for a song in our local bookshop, it had a slightly damaged cover and I couldn't say no, even though I was dubious about the content based on the authors previous works but checking the acknowledgements and introduction made me decide to give it a go. It's meticulously researched and nothing is included that isn't sourced back to a person close to Kate or from her letters or letters from her correspondents. The list of people who helped was impressive including many of Kate's family including her two remaining siblings. Apart from Me this is the first book I've read about Kate, despite her being one of my favorite screen actors and personalities. I didn't know how strongly her father had influenced her or her brother's death. Or her early affairs, apart from Luddy she seemed to be attracted to older, troubled and often alcoholic or troubled men, the examples given John Ford, Howard Hughes and Spencer Tracy. She also had significant relationships with women, women were important to her, how important doesn't really matter and thankfully the author didn't push an agenda here. He does claim that the relationship we know about with Spencer tracy would not be recognised by Tracy, it being a secret relationship whilst he was alive and then turned into a book by Garson Kanin that annoyed Kate at first but then she accepted and sang from the same hymn sheet. He's not saying that Tracy and Hepburn didn't love one another, that was evident, rather that it was a relationship that a great deal of time was spent apart by choice, mostly Kate's who was driven by her career. They never lived together although both had bungalows on George Cukor's estate and Spencer remained a constant in his families life visiting every Sunday. From my initial misgivings I ended up enjoying the book tremendously, it was well researched and tried it's best to get behind the myths that Kate had spun on her early days in Hollywood, if it has a downside and this may be claimed about many biographies it's that the author sometimes presumes to the know what the subject is thinking about.

Thank Heavens - Leslie Caron
Leslie's book was published last year and looking on marketplace there are plenty of copies available for very little, I wouldn't pay full price for her book but at the 1p that mine cost it was a bargain. I knoew very little about Leslie Caron's upbringing but wasn't surprised to find that she came from a priviledged background, until the war came and the family was reduced to poverty. The stories from her youth I found interesting and the stories of coming to Hollywood were delightful. She's very respectful of the people she worked with, lovely recollections of Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Louise Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier (particularly Fred who lost his wife during the production of Daddy Long Legs, what a lovely man he was). Somewhere though it went wrong for Leslie, two children with Peter Hall but completely disregarded as an actress by his peers, an affair with Warren Beatty who she only had good things to say about. Her mother committed suicide in later life, Leslie hadn't had an easy path through later live although it's hard to pin point why, she does appear to be a survivor. It was quite sad to read that her family had given up on her and none of them bothered with her seventieth birthday. I do hope she's found some peace in her life.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by charliechaplinfan »

The Woman Nobody Knew a biograpy of Jean Arthur by John Oller another big favorite of mine and the author wasn't kidding with his title, it seems no one knew her very well, they certainly didin't understand her. This most brilliant of screen comediennes was a tortured professional, desperate to star on stage which she did in Peter Pan but other productions, four I think she pledged to but had to pull out sometimes causing the umemployment and bankruptcy of others, pulling out because her body broke down in fever. The productions she'd starred in before had all had good reviews and her films had all garnered good reviews for her but she couldn't gain enough confidence and assurance from them in later years. I read the whole biography still not really understanding her, wanting to shake her when she put others out of work and feeling in her later years that she had the unreasonableness of someone who has had to kowtow to no one in years yet a childlike personality, taking pleasure in nature. At the time she was making movies she seemed content although not a participant in Hollywood nightlife. She remains one of my screen favorites.

Three driven ladies, being followed by Donald Spoto's book in Ingrid Bergman.

I also read The Unbearable Lightness of Being after watching it recently. It took me back to my teenage years and still held some power, Teresa being the character I really remember. I read most of my books on the campsite playground at night, sitting on a nench whilst the kids played. When I read about poor Karenin who has to be put down in the end, the narrative is so powerful that anyone who has pets would be choking, that's the moment the kids came back for a drink and if they hadn't have known better they could have sworn Mum had been crying.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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Rita Hayworth
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Rita Hayworth »

charliechaplinfan wrote:I've turned into a monster reader on holiday.

Thank Heavens - Leslie Caron[/b] Leslie's book was published last year and looking on marketplace there are plenty of copies available for very little, I wouldn't pay full price for her book but at the 1p that mine cost it was a bargain. I knoew very little about Leslie Caron's upbringing but wasn't surprised to find that she came from a priviledged background, until the war came and the family was reduced to poverty. The stories from her youth I found interesting and the stories of coming to Hollywood were delightful. She's very respectful of the people she worked with, lovely recollections of Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Louise Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier (particularly Fred who lost his wife during the production of Daddy Long Legs, what a lovely man he was). Somewhere though it went wrong for Leslie, two children with Peter Hall but completely disregarded as an actress by his peers, an affair with Warren Beatty who she only had good things to say about. Her mother committed suicide in later life, Leslie hadn't had an easy path through later live although it's hard to pin point why, she does appear to be a survivor. It was quite sad to read that her family had given up on her and none of them bothered with her seventieth birthday. I do hope she's found some peace in her life.
I read that book too ... I checked out that book from my local library and what you said here - its an excellent recap of her life and her constant struggle with many issues that she faced. I know that she made some mistakes in her life; but its a travesty that you mentioned that her family had given up on her - is the cruelest form of neglect that I ever heard by Star that hit some hard times ... my dear friends from California knew her as well and she is one of the most professional actress that Hollywood ever produced and they told me that Fred Astaire is one of her closest friends; also they mention she is a joy among many Directors that worked with her - one trait that I do know for sure (my friends told me so) that she is one of those rare actresses that can take a constructive criticism and do a scene even better. To me, Leslie Caron is a true professional actress (by all definition) that ever graced the Silver Screen.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I'm glad you've told me that Kingme, she comes across as taking her career and fellow professionals seriously, a pity that she wasn't appreciated by Peter Hall and the British theatre crowd, she could have developed so much as an actress. I think at some point she stopped trying and stopped getting offered very good parts, she was niched in that ingenue role and once she aged beyond it it seemed the parts dried up.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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JackFavell
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by JackFavell »

You've really brought back memories of The Unbearable Lightness of Being for me, Alison. As I recall, the entire last section of that book made me choke up.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by charliechaplinfan »

It still does, Tomas is older in the book that on film, Teresa is much younger and Tomas has ben married before and has a son who is involved in the narrative, I'd forgotten that.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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JackFavell
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by JackFavell »

I had forgotten that too.. It's time to take out my copy and give it a good read again.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I've just finished Donald Spoto's biography of Ingrid Bergman, I was a bit dubios about buying another Spoto book as I felt he didn't like Marlene Dietrich in the book he wrote about her and made her later life seem utterly pointless. However apart from Ingrid's own book which I already have there were no others to choose from and I wanted to here her story from an outsider. Ingird is very often one of the Hollywood women who is held up to have had any man she wanted in Hollywood, her lists of conquests meant to have been legendary, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't that kind of biography and that most of the men she is meant to have had affairs with were just Hollywood rumour. To srtat at the beginning, Ingrid lost her mother at a very young age, followed by her father a few years later, an orphan she lived with her Uncle and visited her Aunt in Germany from time to time (Ingird was German on her mother's side). She foud fame almost immediately, making movies with Gustaf Molander and Victor Sjostrom, brought to the notice of both UFA and david Selznick, she signed a contract with both later breaking her German contract as the war drew nearer. Ingrid was a warm person, well loved by all who worked with her without a scrap of star attitude about her, she impressed all she worked with in Hollywood and was soon a big hit there. She had married Petter Lindstrom in 1938, he took control of her career, her finances and her child. The marriage appears to have stifled Ingrid and Petter comes across as very controlling and belittling and eventually very bitter. As the marriage was heading towards the rocks in the late 1940s Ingrid asked for a divorce but Lindstrom would not grant one. Here she did embark on a couple of affairs, Robert Capa, Luther Adler and Victor Fleming during the making of Joan of Arc. She had fallen for Fleming before whilst making Dr Jekyll but there was no affair at this time. Then she sees Rome Open City and wants greatly to appear in one of Rossellini's films, what happened next has been well documented. A couple of things that surprised me, she hated working with Rossellini, he was disorganised and often not present on seet. Here I differ from the author, for me he doesn't appreciate Rossellini, not rating the films he made with Ingrid, I've seen 3 of them and for me they are great movies. Ingrid suffered the wrath of the world but it was particularly strong in the USA. The most solace she found was from the priests and nuns in hospital when she had Roberto who felt it wasn't for them to judge, they were kind to her. Ingrid saw Pia her daughter by Lindstrom only once in the next 8 years then it had to take place at the home of Ann Todd and David Lean and then Petter demanded to always be present, scared that Ingrid would steal away with Pia. In the meantime her marriage to Rosselini faltered and she had to leave, Italian law being such that Roberto got custody of those children, Ingrid lost her children again but found solace with Lars Schmidt, someone who comes across as such a gentleman and worthy of her. She was driven by her career, everything else took second place and everyone had to understand that, she was selfish and suffered a great deal for what happened to Pia. I can't help liking her and thinking that I've only seen a handful of her films and not her great performances, something I will have to remedy.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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JackFavell
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Re: What are you reading?

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I think Ingrid is just an amazing actress, so full of life and angst. If I really had to pick, she might just be my favorite actress. She is probably the woman I would most like to look like, but it is more than that, her entire personality is genuine, warm, and she is almost uncontrollably sensual on screen.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I think she's one of the loveliest ladies I've ever read about, very human, fallible with no bitterness about her and an enormous talent. I liked her immensley.

According to Spoto, Ingrid made Autumn Sonata as an apology to Pia who she felt she betrayed, she never thought she'd be kept away from her for as long as she was, events just conspired against her and she was so mismatched with Petter Lindstrom. Roberto Rossellini sounds like he was a handful but they did reach a friendship in their later years. Her third husband Lars Schmidt sounded lovely and just the kind of husband she needed, they were both career people and he'd lost a son previously, they were driven apart by careers and his desire to have a child, he remained her friend and was one of the last people to see her before she died. Ingrid Bergman died on her own birthday.

I've just started reading Claudette Colbert She Walked in Beauty, it hasn't had the best reviews on Amazon but she's a fascinating woman, this book is meant to have lots in about her films, I'm hoping it's scholarly rather than full of tittle tattle.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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moira finnie
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Re: What are you reading?

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charliechaplinfan wrote:I've just started reading Claudette Colbert She Walked in Beauty, it hasn't had the best reviews on Amazon but she's a fascinating woman, this book is meant to have lots in about her films, I'm hoping it's scholarly rather than full of tittle tattle.
Bernard F. Dick tends to be much more scholarly than gossipy. I liked his book on Colbert, since he conveyed how carefully and intelligently she managed her career. There is another biography from 1985 called "Claudette Colbert : an illustrated biography" by Lawrence J. Quirk that is quite good too, though not as thorough as Prof. Dick's book.
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