Tag Archives: A Place in the Sun

“I, along with the critics, have never taken myself very seriously.” — Elizabeth Taylor

It’s her birthday today. I wrote a big piece on my Substack about National Velvet/A Place in the Sun/Suddenly Last Summer/Cat on a Hot Tin Roof/Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and General Hospital. Naturally there is more to discuss – … Continue reading

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Norman Mailer as Shelley Winters’ Audition Coach

Taken from an interview with Mailer for The Paris Review included in The Paris Review Interviews, III (I am now devouring all 4 volumes, thanks to cousin Mike). The interview was done by Andrew O’Hagan and took place in 2007, … Continue reading

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Movie Marathon on Block Island

While I had tons of time to read, and walk, and have visitors, and write, and dream, I also had an orgy of movie-watching out on the Island. I brought some movies with me, but for the most part, I … Continue reading

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Snapshots

— I got sucked into The Adventures of Mark Twain almost against my will. It has a ham-hocked script that rushes through the events of Twain’s life (his wife, “You are an eternal boy … why don’t you write about … Continue reading

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The Books: “Shelley, Also Known As Shirley” (Shelley Winters)

Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir Shelley: Also known as Shirley, by Shelley Winters There are so many great Shelley Winters stories (and this is only the first volume of her autobiography – there’s another one that follows) but the following … Continue reading

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The Books: “Elizabeth” (J. Randy Taraborrelli)

Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Elizabeth, by J. Randy Taraborrelli When I was a kid, I saw National Velvet multiple times – probably at my cousins’ house. That’s where I remember watching most of the old movies that I remember … Continue reading

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The Books: “Montgomery Clift: A Biography” (Patricia Bosworth)

Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Montgomery Clift: A biography, by Patricia Bosworth I consider this book to be a high watermark in entertainment biography. I find myself comparing all other biographies to this one. In a similar way that Ron … Continue reading

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Billy Wilder on Symbolism

Excerpt from Conversations with Wilder: If you do a picture like George Stevens — he did that very famous picture A Place in the Sun. Now, there is a district attorney in that picture who limps. I talked to somebody … Continue reading

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