favorite movie #106 - holiday edition: we’re no angels

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #106 - We’re No Angels (1955) - Joseph (Humphrey Bogart), Albert (Aldo Ray) and Jules (Peter Ustinov) are three convicts who escape from Devil's Island right before Christmas. They decide to hide out in a nearby general store run by the Ducotel family — Felix (Leo G. Carroll), his wife Amelie (Joan Bennett), and their daughter Isabelle (Gloria Talbott). While there, they start to observe the family and get involved in their problems — mainly the store's failing business and its imminent takeover by their ruthless cousin, Andre Trochard (Basil Rathbone), and his smarmy son Paul (John Baer), who is also Isabelle's crush. The trio and Albert's pet (poisonous) snake Adolphe set about trying to make everything right and give the Ducotels a nice Christmas. Humphrey Bogart shows his flair for comedy and he and Ray and Ustinov are great together.

L-R: Albert (Aldo Ray), Joseph (Humphrey Bogart), and Jules (Peter Ustinov)

Joseph: I'm going to buy them their Christmas turkey.
Albert: "Buy"? Do you really mean "buy"?
Joseph: Yes, buy! In the Spirit of Christmas. The hard part's going to be stealing the money to pay for it.

The angels from Devil's Island

Cousin Andre doesn't believe there's a snake inside that basket

favorite movie #50: dark passage

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #50 - Dark Passage (1947) - Bogart and Bacall in their third film together. It's a bit of a gimmick film — the first half is filmed through Bogart's eyes — but because of Bogie's familiar voice it works. Bacall holds her own as she carries the early part of the film, while the camera keeps her in close-up as she talks to Bogart. Dark Passage is a brightly-lit film noir, set in San Francisco. Bogart's Vincent Parry has been wrongly accused of murdering his wife. The story begins as he escapes from San Quentin and hitches a ride into the city. He is immediately recognized, but saved from having to go back to prison by Good Samaritan Irene Jansen (Bacall), who has always believed in his innocence. She is an artist, so is presented as an 'unconventional' girl. There are some other people sympathetic to his cause, like a cabby (Tom D'Andrea), his friend George (Rory Mallinson), and a doctor of plastic surgery (Houseley Stevenson), who gives Vincent a new face, one with which movie fans are quite familiar. Agnes Moorehead shows up to keep things interesting as woman scorned Madge, in leopard print and looking to cause trouble.

A couple weeks ago I picked up a dame in my cab, she musta had her face lifted by one of them quacks. She got caught in the rain, and the whole thing dropped down to here. She shoulda left it unlifted.

Same eyes. Same nose. Same hair. Everthing else seems to be in a different place. I sure look older. That's all right, I'm not. If it's all right with me, it ought to be all right with you.

AI thought I had a good life here... but your going away doesn't make it seem good anymore. I've sort of joined your team and... and I don't look forward to being without you.

favorite movie #48: the two mrs. carrolls (1947)

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #48 - The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1948) - Hollywood likes to portray artists in movies, but they rarely get them right. But I can't help it, I'm a sucker for any movie about an artist. The Two Mrs. Carrolls is a mash-up of Gaslight and Suspicion, with a healthy dose of the Bluebeard fairy tale thrown in. Humphrey Bogart plays an artist who falls in love with women, and then ultimately tires of them, in a homicidal way — after he finishes a grand portrait of them. Barbara Stanwyck is his latest bride and victim, and she suffers marvelously, outfitted by Edith Head. Certainly not the best of either of their pictures, but there is something about this film, from their early romance, which seems charming enough, to Bogart's later Captain Queeg-Like behavior that makes it quite enjoyable to watch. And the paintings (done by studio painter John Decker) are a sight to behold.

Bogie sketches Stanwyck in an idyllic setting

Mr. Carroll considers a Mrs. Carroll #3 (Alexis Smith)

An amazing creation by Edith Head

The first Mrs. Carroll as the angel of death

Mr. Carroll loves his daughter (Ann Carter) — hopefully he'll never paint her

She finally finds what he has been working on behind the locked studio door

Shades of Suspicion ...

Related:

Dark Gallery - art in film

favorite movie #10: in a lonely place

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #10 - In A Lonely Place (1950) - My dad introduced me to Bogie movies, and we watched the classics - Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon - together. This one I discovered on my own. It’s film noir, but with the bright sunshine, or maybe glare, of California. Bogie and Gloria Grahame are great together - tender, sexy, and doomed. I could watch it a million times, still hoping for a different ending. Talk about being your own worst enemy. I think it is Bogart’s greatest work.

Dixon Steele (Bogart): I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.

throwback thursday: favorite movie towns

A post from 2009:

movies I'd like to visit, maybe even live there

Hollywood is not really a town, if you've ever visited. Not a town like the small one that some folks come from, or a bigger one, like where I live, here in D.C. But every once in a while Hollywood puts out a movie that takes place in "a small town," just like the ones that we know never really existed, but maybe would like to visit, or at least pretend to live in, for ninety minutes to an hour. And it's clear that the key to the attraction is as much the locals as the remote location.

In Doc Hollywood Michael J. Fox plays his usual smart-ass, this time as a hot-shot doc wanna-be Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who lands smack dab in the middle of the squash capital of the South. After waking to a morning skinny-dipping goddess vision and a pee-in-the-woods mating ritual, he is smitten with the girl, the town and its cast of kooks and so are we. And it's got Woody Harrelson in a good bit part, among others. Anther film with the same small town fish-out-of-water fun is the brilliant Groundhog Day, with Bill Murray reliving a day and getting to know everyone and everything really well until he gets it right. He also is in one of my all-time favorites. What About Bob, where he takes over Richard Dreyfuss's vacation, family and life ably abetted by some helpful neighbors.




Julia Roberts manages to lure Richard Gere from the Big Apple, or is it the other way around, in Runaway Bride? The Maryland town she is supposed to inhabit is full of a bunch of people you'd want to hang out with. Any town that sports Joan Cusack would be worth looking into. There are strange, unexplained details that make you wonder. What's with all the multiples? There are different sets of twins and triplets in many background scenes. Maybe it's something in the water...Housesitter, directed by Frank Oz, is another small-towns-and-romance-go-great-together movie, where Goldie Hawn insinuates herself into Steve Martin's life after a one-night stand. It's interesting, because we watch her fall in love with his house and his life and his family and (most of) his friends and have to wait impatiently for him to catch up. Oz hits another home run with In and Out, which has Kevin Kline slowly but surely discovering his inner homosexual and learning that everyone in town still loves him as much as we do. The final scene where everyone parties down so that his mother can get the "wedding" she always dreamed of is pure fun. And again, Joan Cusack lives there.




Casablanca is a classic, with the magnificent Bogie and an exotic collection of individuals all trying to escape from something. Wartime and romance are major plot points, but as the credits roll, I am secretly glad that Bogie has decided to stay in Casablanca with Louis and fight the good fight. It sure seems like they're going to have a hell of a time.



There are some other excellent movies that have fascinating small towns that I am glad I only have to visit for a little while, as they would be terrifying to live in full-time. Hitchcock must have been fascinated by small-town America, because he depicts it many times, all to sinister effect. Two of my favorite of his movies, Shadow of a Doubt and The Birds turn the safety and familiarity of living in a place where you know everyone on its head, as one town is hosting a serial killer and the other is besieged by unexplained deadly bird attacks. A holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life, actually shows a town, that no matter how wonderful some of its inhabitants are, would be a pretty rough place to have to live. I'll pass, thanks.

I don't live in New York any more, but once you have, it never quite leaves you. New York is not a small town, but there have been a few film fantasies that somehow manage to get a sense of the city. Guys and Dolls is a real slice of Broadway history, both musical and depicting the sorts of characters that used to hang out near Times Square. A far cry from the Disney theme park that exists there today. And Marlon Brando sings! The Godfather, Part II is a crime classic, but it also gives a slice of what it meant to be an Italian immigrant in this country, coming through New York. Another fun film set in downtown New York is After Hours, the ultimate trip through SoHo in the 80s with Griffin Dunne being dragged from one bizarre situation to the next. Woody Allen is well-known to be in love with his home town New York and has made movies set in the city many times, but as an ex-new Yorker, I don't really get a strong sense of the city, except as travelogue, in his films. Hannah and Her Sisters is one exception, where the SoHo and downtown sequences seem truly "the city," as Michael Caine tries to seduce Barbara Hershey in bookstores, her partner's painting studio, and on the street.

So whenever big city life gets to be a bit much, I know I can retreat to one of these film oases. Any other favorite film fantasy small towns?

r.i.p. lauren bacall, 1924-2014

“If you want me just whistle. You know how to whistle don't you? Just put your lips together and blow.”

"Stardom isn't a profession, it's an accident."

"I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that."

She was gorgeous, talented, a woman not afraid to speak her mind. Although she disliked the appellation, she was a legend. So many great roles, great movies: To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, How to Marry a Millionaire, Written on the Wind, Applause, Murder on the Orient Express, The Forger. She will be missed.

katharine hepburn: the making of the african queen

In the extremely engaging The Making of the African Queen: Or How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind actress Katharine Hepburn recounts her adventures in Africa while making the film classic The African Queen. She set off with director John Huston and Humphrey Bogart and his wife Lauren Bacall in 1951 for what she still calls (more than thirty years after the fact) the adventure of her life.

The intrepid Hepburn, always the iconoclast, stylish as always

Hepburn is endlessly self-deprecating, the first person to admit her quirks and foibles, but she also makes it quite clear that she is also persnickety, demanding, and at times, a real pain to deal with. She is, as Spencer Tracy called her, "A rare bird," and more than a bit old-fashioned about her creature comforts and her focus (even as a 40-something woman at the time) on her Father with a capital "F." She asks him for a letter of credit for her big African trip (didn't the successful actress have her own money?) and is very particular about selecting the perfect gift for him — a hand-carved to order ebony cane.

“Heaven to be the first one up and to eat breakfast all alone.”

She knows what she wants and thinks ahead — carrying her own furniture and other accoutrements. She decides to go off on her own to explore the flora and fauna, refusing to help Lauren Bacall arrange their meals (or take the traditional woman's role?) Hepburn was a vanguard for the time with her style and predilection for menswear, but it really paid off in the jungle, protecting her from bugs and being less binding and layered than women's clothing. Where she ran into trouble was with her holier-than-thou urologist's daughter's insistence on drinking lots of water. She ended up getting sick as a dog. Bogie and Huston stuck to whisky and never got sick.

Reading between the lines, she most definitely seems to have had a crush on Huston. She complains about him constantly, but her brief description of her life with Spencer Tracy suggests that she was used to, and attracted to, difficult men. Although she is against the hunting and killing of animals she is beyond thrilled to join Huston on one of his hunting forays into the jungle. Bogie had no interest. She praises Bogie's bravery and professionalism, but it is clear that he was too no-nonsense, direct, and practical for her to fall for him. But she and Bogie did form a lifelong friendship after making the picture. She briefly describes visiting him frequently with Spencer Tracy when he was dying of esophageal cancer.

“To put it simply: There was no bunk about Bogie. He was a man.”

Bogart and Bacall, having breakfast in their cabin

Some of her statements about blacks and whites are far from poetically correct. But Hepburn is a reflection of the times, and frankly, her class. It is clear from how she approaches the trip and life in general that she comes forms privileged background and was used to having servants and helpers.

Quibbles aside, hers is a fascinating account — it's amazing the film ever got made, with the difficult physical conditions and Huston taking off to shoot elephants whenever he got the chance. Huston's laissez-faire attitude on set and his ability to come up with a classic film makes me want to read White Hunter, Black Heart and his autobiography, An Open Book, next.

Hepburn, Bacall, and Bogart relaxing between takes

The Making of The African Queen is chock-full of behind-the-scenes photos, too. But it is Hepburn's unique voice and perspective that shine through. What an odd assortment of individuals. What a strange experience. And what a great film that came out of it all.

bogart: in search of my father by stephen bogart

If anyone thought that being the child of famous parents was a walk in the park, they need go no further than read Stephen Bogart's memoir, Bogart: In Search of My Father. The book is half memories and anecdotes about his father, and half spiritual quest to quash, once and for all, his personal demons about spending his life in his father's shadow.

Stephen holds his dad's Oscar for Best Actor in The African Queen

Actor Humphrey Bogart was 44 when he met 19 year-old Lauren Bacall while filming To Have and Have Not in 1944. They fell in love while making the iconic film, but Bogie and Baby couldn't be together right away, as Bogart was still married to his third wife, Mayo Methot. He filed for divorce the following year, and Bogie and Bacall were married on May 21, 1945. Four years later their first child was born, a son, Stephen, named after Bogart's character's nickname in To Have and Have Not. A few years later, in 1952, Bacall gave birth to a daughter, Leslie, named after Bogart's friend Leslie Howard, who helped jump-start his film career to more serious roles by insisting he play in the film the role he created on the New York stage, of Duke Mantee, in The Petrified Forest.

Stephen was only eight when his father passed away from esophageal cancer. He does have memories of his father, but he fills in his kaleidoscopic portrait with great anecdotes from family friends like Katharine Hepburn: like his dad's notorious drinking (which helped both The Rat Pack), his early life, his marriages, his long and winding road to success as an actor, his iconic outsider role of Rick Blaine in the film classic Casablanca.

He also quotes his mother and echoes much of the biographical information she provided in her memoir, By Myself. As much as Bogart spent much of his life railing against being only known as "Bogie's son," one senses that the parent he really has issues with is his mother. In a terse but emotional passage he describes how his parents left him, at the age of two, to go on safari to Africa and film The African Queen. As Stephen waved goodbye to them as their plane took off, his nurse holding him actually suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and died, right there, on the tarmac. And, as Bogart tells his readers, once she was informed, his mother didn't come back. She continued on with the trip. It's clear he has never forgiven her.

The most heart-rending section of the book comes at the end, as he details his father's failing health, bout with cancer, surgery, and eventual death. Tough guy Bogie ended up frail and unable to walk downstairs, but he still met daily with friends like Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland, and Frank Sinatra. He kept his trademark "needling" humor intact, "Put me in the dumbwaiter and I'll ride down to the first floor in style." Neither Bogie nor Bacall ever talked about his impending death, to their friends, each other, or the kids, but the man himself knew, as Hepburn told his son, "Spence patted him on the shoulder and said, 'Goodnight, Bogie.' Bogie turned his eyes to Spence very quietly and with a sweet smile covered Spence's hand with his own and said, 'Goodbye, Spence.' Spence's heart stood still. He understood.'

In Bogart: In Search of My Father, the reader learns about Bogie along with his son. Bogart also includes stories about his youth post-Bogie, his rebellion, troubles with drugs and relationships. He tries to draw parallels to their lives, some of which stick, some don't. He had a major chip on his shoulder soon after his father passed away, "One day a kid said to me, 'Too bad about your father,' and I slugged him." It may have been a tough road for Bogart to accept his roots and learn about his dad's life. maybe even hardest to accept was how so many people loved his father, wanted to share his memory. But now Bogart has not only faced his demons and accepted his father's legacy, but he has embraced it. As the head of the Humphrey Bogart website and the driving force behind the now annual Humphrey Bogart Film Festival, he works hard to preserve and promote his father's legacy. He has come a long way.

the maltese falcon on blu-ray

Continuing my Humphrey Bogart film watching ...

The Maltese Falcon has just been released by Warner Home Video on Blu-ray, and Bogie and classic move fans will not be disappointed.

Set in 1941 San Francisco, this classic film noir follows detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) who gets mixed up with a group of adventurers who are in search of a treasure - the eponymous Maltese Falcon, which the opening credits tell the audience was "... a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels ..." On the trail of this priceless and mythical artifact are some wonderful characters: Sydney Greenstreet (in his first screen appearance) as "the Fat Man" Kasper Gutman, Mary Astor as the unforgettably lethal femme fatale Brigid O'Shaughnessy, Peter Lorre as the smelling of gardenias Joel Cairo, and Elisha Cook, Jr. as Gutman's gunsel Wilmer. Character actors Ward Bond and Barton McLane show up as two cops who aren't sure how involved Spade may be in his partner Miles Archer's (Jerome Cowan) demise.

Bogie and "The Black Bird"

John Huston's directorial debut, The Maltese Falcon was made for black and white, and the dramatic lighting and creative camera angles, many of them low-angle, all look great on a high-definition, large scale television screen. The clarity and picture quality is great - you can almost read the title on the spine of a book on Sam Spade's bedside table when the detective takes the call about his partner Miles being found dead. Huston keeps the compositions simple and effective, but includes details like a newspaper clipping tacked to the wall of his apartment and other paraphernalia of Spade's help flesh out his no-nonsense character. But it's Humphrey Bogart's portrayal of Spade that really resonates. It was not only a career-changer, elevating him once and for all into lead parts, but he made Dashiell Hammett's tough-talking private eye his own, a screen classic and the blueprint for movie dicks forever more.

Sam Spade, "When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. And it happens we're in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets killed, it's ... it's bad business to let the killer get away with it, bad all around, bad for every detective everywhere."

The film is full screen format and has an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and resolution of 1080p and looks great on a large-scale high-definition television screen. It has a running time of 101 minutes. The Dolby sound (English: DTS-HD High Res Audio and Spanish, German, and Portuguese: Dolby Digital 1.0) is also crisp and clear. Subtitles are available in multiple languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, and Swedish.

The Maltese Falcon Blu-ray is on one disc, but it has a host of extras, including:

"Warner Night at the Movies" from 1941: a newsreel, the musical short The Gay Parisian, and cartoons "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" and "Meet John Doughboy" 

"The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird" 

"The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart," featuring TCM's Robert Osborne 

"Breakdowns of 1941," a blooper reel 

Radio show adaptations of The Maltese Falcon: the piece, two with the film's stars, one with Edward G. Robinson 

Commentary by Bogart biographer Eric Lax 

Makeup tests 

Movie trailers for The Maltese Falcon, Sergeant York, and Satan Met a Lady

Sam Spade considers Brigid O'Shaugnessy. Does he love her? Can he believe her?

As much of a tough guy as Bogie is, Sam Spade also has a lot of humor. And fans of Ren and Stimpy will recognize the origin of one of their favorite cartoon characters in Peter Lorre's Joel Cairo, especially when he berates Sidney Greenstreet's Kasper Gutman for letting the Falcon slip through their grasp:

Joel Cairo, "You ... you bungled it. You and your stupid attempt to buy it. Kemedov found out how valuable it was, no wonder we had such an easy time stealing it. You ... you imbecile. You bloated idiot. You stupid fat-head you. [He breaks down crying]."

The Maltese Falcon is the first in a longtime collaboration between the star actor and director, who went on to make Across the Pacific in 1942, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Key Largo in 1948, The African Queen in 1951, and Beat the Devil in 1953. Huston wrote the screenplay, based on Hammet's novel, and the third time must have been the charm for a story that had already been turned into unsuccessful movies twice before (The Maltese Falcon in 1931 and Satan Met a Lady in 1936), as it was nominated for three Academy Awards; Best Picture, Screenplay, and Supporting Actor (Greenstreet). When Huston and Bogart and Astor and the rest of the crew got together it was movie magic. As Sam Spade says at the end of the film, "The stuff dreams are made of."

it's a wrap: humphrey bogart film festival

I just got back from the second annual Humphrey Bogart Film Festival in Key Largo, FL, and like many of my fellow attendees, I am already looking forward to next year's festival. Attendees were treated to a series of events where they could meet and greet festival organizer and son of the actor, Stephen Bogart (host of WXEL's Bogart on Movies) and renowned film critic and historian Leonard Maltin, as well as take in a list of over twenty classic films, all celebrating the theme of "Romance."

I was lucky to be able to see some classic Humphrey Bogart-Lauren Bacall films over the weekend: To Have and Have Not, screened outside under the moon and stars; Key Largo at the nearby Lion's Club which was transformed into Rick's Cafe Americaine; and Casablanca and The Big Sleep for the first time on a big screen. In a panel discussion hosted by Caroline Breder-Watts, film historian and host of WXEL's “Listening to Movies,” she and Bogart and Maltin and the audience engaged in a lively discussion of the diversity of Humphrey Bogart's roles throughout his long career. ...

Leonard Maltin and Stephen Bogart field questions at Sunday's brunch

... The Humphrey Bogart Film Festival is quickly becoming a tradition for film buffs and Bogie enthusiasts. As Leonard Maltin shared at the festival's closing brunch on Sunday, "Movies are meant to be a communal experience. ... they can make difference in your life. [when you see a great one it sounds] a loud gong that doesn't go away."

You can read the complete post at Cinema Sentries.

favorite song friday: "play it once sam, for old time's sake ..."

This song seems an appropriate ear worm for me for this weekend, where I'll be attending the Humphrey Bogart Film Festival in Key Largo.

Ilsa [Ingrid Bergman], "There's still nobody in the world who can play "As Time Goes By" like Sam."

You can here the full song, performed by Dooley Wilson, here.

here's looking at you, kid — the humphrey bogart film festival

This weekend I will be attending the 2014 Humphrey Bogart Film Festival (May 1-4), and writing about my experiences for Cinema Sentries (and also on this blog). I can't wait! I inherited the love of Bogie and classic films from my dad, and am thrilled to have chance to check out this festival, now in its second year. Put together by Bogart's son Stephen Bogart and the Humphrey Bogart Estate, the festival meets every year in Key Largo, Florida, the setting for the classic John Huston film of the same name that starred Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Claire Trevor, and Edward G. Robinson. Also in Key Largo is another iconic item from a Bogart film, the steamboat the African Queen.

This year Stephen Bogart wants to honor his parents, one of Hollywood's most famous couples, Bogie and Bacall, with the festival them of "Romance." Bogie is reported to have said of Bacall, "She's a real Joe. You'll fall in love with her like everybody else." Who can argue with that? ...

Bogie and Baby, during the filming of To Have and Have Not

I will be trying to fit in as many of the Bogie/Bacall pairings as I can, along with classics like The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, Sabrina, and the amazing Casablanca, which is set to be screened outside on Friday evening. As Bogie said of his first truly romantic role, "I didn't do anything I've never done before, but when the camera moves in on that [Ingrid] Bergman face, and she's saying she loves you, it would make anybody feel romantic." Seeing Casablanca and Bogie and Bergman and Claude Rains and all the rest under the stars should be an experience that is hard to beat ...

Check out my full report on Cinema Sentries.

the ghosts of ava gardner

“I either write the book or sell the jewels, and I’m kinda sentimental about the jewels.” 

Ava Gardner, in 1988, after suffering two strokes a few years previously, felt pressured to come up with some money, somehow, to cover her expenses. She could no longer act, as the strokes had left her fabulous face paralyzed on one side, and her right arm useless. She toyed with the idea of an autobiography, and friend Dirk Bogarde suggested journalist Peter Evans.

Ava Gardner, in her heyday

Evans enthusiastically took on the task of ghostwriting Gardner's memoirs, and things moved along, if not swimmingly, at least steadily, for several months — until Gardner learned, most likely from ex-husband number three Frank Sinatra, that he had sued Evans and the BBC many years before for writing about his association with the Mafia. The collaboration came to an abrupt halt. After Evans's death in 2012, his publisher, with the permission of Gardner’s estate, decided to publish the notes for the book as Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations.

If one is looking for an in-depth look at Gardner's life and her tumultuous relationships with many famous men, this book will not exactly fit the bill. But it does contain some interesting glimpses of her life, and of Hollywood in the 1940s. What it really does is give a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to write a celebrity biography — with a reluctant, mercurial star and a diffident author. But fans of Gardner will be more than a little disappointed about the lack of coverage of her Hollywood career, and her most celebrated relationship, her marriage to Sinatra, as the book and notes are cut short very soon after he enters her life.

Gardner was a legendary beauty, but never received much acclaim for her acting skills, which she herself said were close to none. But she was good, even great, at times in many of Hollywood's best films, working with its top directors and co-stars:

• The Killers (1946) - With Burt Lancaster, directed by Robert Siodmak
• Show Boat (1951) - Her voice was dubbed in the movie, but she did sing two songs on the soundtrack album
• Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) - With James Mason, directed by Albert Lewin (with amazing cinematography by Jack Cardiff)
• Mogambo (1953) - with Clark Gable and Grace Kelly - Gardner was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress
• The Barefoot Contessa (1954) - with Humphrey Bogart, written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
• On the Beach (1959) - With Gregory Peck, directed by Stanley Kramer
• The Night of the Iguana (1964) - With Richard Burton and Deborah Kerr, written by Tennessee Williams, directed by John Huston

Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations does cover, glancingly, her early life in rural North Carolina, and her unusual path to Hollywood. Her brother-in-law, who owned a photo studio, displayed a portrait of teenage Gardner in his shop window. A man who claimed to be a talent scout for MGM (as a way to get to pretty girls), tried to get her number by saying she should get in pictures. Gardner and her family didn't share her number, but took him at his word and brought her to MGM's New York offices.

Her beauty impressed, but her thick accent did not, so a silent screen test was sent to Hollywood and Gardner and her older sister were soon packed off to the West Coast for her new life as a starlet. She claims to have met Mickey Rooney, who was one of MGM's biggest box-office stars of the day with his Andy Hardy films, her first day on the lot. He certainly didn't waste any time trying to get to know the 19 year-old hopeful, and the two were soon an item, and sooner married. Gardner was quite naive when she arrived in California, and although the two were mad for one another, she was blind to his non-stop womanizing, even, ostensibly, after being warned by his own mother.

Mickey Rooney and Ava

"I still didn’t know that he was the biggest wolf on the lot. He was catnip to the ladies. He knew it, too. The little sod was not above admiring himself in the mirror. All five foot two of him! He probably banged most of the starlets who appeared in his Andy Hardy films — Lana Turner among them. She called him 'Andy Hard-on.' Can we say that — 'Andy Hard-on?'"

“I don’t see why not,” I said. “It’s a funny line.”

Practically as soon as she had signed her divorce papers, tycoon Howard Hughes was auditioning her for the role of his next lover. Their affair lasted many years, but she didn't love him enough to marry him, and soon fell for band leader and clarinetist Artie Shaw, which would result in another very short-term marriage. Rooney ignored her and constantly ran around with other girls, while Shaw put her down and tried to make her feel inferior. Gardner definitely had a taste for macho men, as she also had romances with famous bullfighters and Hollywood co-stars Robert Mitchum, and later George C. Scott, who purportedly knocked her around. But she found her match in Frank Sinatra, who may have been waiting in the wings all along:

"I was with Mickey in the studio commissary. We had just gotten married. Frank came over to our table — Jesus, he was like a god in those days, if gods can be sexy. A cocky god, he reeked of sex — he said something banal, like: 'If I had seen you first, honey, I’d have married you myself.' I paid no attention to that. I knew he was married. He had a kid, fahcrissake!"

Most of the fun in Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations comes from the sense that the reader is hearing Gardner talk to Evans in her actual voice. But sometimes the Southern drawl and epithets seem to be poured on a little too thick. Ava admonishes her would-be ghostwriter after reading a sample chapter, "Does she have to curse so much?" If Gardner did indeed speak this way, every other sentence punctuated with "fahcrissakes," she held onto her Rat Pack parlance until the end.

Frank Sinatra and Ava

What also comes through in this short and fast read is an inescapable sadness. Beauty and fame don't last, which Gardner was intelligent enough to be aware of, but her strokes also robbed her of her physicality, as she describes how she used to enjoy sports like tennis and swimming. She seems to always be alone, calling Evans in the middle of the night, with a tumbler full of wine or liquor in hand, reliving some of her past exploits. There is not just a ghostwriter, but ghosts everywhere, as she laments the passing of friends and mentors like John Huston and "Papa" Hemingway, and morbidly begins to dwell on death, which she fears and believes is soon coming for her. Gardner died of pneumonia in 1990.

Perhaps most poignantly, Gardner resents that the book must focus on her "mistakes," her broken relationships, which Evans is constantly prodding her to talk about. Ava wants a book, but her way. “Why can’t we settle for what I pretend to remember? You can make it up, can’t you? The publicity guys at Metro did it all the time.” Maybe that isn't just a question from a Hollywood actress past her prime. Don't we all tend to remember things the way we want to and not the way they were? Evans never got his memoir, but Gardner did get to tell it like it may or may not have been, soon after ditching this project, in Ava: My Story. Apparently Sinatra had no objection to that.

Originally published on Blogcritics: Book Review: ‘Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations,’ by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner