Actor, director and film scholar Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) profiles and interviews 26 legendary actors, including Cary Grant, Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart, John Cassavetes and Frank Sinatra.
Critic Reviews
|
Favorable
|
Atlantic Monthly Benjamin Schwarz
Although it reads as if it were too hastily assembled, this book is among the richest (and most delightful) ever written about Hollywood.
|
|
Favorable
|
Booklist Alan Moores
An invaluable archive of a nearly lost cinematic world. [Aug 2004, p.1887]
|
|
Favorable
|
Chicago Sun-Times Jan Herman
Bogdanovich's writing is pungent, his insights smart and penetrating.
|
|
Favorable
|
Daily Telegraph Anthony Quinn
If he is at times too reverential of his subjects, he can't be faulted for enthusiasm and diligence.
|
|
Favorable
|
New York Observer Scott Eyman
On balance, it might be a good idea for Mr. Bogdanovich to write about people and films he doesn't like once in a while, if only to add an astringent touch to the prevailing sweetness. On the other hand, his emotional generosity is part of what makes this rich book such a pure pleasure in these mean-spirited times.
|
|
Favorable
|
Publishers Weekly
Those who like classic movies will fall in love with this book and, despite its nearly 600 pages, they'll find themselves wishing for more. [19 Jul 2004, p.154]
|
|
Favorable
|
Washington Post Jeanine Basinger
His insights are casual and conversational, yet also coolly professional, sharp and keen-eyed.
|
|
Favorable
|
Library Journal Roy Liebman
Readable if not particularly revelatory. [Jul 2004, p.84]
|
|
Favorable
|
The New York Times Book Review Stephanie Zacharek
Bogdanovich is a lively writer, and sometimes an eloquent one, but he might have cultivated a more original voice if he hadn't been so desperate for his subjects to like him.... And yet ''Who the Hell's in It'' is largely a likable, entertaining book.
|
|
Mixed
|
Los Angeles Times Richard Schickel
Sometimes he comes close to fawning. Or self-congratulation -- I'm in, you're not. But a lot of the time he is an eerily accurate surrogate for us. [12 Sep 2004, p.R2]
|
|
Mixed
|
Daily Telegraph Anne Chisholm
Baggy, uneven and badly edited... But it is full of fresh and entertaining details, and his heart is in the right place.
|
|
Mixed
|
Entertainment Weekly Benjamin Svetkey
Whether the encounters are blinkingly brief (glimpsing Lillian Gish at a 1958 screening) or much more involved (a long Q&A with Jerry Lewis, circa 2000), they usually give Bogdanovich just enough material to make this volume worth a skim.
|
|
Mixed
|
Kirkus Reviews
Inside this anthology, an autobiography is trying to get out. [1 Jul 2004, p.611]
|
|
