Book review: Old Films, Young Eyes by Simone O. Elias

I was sixteen when I started writing about old films in this blog. I had started to watch them a few months before, influenced by my grandparents, but old movies were already on my radar by then, as I wrote HERE. When I began writing, and when I published my book on movies at age 18, most people were surprised with such a young person interested in that topic. I’m not so young anymore, but there are still young people watching old movies. And, like me, they use the Internet to talk about their passion. One of them is Simone O. Elias, author of “Old Films, Young Eyes”.

The foreword is written by teenage podcaster Eliana Singer, from the new-to-me podcast Teenage Golden Age. Her first contact with classic cinema was through “It Happened One Night”, and here comes a surprise: it was this same movie that made ME transform my almost inactive blog into a classic film blog!

At age 15, Simone O. Elias is already multi-hyphenated. Like most teenagers, she’s entitled and has no filter - things that are not exactly negative. She confesses that she has a hard time entering the world of the classic film she’s watching, but once it happens, she has a blast. All of that is completely normal. As a teenager, I disliked musicals and silent movies - me, that would go on to win the 2021 Collegium Prize at Le Giornate del Cinema Muto! In a sense, Simone reminds me of my younger self. I only hope she won’t look at her articles in this book in shame when the future comes.

Simone says that she has learned more about the past by watching it in classic movies than she has ever learned in History classes. As a historian myself, I see the value of using movies to immerse in the past in a pleasant way. I firmly believe that movies should be used in the classroom to further explore topics and figures not only in History classes, but in all subjects.

The book goes backwards, starting with the 1960s and the Beach Movies and going all the way to silent movies. In the in-between, the author talks about film noir (her least favorite genre), housewives and working women, mental health/illness in classic film and female filmmakers.

Like it happened on many other occasions, my watchlist grew as I was reading the book. I now want to check out movies such as “The Horror of Party Beach” and “What’s So Bad About Feeling Good?”. Also added to my watchlist “When Were You Born”, a B-movie about astrology starring Anna May Wong. I imagine that, without this book, I’d remain ignorant about these titles that sound so interesting.

Simone uses a chapter to make the point for the number one rule of classic film: do not watch colorized movies. I only do this when I can’t find another copy, but I have an interesting story to tell. Some eleven years ago, I watched Fritz Lang’s “The Woman in the Window” (1944) and it was colorized. The issue was that I watched it on the cult channel on my cable TV. They had only the colorized version in their catalogue! The colors didn’t distract me and I thought the film was that “naturally”, only later seeing some stills I found out the truth.

My eyes are burning!

There are some mistakes, such as when Simone writes “[Hitchcock] entered the film industry as a title card designer in 1919—he designed the cards that would display the title and the credits.”. Title cards, in silent cinema, weren’t only displayed in the beginning and the end of the movies, and didn’t bring only credits. They were cards presented throughout the movie to set the tone, describe the action and some dialogue, depending on the movie. Also, she is condescending when she says the 1910s were “a fairly boring decade” for Hollywood, when in reality the features were starting to dominate the scene without erasing the short films.

I found it weird that the author put the second wave of feminism under the “social problems” umbrella, but it can be considered “good trouble” as Gloria Steinem said. Also, all the time Simone advocates for teenagers and the power that lies in them. But this power often becomes conformity. There is a song in Brazil that says “we’re still the same and we live like our parents”, in an answer to all the potential wasted when teenagers become adults.

Even though I disagree that “Harrison Ford is (today’s) Humphrey Bogart”, I had a great time reading the book. I see a bright future for Simone Elias in Hollywood, no matter which career - or careers, in the plural - she chooses to pursue.

Resenha / Book review: La Decisión de Grace Kelly, by Sophie Benedict

 

Minha parte favorita do dia é quando posso relaxar com um bom livro. Quando a leitura é social, melhor ainda. Deixe-me explicar: chamo de “leitura social” o que faço com minha mãe. Ela está aprendendo espanhol e nós lemos juntas, para que eu possa aprimorar meus conhecimentos e ensinar a ela – que foi professora por 38 anos – algumas coisas. Já lemos contos de Gabriel García Márquez e o livro que lemos mais recentemente foi a versão em espanhol de um livro em alemão sobre Grace Kelly.

 

My favorite part of the day is when I can relax and sit back with a good book. When the reading is social, better yet. Let me explain: I call “social reading” what I do with my mom. She’s learning Spanish and we read together, so I can improve my knowledge in the language and teach her – who was herself a teacher for 38 years – a few things. We already read short stories by Gabriel García Márquez and the latest book we read was the Spanish version of a German novel about Grace Kelly.

Grace Kelly esteve sob os holofotes durante a maior parte de sua vida. Primeiro, ela foi uma das mais conhecidas atrizes da década de 1950, inclusive ganhando um Oscar numa escolha polêmica pelo filme “Amar é Sofrer” (1954). Então ela se transformou literalmente numa princesa quando se casou com Rainier de Mônaco. O casamento recebeu cobertura no mundo todo, como eu certa vez demonstrei num artigo sobre a cobertura do Casamento Real na imprensa brasileira. Mas seus dias como estudante de atuação não foram foco de nenhuma investigação mais profunda. Por isso, este período na vida de Grace poderia ser o ponto de partida para um romance especulativo.

Grace Kelly was on the spotlight for most of her life. First, she was one of the most talked about actresses of the 1950s, even winning an Oscar in a polemic choice for the film “The Country Girl” (1954). Then she became a literal princess when she got married to Rainier of Monaco. The wedding was highlighted in newspapers around the world, as I once noted in a blog post about the royal wedding in Brazilian newspapers. But her times studying to become an actress weren’t the focus of deeper investigation. Because of it, this period in her life could become the starting point for a speculative novel.

Somos apresentados a uma jovem Grace que ama brinca de atuar e se transformar em outra pessoa durante brincadeiras infantis. Quando ela tinha 17 anos, seu tio George – um vencedor do Prêmio Pulitzer – convence o pai de Grace a deixá-la ir para Nova York. Lá ela é aceita pela American Academy of Dramatic Arts, apesar de sua voz nasal. Seu professor, Sr ehlinger, inclusive reclama da voz dela na primeira aula.

We are introduced to a young Grace who loves to play theater and become someone else in her childish plays. At 17, her uncle George – a Pulitzer Prize winner – convinces Grace’s father to let her go to New York. There she is accepted to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, despite her nasal voice. Her teacher, Mr Jehlinger, even complains about her voice in their first class.

Grace faz amizade com duas garotas que moram, como ela, no Edifício Barbizon: Mary Jo e Caitriona, ou Cai. Há uma subtrama sobre Grace ajudar Cai a fazer um aborto, mas nada muito escandaloso ou chocante – no final, não fica claro se Cai foi a um médico fazer um aborto ou teve um aborto espontâneo. Mary Jo, por outro lado, apresenta Grace ao professor Don Richardson, que se torna seu crush... e o primeiro de muitos homens mais velhos com quem ela se envolve.

Grace becomes close friends to two girls who also live at the Barbizon building: Mary Jo and Caitriona, or Cai. There is a subplot about Grace helping Cai with an abortion, but nothing too scandalous or shocking – in the end, it isn’t clear if Cai went to a doctor to perform the abortion or if she had a miscarriage. Mary Jo on the other hand introduces Grace to teacher Don Richardson, who becomes her crush… and first of many older men she dates.

Sessenta por cento do livro é gasto contando as aventuras de Grace como modelo e aspirante a atriz em Nova York. Ao chegar na marca de 60%, a narrativa é transladada para Hollywood – na verdade Grace ficou entre idas e vindas entre Hollywood e Nova York – e a parte mais conhecida da carreira dela. Lá, ela aprende muito com Hitchcock, um diretor exigente que rapidamente se entende com sua nova protagonista. Tudo o que Grace faz em Hollywood é feito com o objetivo de impressionar os pais dela, que não aprovam sua escolha de ser atriz.

Sixty percent of the book is spent telling her adventures as a model and aspiring actress in New York. Hitting the 60% mark brings the narrative to Hollywood – actually Grace went back and forth between Hollywood and New York – and the best known part of her career. There, she learns a lot with Hitchcock, an exigent director who quickly clicks with his new leading lady. Everything she does in Hollywood is done with the goal to impress her parents, who disapprove of her career choice.

Em muitas ocasiões um personagem aconselha Grace a desistir de seu sonho de ser atriz e encontrar um marido que a sustente. E em muitas ocasiões Grace declara que quer ser independente e não depender de nenhum homem. Seu sonho é se casar com um homem que ela realmente ame. E ela tem muitos relacionamentos baseados não em amor verdadeiro, só em atração física.

In many occasions a character advises Grace to stop pursuing her dream of becoming an actress and find a husband who can support her. Time and again Grace says she wants to be independent and not rely on any man. Her dream is to get married to a man she genuinely loves. And she has many relationships based not on true love, just physical attraction.

Surpresa, surpresa: a autora imagina um encontro entre Grace Kelly e Marilyn Monroe, então chamada Norma Jean e trabalhando como modelo em Nova York. Norma dá à jovem Grace conselhos sobre atuação e aceitar ofertas – ela diz que é preciso saber quando dizer “não”, mas mostra que falar é fácil, o difícil é seguir seu próprio conselho. Outro encontro é com Marlon Brando, que é retratado como um desagradável mascador de chicletes no escritório de Edith van Cleve. Edith foi uma agente teatral real para jovens atores iniciantes. Brando, um desconhecido como Grace, se incomoda quando tem de esperar Edith atender Grace antes dele.

Surprise, surprise: the author imagines an encounter between Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe, then called Norma Jean and working as a model in New York. Norma gives the younger Grace advice about acting and accepting offers – she says it’s necessary to know when to say “no”, but shows that this is easier said than done. Another encounter is with Marlon Brando, who comes across as a gum-chewing unpleasant brat at Edith van Cleve’s office. Edith was a real theatrical agent for young and upcoming actors. Brando, an unknown like Grace, is bothered that he has to wait for Edith to see Kelly before his appointment.

O título original em alemão é “Grace und die Anmut der Liebe”, que pode ser traduzido como “Grace e a Graça do Amor”. Foi escrito por Sophie Benedict, pseudônimo da autora alemã Steffi von Wolff de Frankfurt. Grace Kelly é sua atriz favorita e a autora escolheu prestar uma homenagem a ela através deste livro – mas teve resultados ambíguos, na minha opinião.

The original title is “Grace und die Anmut der Liebe”, that can be translated as “Grace and the Grace of Love”. It was written by Sophie Benedict, the pseudonym of German author Steffi von Wolff from Frankfurt. Grace Kelly is her favorite actress and the author chose to pay a tribute to her through this book – but it achieved mixed results, in my opinion.

Se eu fosse um membro da família de Grace, não ficaria satisfeita com a maneira como é retratada no livro. Grace é apresentada como frívola e obcecada, tendo casos com todos os homens mais velhos com quem travalha. Sim, ela até é retratada como alguém que faz tudo com perfeição, o que pode agradar aos seus fãs, que são o público-alvo do livro. Minha mãe quase desistiu da leitura, mas nós chegamos ao fim a tempo de celebrar o que seria o 95º aniversário de Grace. Feliz aniversário, doce princesa – você ainda é amada e lembrada.

If I was a member of Grace’s family, I wouldn’t be happy with her portrayal in the novel. Grace is presented as frivolous and obsessed, having affairs with all older men she gets to work with. Yes, she is portrayed as someone who does everything perfectly, and this may please her fans, who are the target for the book. My mother almost gave up on reading, but we reached the end in time to celebrate what would be Grace’s 95th birthday. Happy birthday, sweet princess – you are still loved and remembered.

 

This is my contribution to The 6th Wonderful Grace Kelly blogathon, hosted by The Wonderful World of Cinema and The Flapper Dame.

Book review: Alfred Hitchcock’s Moviemaking Master Class, by Tony Lee Moral

 

“He pioneered and revolutionized the way all kinds of stories were told on screen.” Who could be that we’re talking about? None other than the Master of Suspense - and, as described in the book, suspense is the stretching out of anticipation -: Alfred Hitchcock. Because every story - even the love stories - could use a bit of suspense, Hitchcock’s influences can be seen in all of cinema and even in other arts. I once searched and found out that there were more than 2,600 books written about Hitchcock, according to the Goodreads database. Another one comes to the batch: Tony Lee Moral’s “Alfred Hitchcock’s Moviemaking Master Class”. Is it a good addition or an unnecessary new book? Let us see.

Through examples from Hitchcock’s oeuvre, the book teaches things such as pitching a story to a producer, choosing the theme of the film, writing the screenplay, exploring your background scenario and props to the maximum, storyboarding key scenes, working with actors (who are not cattle), exercising camera logic, the importance of editing and how to advertise your film.

The sub-sections of the chapters are short and straight to the point. Nothing is discussed in a deeper focus, and this isn’t a problem. Once the point has been made about the section’s title, it’s time to move on. This makes reading easy and in a nice flow. However, to Hitchcock’s experts, there is very little that they haven’t heard about. In the end of each chapter, something different appears: exercises and tips about movies to watch and books to read to further the ideas presented in the chapter.

Writing the screenplay is given a whole chapter. A job divided in the outline, the treatment and the screenplay, this is explored in deep focus, which is no surprise considering that writing the screenplay was Hitchcock’s favorite part of making a movie. He closely followed the writing of the screenplays for his movies, but, preferring to focus on telling a story visually, he left the dialogues for his screenwriters.

There is also a whole chapter devoted to how Hitchcock cut and assembled his films. The author explains how the director portrayed a character’s reaction through cutting - using the Kuleshov effect - and how he created fear and depicted violence also through cutting - by choosing to show several close-ups instead of the violent act: this is what happens in the shower murder scene in “Psycho” (1960). We then learn about how Hitch used jump cuts, match cuts and cross-cuts to establish ideas and develop the plots of his films.

We can find the definition and exemplification of terms such as the famous McGuffin and the “ice box syndrome”, that is, the holes left in the plot that become debates once the viewers leave the movie theater and hit home. One very interesting term I learned - and something Hitchcock used in many movies - is the double chase: when the hero is persecuted at the same time by the police and the villains. Another learning opportunity came with the discussion of the Vertigo Shot and how it was achieved, zooming in on camera and having the camera dollying back simultaneously.

We have the comparison between leading men Cary Grant and James Stewart. Grant was the debonair seductive man Hitchcock wanted to be, while Stewart was the boy-next-door type. The author said Stewart was the man Hitchcock actually was, but I just partially agree with this affirmation.

There is, of course, valuable advice and many great catchphrases, such as: “When characters are unbelievable, you never get real suspense, only surprise.”; “Surprise takes 10 seconds; anticipation can take an hour.”; “A successful movie juxtaposes tension and relaxation, and relieves horror with humor.”; “He was a purist and believed that film is a succession of images on the screen; this in turn creates ideas, which in turn creates emotion, which only seldom leads to dialogue.”

There are quotes from other directors about how Hitchcock influenced them, and plenty of examples of Hitchcockian non-Hitchcock movies. We can also find quotes from stars who worked with Hitch, such as Eva Marie Saint and Kim Novak, as well as quotes from people who were part of the crew in some Hitchcock movies.

There are also plenty of inspiring quotes from Hitchcock himself, such as: “A film cannot be compared to a play or a novel. It is closer to a short story, which, as a rule, sustains one idea that culminates when the action has reached the highest point of the dramatic curve.”; “Mystery is an intellectual process, as in [solving] a ‘whodunit’…but suspense is essentially an emotional process. With suspense it’s necessary to involve emotion.”; “I think a director should understand the psychology of audiences,”; “People don’t often always express their inner thoughts to one another; a conversation might be quite trivial, but often the eyes reveal what a person thinks or feels.”; “For me, suspense doesn’t have any value unless it’s balanced by humor,”; “A woman of elegance, on the other hand, will never cease to surprise you.”; “ The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture”; “ Sex on the screen should be suspenseful, I feel. If sex is too blatant or obvious, there’s no suspense.”; “You can’t direct intelligent men, the things that should come to them naturally, such as hesitancies.”

Alma Reville, Hitchcock’s wife and constant collaborator who helped shape many screenplays, is only briefly cited as the one who saw that Janet Leigh blinked after her character Marion was murdered in “Psycho”. Another mistake in the book is saying that the French term for “pre-production” is “mise-en-scène” - it simply isn’t. Some sentences are poorly written and there are some typos that a more accurate revision would have erased, as well as factual errors - Anny Ondra wasn’t on the cast list for “The Lodger” (1927).

The Master of Suspense - who was also the master of branding - is as relevant as ever, no matter that he died over forty years ago. As the book says, there is always something new and exciting to find out when rewatching Hitchcock’s films. We, creatives, can also learn something new by rewatching his movies. Tony Lee Moral, an expert in Hitch, offered us valuable advice in this tight and thought-provoking book.

Resenha: O Pensamento Vivo de Orson Welles, de Rogério Sganzerla

Orson Welles é meu diretor de cinema favorito, mas eu não sou a maior fã de Orson Welles que já existiu no Brasil. Este título, se é que ele existe, deve pertencer ao cineasta Rogério Sganzerla, um homem tão fascinado por Welles e pela pequena odisseia do diretor no Brasil em 1942 que ele fez quatro filmes sobre o assunto, e ainda escreveu um livro sobre Welles para uma coleção.

Orson Welles is my favorite male director, but I’m not the biggest Orson Welles fan that ever lived in Brazil. This title, if it exists, must belong to filmmaker Rogério Sganzerla, a man so fascinated with Welles and the director’s small odyssey in Brazil in 1942 that he made four films about this subject and also wrote a book about Welles as part of a book collection.

Sganzerla foi chamado para organizar este livro como parte de uma coleção que pretendia servir de introdução completa aos pensamentos de pessoas famosas. Sganzerla então compilou textos e frases sobre Welles, organizou uma linha do tempo e escolheu várias boas imagens, a maioria fotos dos bastidores, e também fotos da infância e juventude de Welles e até mesmo uma caricatura feita como autorretrato.

Sganzerla was asked to organize this book as part of a collection that wanted to serve as a complete introduction to the thoughts of famous people. Sganzerla then compiled texts and quotes about Welles, organized a timeline and chose several great images, most of them backstage photos, but also photos from Welles’ childhood and youth and even a caricature that is a self-portrait.

Numa entrevista que abre o livro, Welles fala sobre o imbróglio envolvendo seu filme “O Outro Lado do Vento” - que estreou apenas em 2018 - e também cita outros projetos, como sua ideia de filmar a vida de Cristo como um faroeste, uma adaptação de “The Dreamers” de Dinesen e uma versão de Rei Lear, e também um roteiro original que ele escreveu e queria filmar intitulado “The Big Brass Ring”.

In an interview that opens the book, Welles talks about the imbroglio involving his movie “The Other Side of the Wind” - the movie was released only in 2018 - and also cites other projects, like his idea to film the life of the Christ as a western, an adaptation of Dinesen’s “The Dreamers” and a version of King Lear, and also an original screenplay he wrote and wanted to film titled “The Big Brass Ring”.

O livro traz muitas informações, e mesmo uma super fã de Welles como eu pode aprender muito com a leitura. Por exemplo: “Cidadão Kane” foi só a terceira opção de Welles para começar sua parceria com a RKO. A primeira opção era uma adaptação de “Heart of Darkness” de Joseph Conrad, que não pôde ser feita porque a atriz que Welles queria escalar, Dita Parlo, estava doente. A segunda opção se chamava “The Smiler with a Knife”, abandonada quando tanto Carole Lombard quanto Rosalind Russell recusaram o papel principal.

The book is very informative, and even a die-hard Welles admirer like me learned a lot from it. For example: “Citizen Kane” was only the third option Welles had to start his partnership with RKO. The first was an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” that couldn’t be made because the actress Welles wanted, Dita Parlo, was sick. The second option was called “The Smiler with a Knife”, abandoned when both Carole Lombard and Rosalind Russell turned down the lead role.

Eu também aprendi que em 1946 Welles produziu uma adaptação de “ A Volta ao Mundo em 80 Dias”, misturando teatro, cinema, balé e circo. Este foi o trabalho favorito de Welles no teatro, e podemos apenas imaginar como a adaptação da história para o cinema teria sido feita se Welles tivesse sido contratado para dirigi-la - eu certamente amaria esta versão!

I also learned that in 1946 Welles staged a production of “Around the World in 80 Days”, mixing theater, cinema, ballet and circus. This was Welles’ favorite work in the theater, and we can only imagine how the film adaptation of the story would have been if Welles was asked to direct it - I certainly would love this version!

Através da linha do tempo, podemos ver que Welles se manteve ocupado mesmo quando não estava em Hollywood. Ele teve diversos papéis em filmes europeus nas décadas de 40 e 50, e também trabalhou sem parar na televisão a partir dos anos 50.

Through the timeline we can see that Welles kept busy even when he wasn’t in Hollywood. He had several roles in European movies in the 40s and 50s, and also worked steadily for television starting in the 1950s.

Há também muitas frases sobre Welles, de biógrafos, cineastas, críticos de cinema, e também frases de Welles, sobre a vida em geral e sobre o cinema em particular. Sem análises profundas dos filmes, o livro é um bom primeiro passo para quem quer entrar na maravilhosa mente de Orson Welles.

There are also may quotes about Welles, from biographers, filmmakers, film critics, and also quotes by Welles, about life in general and filmmaking in particular. Without deep analysis of any of his films, the book is a fine first step for anyone who wants to enter Orson Welles’ wonderful mind.

This review is part of the 2021 Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge, hosted by Raquel at Out of the Past.

Book review: Miss D & Me, by Kathryn Sermak and Danelle Morton

Algumas vezes eu me pergunto como algumas estrelas do cinema clássico eram na vida pessoal. É fácil imaginar algumas estrelas e apontar quais eram tímidas e quais eram extrovertidas graças à persona cinematográfica que interpretavam. Outras eram um mistério para mim. Bette Davis era um destes mistérios. Ela geralmente interpretava mulheres fortes nas telas, e ao mesmo tempo podemos encontrar fotos fofas dela em momentos de descanso. Eu não conseguia imaginar se ela era forte e exigente em sua vida pessoal ou fofa e relaxada. Agora, graças ao incrível livro “Miss D & Me”, eu aprendi que Bette era, ao mesmo tempo, forte e doce.

Sometimes I wonder how some classic film stars were in their private lives. Some are easy to imagine, to pinpoint which were shy and which were outgoing thanks to their film persona. Some were a mystery to me. Bette Davis was one of those mysteries. She often portrayed strong leading ladies on screen, and at the same time there are sweet pictures of her in moments of rest. I couldn’t imagine if she was strong and exigent in her private life or sweet and laid back. Now, thanks to the amazing book “Miss D & Me”, I could learn that Bette was, at the same time, both strong and sweet.

“Miss D & Me” foi escrito por Kathryn Sermak, assistente pessoal de Bette Davis no final dos anos 70 e início dos anos 80. Kathryn também estava com Bette quando a estrela sofreu um derrame quase fatal em 1983, e era a única pessoa presente no quarto de hospital quando Bette faleceu em 1989. Mais do que uma funcionária, Kathryn se tornou uma amiga e uma confidente. Ela presenciou o que houve de bom e de ruim na vida de Bette Davis, e com todo o respeito dividiu essas memórias conosco.

“Miss D & Me” was written by Kathryn Sermak, Bette Davis’ personal assistant in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Kathryn was also with Bette when the star suffered a near fatal stroke in 1983, and was the only person present in the hospital room when Bette passed away in 1989. More than an employee, Kathryn became a friend and a confident. She saw the good, the bad and the ugly of Bette Davis’ life, and with all due respect shared those memories with us.

 

Bette and Kathryn

A memória de Kathryn é admirável. Mesmo tendo ela escrito que anotava o que acontecia em seus dias com Bette, sua atenção ao detalhe e habilidade de se lembrar de pequenas coisas me impressionou. Estes detalhes foram o que mais me interessaram e surpreenderam – como o fato de Bette Davis sempre rearrumar a mobília em quartos de hotel e adicionar fotos e pequenos objetos decorativos trazidos de casa para que o local tivesse ares de lar.

Kathryn’s memory is admirable. Even though she says she kept notes of her days working with Bette, her attention to detail and ability to remember little things that happened decades ago impressed me. Those details also were what interested and amazed me the most – like how Bette Davis used to rearrange the furniture in hotel rooms and add photos and knickknacks she would bring from her house to make the place feel like home.

Eu pude ter perspectivas diferentes de Bette Davis durante a leitura. Eu imagino, agora, que ela era muito desconfiada e insegura, pois proibiu Kathryn de conversar com qualquer pessoa “abaixo dela” no set de filmagem e também com empregados como a faxineira ou o motorista, com medo de que aquelas pessoas fizessem perguntas sobre ela e vendessem informações para tabloides. Ela certamente fez isso por causa de experiências desagradáveis no passado. Ela aprendeu com o tempo a não confiar em ninguém quando se é estrela de cinema.

I got to have different perceptions of Bette Davis through the book. I imagine, now, that she was very suspicious and insecure, as she forbade Kathryn from talking to anything “lesser than her” on set, and also to household people such as the maid or the driver, afraid that those people were asking about her and collecting info to sell to tabloids. She certainly did this because of previous bad experiences. She learned with time to not trust anyone if you’re a film star.

Kathryn descreve Bette como perfeccionista. Kathryn teve de ser humilde e aprender com os erros nos seus primeiros anos com Bette, e aceitar muitas críticas. Bette decidiu moldá-la assim como ela havia sido moldada pela Warner Brothers quando ela chegou a Hollywood. Bette mudou o nome de Kathryn (era originalmente Catherine), seu estilo, seu cabelo e em especial suas maneiras. Era algo frustrante para Kathryn em muitas ocasiões, mas ela escreve que é muito grata até hoje pelas lições.

Kathryn describes Bette as a perfectionist. Kathryn had to be meek and learn through mistakes in his first years with Bette, and accept a lot of criticism. Bette decided to shape her just as she had been shaped by Warner Brothers when she arrived in Hollywood. Bette changed Kathryn’s name (it was originally Catherine), her wardrobe, her hair and in special her manners. It was frustrating to Kathryn in many occasions, but she writes about how grateful she is until today for the lessons.

Em 1983, Bette Davis fez uma mastectomia e mais tarde teve um derrame que quase a matou. Durante sua recuperação, tanto no hospital quanto fora dele, Kathryn está ao lado dela, usando tudo o que havia aprendido para cuidar da melhor maneira possível da querida Miss D. Aliás, “Miss D” é como ela se referia a Bette, um apelido bonitinho que ambas escolheram quando Bette aconselhou Kathryn a mudar de nome.

In 1983, Bette Davis underwent a mastectomy and later had a stroke that nearly killed her. During her recovery, both in the hospital and out of it, Kathryn is by her side, using all she had learned to take the best care possible of her dear Miss D. By the way, “Miss D” was how she addressed Bette, a cute nickname they both agreed on when Bette advised Kathryn to change her name.

Você deve conhecer “Mamãezinha Querida”, o livro que a filha de Joan Crawford escreveu sobre Joan, mas a única filha biológica de Bette, Barbara ‘Bede’ (B.D.) Merrill, também escreveu um livro difamatório sobre a mãe. Como narrado por Kathryn, ela provavelmente decidiu escrever o livro após o derrame de Bette, quando os médicos deram apenas mais três semanas de vida para a estrela. Bette se recuperou, mas ficou de coração partido quando descobriu sobre o livro. Bede se tornou uma fanática religiosa, vendeu sua fazenda e se mudou com a família para as Bahamas sem contar nada para Bette, por isso o livro foi apenas a cereja do bolo de decepções. Embora Kathryn escreva que “Bede e Miss D claramente amavam uma à outra”, a ganância e a nova religião de Bede foram mais poderosas que o amor materno.

You must be aware of “Mommie Dearest”, the book Joan Crawford’s daughter wrote about Joan, but Bette’s only biological daughter, Barbara ‘Bede’  (B.D.) Merrill, also wrote a defamatory book about her mother. As narrated by Kathryn, she probably decided to write the book after Bette’s stroke, when doctors gave the film star only three weeks to live. Bette recovered, but was left broken-hearted when she was informed about the book. Bede had became a religious fanatic, sold her farm and moved with her family to the Bahamas without telling Bette, so the book was only the icing of the cake of Bette’s disappointment. Even though Kathryn writes that “Bede and Miss D clearly loved each other”, the greed and Bede’s new religion were more powerful than the motherly love.

Bette and Bede

Bette certamente amava sua família, e isso incluía seus dois filhos adotivos. Kathryn passa um capítulo narrando um feriado de Quatro de Julho particularmente difícil na casa de Bette, quando toda a família estava reunida. Perto de seus entes queridos, Bette era mais insegura e hesitante, como diz Kathryn: “Só se ela fosse perfeita ela se sentia digna do amor deles”.

Bette certainly loved her family, and that included her two adoptive children. Kathryn spends a chapter narrating a particularly difficult Fourth of July holiday on Bette’s house, when the whole family was reunited. Near her loved ones, Bette Davis was more insecure and hesitant, as Kathryn says: “Only if she was perfect would she feel worthy of their love.”

 

Bette's family

Não há muito sobre a carreira de Bette no livro, pois a partir de 1979 ela fez filmes para a TV e interpretou papéis menores no cinema. Eu gostaria de mais informações sobre estes trabalhos. Eu adoraria ler, por exemplo, sobre como foi a filmagem de “Direito de Morrer”, pois foi a única vez em que Bette trabalhou com James Stewart. Eu também gostaria de saber se Bette e Lillian Gish ficaram amigas durante as filmagens de “Baleias de Agosto”, o último filme de Bette.

There isn’t a lot about Bette’s work in the book, as in the period starting in 1979 she did films for TV or played minor roles in features. I missed more info on those gigs. I’d love to have read, for instance, how the shooting of “Right of Way” went, as it was the only time Bette worked with James Stewart. I also wanted to know if Bette and Lillian Gish were friendly towards each other during the shooting of “The Whales of August”, Bette’s last film.

Kathryn diz que Miss D e ela foram empregadora e funcionária, mentora e discípula, mãe e filha, até que se tornaram melhores amigas. O livro começa e tem seu clímax com uma viagem de carro que elas fizeram pela França em 1985. É uma pequena aventura, cuja crônica aquecerá seu coração. E, de fato, o livro “Miss D & Me” é de aquecer o coração.

Kathryn says that Miss D and she had been employer and employee, mentor and protégé, mother and daughter, until they became best friends. The book starts and climaxes with their road trip through France in 1985. It’s a little adventure, a heart-warming one to be read. Indeed, “heart-warming” is a great word to describe the book “Miss D & Me”.

I’d like to thank Raquel and Hachette Books for this book that I won in a giveaway. This post is part of Raquel’s Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge.