The only name that doesn't belong above is that of Orson Welles', for if Citizen Kane was not only his greatest movie but is still as fresh as the day that it opened, he had nothing to do with "The Shooting Script" which, along with takes from it, and notes by Gary Carey, constitute three quarters of this book. The first quarter (which appeared in The New Yorker as "Raising Kane") is Pauline Kael's interpretive essay on the movies of the '30's, as honestly antiarty as she is, and on this 'shallow' but great masterpiece which appeared before this country began to "hate itself." Mankiewicz, one of those fabulous originals long since forgotten, scripted it in plaster casts (he drank as well as gambled compulsively) and Miss Kael's piece if nothing else is restitutive and also recalls an era when leonine figures like Hearst and Welles (Mankiewicz on Welles: "There but for the grace of God goes God") towered above a simpler landscape. Miss Kael's piece is, expectably, spankingly entertaining as well as informative and the dual project will have its new-old appeal.
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1971
ISBN: 0413582906
Page Count: 314
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 5, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1971
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
