With Love, Mommie Dearest
eBook - ePub

With Love, Mommie Dearest

The Making of an Unintentional Camp Classic

  1. 272 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

With Love, Mommie Dearest

The Making of an Unintentional Camp Classic

About this book

When she died in 1977, Joan Crawford was remembered as an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age—until publication the following year of her daughter's memoir, Mommie Dearest.
Christina Crawford's book was an immediate bestseller, combining the infrequently discussed topic of child abuse with the draw of Hollywood drama.
But when Paramount Pictures released the film version, starring Faye Dunaway as Crawford, it was panned, and it remains one of the most legendary critical bombs in film history. The lavish, big-screen adaptation drew unexpected laughter for its over the top the scenes depicting life in the Crawford household. Rarely have such good intentions been met with such ridicule.
Despite this, the movie was a commercial success and remains, four decades later, immensely popular as an unintentional camp classic. Based on new interviews with people connected to the book and the film—from cast and crew members to industry insiders— With Love, Mommie Dearest details the writing and selling of Christina's book and the aftermath of its publication, as well as the filming of the motion picture, whose backstage drama almost surpassed what was viewed on-screen in the film.
Hollywood historian A. Ashley Hoff explores the phenomenon, the camp, and the very real social issues addressed by the book and film.

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Yes, you can access With Love, Mommie Dearest by A. Ashley Hoff,Bruce Vilanch in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Media & Performing Arts & Film Direction & Production. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Foreword by Bruce Vilanch
  7. Prologue
  8. 1. “Because I Am Not One of Your Fans!”
  9. 2. “Tina! Bring Me the Axe!”
  10. 3. Too Many Cooks
  11. 4. Feud
  12. 5. The Director’s Eye
  13. 6. We Got Annie
  14. 7. Enter Faye Dunaway
  15. 8. The Illusion of Perfection
  16. 9. This Mysterious Truth
  17. 10. A Bucket of Ice
  18. 11. The Ice Follies of 1939
  19. 12. Carol Ann
  20. 13. The End of Hollywood’s Golden Age
  21. 14. “Aces Beat Kings”
  22. 15. “We’re Ready for You, Miss Crawford”
  23. 16. “I’m Mad at the Dirt”
  24. 17. “I Can Handle the Socks”
  25. 18. An Unsuitable Candidate
  26. 19. “Dammit! Perino’s Is My Place!”
  27. 20. “She Can Make You Disappear”
  28. 21. The Three Faces of Christina
  29. 22. Mara Hobel
  30. 23. The Happiest Life a Girl Could Ever Dream
  31. 24. Christopher
  32. 25. “I Will Always Beat You”
  33. 26. “Life and Death to Me”
  34. 27. “No Wire Hangers Ever!”
  35. 28. A Christmas Visit with the Crawfords
  36. 29. Uncle Charlie and Uncle Ted
  37. 30. “I Don’t Ask Much from You, Girl!”
  38. 31. Mildred Pierce
  39. 32. “Barbara, Please!”
  40. 33. “That Bitch of a Bearing Wall”
  41. 34. “First Time at the Rodeo”
  42. 35. The Secret Storm
  43. 36. A Director for Hire
  44. 37. “For Reasons Which Are Well Known to Them”
  45. 38. Cut. That’s a Wrap
  46. 39. Mayhem and Music
  47. 40. The Biggest Mother of Them All
  48. 41. “Box Office Poison”
  49. 42. Mother’s Day
  50. 43. Joan Crawford Has Risen from the Dead!
  51. 44. The Last Word
  52. Acknowledgments
  53. Notes
  54. Original Interviews