Reynolds' second memoir. Covers her dud third marriage, adventures with Carrie, later films like Mother, construction of her hotel and casino. A lot of the financial misadventures make grim reading. I kept thinking "just invest in basic real estate and shares, Debbie. Stop trying to make a museum and hotels!"
It also goes film by film through her career with various anecdotes so the films get plenty of attention. Great anecdotes: Marjorie Main carried around an urn of her dead husband's ashes to talk to him; on Give a Girl a Break Stanley Donen had a man crush on Bob Fosse and a big fight with Gower Champion; she was taken off The Actress (they should've used her); Bundle of Joy was hard to film due to Eddie Fisher's insecurity making him cranky and Norman Taurog's memory loss; on Tammy Leslie Nielsen was a method diva and Walter Brennan full of tricks to steal scenes (like always turn your face three quarters in a two hander to get more exposure; Tony Randall (The Mating Game) had an enormous member; Richard Brooks bullied slapped Reynolds making The Catered Affair (which she otherwise liked... I think Brooks was a real bully); Glenn Ford actively chased Reynolds around a room (they became friends but Debbie... that's attempted assault); the budget of Molly Brown was cut during filming to pay for Zhivago but intense rehearsal meant they saved a dance number; Tony Curtis spread an Eddie Fisher rumour that Reynolds was a lesbian and lousy lay (and she's defensive about her love making abilities); the one time she was tempted to bang a co star was Maurice Ronet on How Sweet It Is; James Garner brought a vibrator as a joke into a bed scene with Reynolds; as an uncredited producer on Whatever Happened to Helen she was going to sack Shelley Winters for lack of professionalism and replace her with Geraldine Page but decided it would cost too much; Dennis Weaver is a great kisser up there with Frank Sinatra; Sean Patrick Flannery refused to rehearse.
Fun book.
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