Life Is a Banquet
by Rosalind Russell
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rosalind RussellEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1977-10
ISBN: 0394421345
Number of pages: 260
Publisher: Random House Inc (T)
Book Reviews of Life Is a Banquet
Book Review: For Diehard Fans Only
Summary: 3 Stars
This is not the behind-the-scenes tell-all one would expect from a Hollywood star. Instead it's a tame memoir that covers most of Russell's famous movies in just a couple sentences each. It certainly is told in her blunt "voice," but she reveals little about who she is, the people she worked with or the roles she made famous.
Diehard fans will love it simply because she wrote it. Published after she died, the book comes across as too reverential. She doesn't talk about any wild love affairs or even many on-set adventures. It's just kind of a boring life story. (Her husband's preface is actually more informative than the entire rest of the book!)
There are a few things she likes to talk about, in particular her friendship with Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant. The only chapter written with much enthusiasm is about her 25th wedding anniversary party given by Sinatra in Vegas. But she then talks about how much she and her husband are apart--and how they allow a man who has been in love with her for decades to move into their house while the husband is gone. Few other personal details other than saying she and her husband fought a lot.
She also takes a lot of credit for Auntie Mame. It's hard to say if she's being honest about how much input she had into all aspects of the original stage production, but she acts as if she almost single-handedly made a variety of decisions that turned it into a hit.
Her lack of movie-making stories is truly disappointing. She should have some really interesting stories of working with famous directors and stars--but she barely even mentions some of her works. My favorite is The Trouble With Angels, which she dismisses as "the nun movie" and only devotes a couple sentences to it even though she devoted two years of her life to the film and its sequel! The same with Gypsy, His Girl Friday and others--she gives glib, terse observations and then moves on. She either doesn't recall stories or is hiding something. Either way, this book falls far short of her definitive life story.
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