(An Open Book) [By: Huston, John] [Mar, 1994]

by John Huston

This book is alive with John Houston's his boldness and daring, his candor and style, and the spontaneity with which he followed his dreams to their ultimate the well-deserved acclaim of a world enchanted by his work.

Genres: Biography, Film, Nonfiction, Media Tie In, Memoir, Autobiography, Biography Memoir

Paperback

First published September 12, 1980

About the author

John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hu...


Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched John Huston's film of Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood last night. There was also an Bill Moyers interview with John Huston as a special feature. It got me thinking about this wonderful autobiography and how I wish I still had a copy of it. Huston was the kind of man that did almost everything well and even the things he couldn't do well he did with the ultimate enthusiasm. Reading this book was a joy that I still remember fondly. Huston speaks with sometimes brutal honesty about his successes, his failures, his marriages, his love for all animals except parrots ("The parrot is the devil's pet") and many other things. I got the sense of a man who rarely looked back with regret and who lived the enviable full life. Two of the most entertaining stories he tell is how he designed his own house then showed it off to Frank Lloyd Wright (Mr. Wright was not impressed) and how he ended up in a two hour brawl with Erroll Flynn (It was a draw. They both checked into the hospital the next day). The best autobiography I ever read.

[Lee Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable reminiscences from larger-than-life, old school manly man director Huston. They don’t make swagger like this anymore. If you find the whole multiple wives, big game hunting, living in an Irish castle thing appealing, check it out.

Notably absent: any mention of Chinatown. I guess when the director of your most famous acting role rapes a teenager in your daughter’s boyfriend’s (who is also your costar) house, you give it a wide berth?

[George Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

who still gaf about JOHN HUSTON in 2025….?
Awesome read, Huston was the goat and coolest dude ever. Particularly enjoyed his relating of Truman Capote beating Bogie in a fight on the set of Beat the Devil, the movie which he claims “invented camp.” Best life in showbiz ever.

[Tom Stamper · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Huston was one of those rare Hollywood directors that was not forced into retirement. Guys like William Wyler, Billy Wilder, John Ford, Howard Hawks, and Frank Capra spent the final years trying and failing to get new projects off the ground or giving up entirely. Huston directed his last film, The Dead, despite dying of emphysema little by little each day on the set. His ending was due to life of adventure recounted in this book 6 years before his death.

The son of a famous actor, Walter Huston, and father of a famous actress, Anjelica Huston, got into Hollywood as a screenwriter. He later became a director. And somewhere in his life he became an accidental actor playing one of the great villains of all-time in Chinatown. The resonance of his voice and the odd cadence made him one unforgettable. He easily could have made his living as a voice actor. I don't think he even recorded an audio version of this book which is a great loss.

The first movie he directed, The Maltese Falcon, was arguably his best and most important. It's the movie that made Humphrey Bogart an undisputed star. He also gave Bogart two more of his most important roles in Treasure of the Sierra Madre and African Queen. One of my favorite stories here is his scheme to pair Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart in The Man Who Would Be King, a plan ruined by Bogart's death from cancer. What a joy it would have been to see those two guys together on the screen. It would take him 20 more years to find Sean Connery and Michael Caine to finally make the dream a reality.

Huston career was marked with ups and downs, but with enough hits here and there to keep his career viable. But so much of the book is his youthful adventures in the Mexican Cavalry or fighting Errol Flynn over the charms of Olivia DeHavilland or his wasting a fortune racing horses.

And it cannot be forgotten that he spent World War II in uniform making documentaries for the war department that hold up today as both history and arguable art. The Battle of San Pietro, although largely staged after the fact is powerful. And his film Let Their Be Light about the mental health ailments of many combat veterans was a first of its kind.

By most accounts John Huston wasn't always a pleasure to know, but he sure is a pleasure to read about.

[Will Lashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am an admirer of John Huston's films, both as a director and as an actor. His biography exudes manly brio and a love of life as one would imagine, but there is not really all that much insight into his films. He took sort of a craftsman's approach to his work and doesn't really talk much about the films in a structural way, mostly getting caught up in the personalities he was working with rather than specific problem solving. In that sense this is a standard "show biz bio", but his anecdotes are a cut above gossip and his intelligence and enthusiasm always shine through.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Huston was made of the stuff of heroes.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well-written memoir by one of the best American movie directors of the 20th century. Huston started as a writer and it certainly shows in this book. His descriptions of his experiences filming in World War 2, his feelings about the McCarthy era, and his experiences with animals are particularly eloquent. The one disappointment for me is that Huston does not write much about many of his movies (thank goodness for the exception of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The African Queen), and virtually nothing about his roles as an actor. In fact, I wish he had written a second book just about his movies.

Some things Huston did and wrote about, in particular his big-game hunting and his love of fox hunting (in Ireland) do not sit well in the 21st century, but once again the author was the embodiment of his times.

[Pablo]

Es divertido porque varios episodios de este libro, títulado An open book y un poquito simplificado al traducirlo por un genérico Memorias al español, aparecían ya en el libro de memorias de Peter Viertel y no por consabido, es menos interesante el espectáculo de temperamentos o puntos de vista.

Diré que el último tercio del libro es menos interesante. Pero esto no significa que sea flojito, ni siquiera regulero, sino que la magnitud de los dos primeros tercios es de una altura suficiente que parece justo, no ya piadoso, que Huston pierda un poco el pulso de una empresa tan titánica.

Fue escrito en 1980, con lo que Huston no sabe que le queda aún cine, y le queda aún una obra maestra, acaso su obra maestra entre obras maestras, llamada Dubliners, pero Joyce aparece citado a la mínima como un acontecimiento significativo en su vida, en sus afanes, en sus lecturas. Leyendo la vida de Huston uno se siente tentado a acudir a generalizaciones y a decir que ya no quedan personas como él (con su pulsión literaria, su espíritu aventurero y su viril generosidad), pero también es prudente pensar que ese sentimiento puede formar parte de lo atractivo de cualquier mitología (y no digamos ya, de cualquier construcción épica de un mito personal).

El libro da razones fundadas a quienes pensamos en Huston como un escritor. Tiene unas escenas maravillosas. Todas las evocaciones de su padre, Walter Huston, que soñó con recitar a Shakespeare, se cuentan entre las cosas más inspiradoras que uno puedo leer.

Se dedica menos tiempo del esperado a Fat City, pero se habla de ella con exactitud, como si Huston fuera consciente de la distancia. Lamento, eso sí, que preste tan poca atención a El juez de la horca, pero en ese capítulo se las apaña para ofrecer un resumen accesible de los cambios de financiación de Hollywood (o de lo que sea que hubiera). Está bastante claro que fue El hombre que pudo reinar el proyecto que más quiso.

Hay una evocación generosa de Marilyn Monroe, sin morbo y con un afecto deslumbrante, y una cierta letanía por los desmanes de los años cincuenta, donde Huston fue tozudo y no siempre terminó como quería sus proyectos. Todo eso, ya digo, me parece bien, y me sorprende también que Huston deteste con tanta vehemencia The unforgiven, aunque parece sentirse culpable por el accidente de Audrey Hepburn, así que tiene mucho sentido.

El periplo del joven Huston por los grandes estudios, su memoria de la horripilante caza de Brujas o su autocrítica feroz completan el asunto. Creo que es un libro emocionante, enormemente recomendable. Me gusta mucho como autorretrato de un artista.

Al final del libro, Huston dice que nunca fue, en el sentido de un Ingmar Bergman o un Fellini, para quienes vida pública y vida privada eran una misma cosa. Que siempre estuvo ocupado en otras. Me gusta esta declaración, no solo como taxonomía sino más bien como poética personal. Las mejores películas de Huston no son las películas naturales de un Hawks, Cukor, Ford, ni siquiera las de un Wellman.

Las mejores películas de Huston son testarudas, como su personalidad. Hay una generosidad extrema de Welles, deshaciendo entuertos de una película (o una resurrección) que ya hemos, The other side of the wind.

Es un libro muy emocionante, vamos.

[Maria Azpiroz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maravillosa autobiografía que no puedo recordar qué escritor la recomendó en uno de sus libros o entrevistas, tengo idea que en Paris Review pero no recuerdo quién!. Huston tuvo una vida envidiable, llena de experiencias porque no era solamente un realizador; tenía un millón de hobbies; la actuación, la lectura, la caza, los caballos, las piezas precolombinas, etc. Logra que quieras aprender sobre todos los temas, incluso sobre aquellos que no te interesan en lo más mínimo. Curiosamente, cuenta muy poco sobre su vida privada, sobre sus mujeres y sus hijos pero no se echa en falta porque lo compensa las profundas reflexiones sobre temas importantes de la vida y la colección de extraordinarias anécdotas. Personalmente, me encantó la descripción de su mansión y la vida en St Clerans, Irlanda y me dio muchas ganas de leer la autobiografía de Angelica Huston que también es muy famosa, para tener su perspectiva. También me anoté varias películas para ver. Entretenidísimo.

[Anna JR]

Excelente.

[Bill Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this affable account of a great director's life, Huston takes us from his childhood as the son of a great actor through the making of Wise Blood. His tone is self-effacing, entertaining, and exciting, especially in the chapters about his filmmaking during the second world war. What really comes across here is how much the world has changed in 100 years. Since Huston shot mostly on location, his work in Africa, Mexico, and the Middle East caught the twilight of many cultures that are almost completely gone today. The other thing that stands out here is how much Hollywood's top talent comprised a kind of royalty during the movies' golden age. The chapters devoted to Huston's life in Ireland, even with his humble narrative, create a sense of an near-feudal lifestyle, only slightly more real than the movies. I'm also working my way through Huston's directorial oeuvre, although I've seen his best films many times, and the book is, most of all, a valuable guide to the thought processes and missteps behind the scenes of masterpieces that are both flawed and sublime, sometimes simultaneously.

[Spiros · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sprawling, epic account of a sprawling, epic life: of course it's very well written, because John Huston was a very good writer (at least, according to H.L. Mencken). He is effusive in his praise of just about everybody he worked with, and even has good things to say about John Wayne, who had his film The Barbarian and the Geisha recut behind Huston's back (Huston didn't consider the film a great loss, in any event). I hadn't realized that Patrick Leigh Fermor wrote the screenplay for Roots of Heaven; and despite the fact that, by Huston's admission, the screenplay wasn't very good, what I wouldn't have given to be in the same room when those two got together.
There is just so much to fit in, he never even mentions his involvement in the fiasco that was Casino Royale, which would have made for entertaining reading but would probably have led to some of the badmouthing which he seemed eager to avoid; and it would have been fascinating to have his take on Under the Volcano, Prizzi's Honor, and The Dead, all of which were made after this book was written. And I'm still waiting for Brian Cox to play him in some film project.

[Mike Lambert · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Huston was an amazing film director. His films are for the most part wonderful adventures. HE, Mr John Huston, was no doubt an extremely intelligent and colorful character. But dear god, enough of the stupid macho posturing. I've read this absorbing book a couple of times over the years but it really seems to jarr now in 2019. I know, it was all 'of the time' and that's how 'a real man behaved' etc but it all seems so pointless nowadays. Anyway, THAT aside, his accounts of The Way Things Were are really quite marvelous. I wish though that we got a little more than a couple of paragraphs on Key Largo and less of the four pages of racetrack shenanigans that followed. The thing is though, they don't make movies like his anymore. They don't make John Hustons anymore. But let's put the guns down, JH. And don't feel that you have to compensate for 'pansy' life in Hollywood would be my advice.

[Sinan Öner]

Amerikalı Yönetmen John Huston'un "özyaşamöyküsü" kitabı yıllar önce Türkçe'de yayınlanmıştı! "Açık Bir Kitap"ta, John Huston, sinema dünyasını anlatıyor, Hollywood'u 20. Yüzyıl boyunca öykülüyor. John Huston'un dünyanın tüm ülkelerinde gösterilen filmleri ile ilgili notları var "Açık Bir Kitap" kitabında, çalıştığı sinemacılarla ilgili hatıraları var. John Huston, Amerika'yı en iyi sinemalaştıran Yönetmenlerden biri olarak yazıyor kitabını. John Huston'un sinema çabaları çok yönlü yeteneklerini kanıtlıyor, kitabında çok yönlü yetenekleri ile Hollywood'da yaptıklarını özetliyor John Huston. John Huston, Hollywood'u tüm dünyaya yaymış bir Yönetmen, bu başarısının öykülerini yazıyor "Açık Bir Kitap" kitabında, sinema tarihi ile ilgili çok değerli bir kitap John Huston'un kitabı!

[Sinan Öner]

The Great American Director John Huston's "An Open Book" is his "autobiography", "An Open Book" is very important, very useful book about Hollywood history in the 20. Century. John Huston writes his book about his experiences, his works, and his impressions during his Cinema life in Hollywood. In John Huston's book, we can see a lot of notes about Hollywood's producers, directors, actors, actresses, scriptwriters, all the people who work in Hollywood in Cinema productions. John Huston was one of the greatest directors of Hollywood whose films were showed in all the world. John Huston writes his feelings, thoughts and questions when he works in Hollywood.

[Matt K · Rating 5 out of 5]

“For the better part of the last five years I have been living in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. When I first came here, almost thirty years ago, Vallarta was a fishing village of some two thousand souls. There was only one road to the outside world - and it was impassable during the rainy season. I arrived in a small plane, and we had to buzz the cattle off a field outside town before setting down. There was one taxi and one hotel, the Paraiso, which catered to sailors, muleteers and traveling salesmen. It was best to have a room on the top floor - the Paraiso had one toilet for each floor, and they all ran over.”

[Isidro Olives · Rating 5 out of 5]

De los libros de memorias que he leído, este me parece claramente y sin duda, de los más interesantes y entretenidos.

Además es una autobiografía, muy bien escrita, amena, llena de anécdotas y recuerdos jugosos, muchos de ellos relacionados con Hollywood, los actores, directores de los estudios, etc...

Sus recuerdos parecen sinceros y con una buena dosis de autocritica. Veo a John Huston creíble en su memoria y poco autocomplaciente.

Muy buen libro.

[Matthew Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book by master screen writer and director John Huston. Interesting stories about film making and some of the stars during the 1930s, 40s and right up into the late 1970s. He was pretty close to Bogie (Humphrey Bogart) and interesting stories about his own father, Walter Huston. Easy to read and he got to the point in telling his stories.

[Marta Martinsone · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, wonderful read filled with insane stories.
Of course, everything should be taken with a grain salt since Mr. Huston does like to make himself look better than he probably was.
However - I enjoyed it immensely and chapter 35 is a very concise how-to for filmmakers.

[Ana Libros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magníficas memorias de uno de los mejores directores del cine clasico de Hollywood, aunque fue escrita en los 70, la obra abarca gran parte de su carrera, del halcón maltés hasta los muertos, su mejor película fue su vida.

[Christopher Jones]

Exceptional memoir by an exceptional man.

[Jessica]

If I ever read this, send the cops for me. I might get some breed of hives due to Huston’s machismo and unbased takes on Monty Clift….

[Jennifer Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written book of a life full of wild adventures, experiences, and relationships.

[Sally Speight · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book twice. I didn't really know much of his work only through what his daughter has written. This is the perfect book for anyone with a love of cinema.

[Tim Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent -- a great director - writer - producer. Very glad I read this account in the first person of world-class Director John Huston.

[Bookish]

I pulled John Huston’s memoir An Open Book off the shelf at a rental condo and I’m loving it. What a life! Five marriages, dozens of films, friendships with Hollywood titans, working relationships with Ernest Hemingway and Carson McCullers, 15 years spent in Ireland, and more. He taught himself to act, write, paint, and direct. The book is rollicking so far, as befitting his adventure-filled years, with a voice that comes across as that of a force of nature who taught himself, through practice and discipline, ways of channeling an overflowing creativity. —Phil (https://www.bookish.com/articles/what...)

[Hogfather · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this fantastic autobiography, raconteur and filmmaker John Huston tells us about his life, certainly one of the most interesting ever lived. It's a life full of privilege, as can be observed in Huston's expensive tastes and gilded age liberalism, but not confined by privilege. Huston's love of adventure leads to a number of interesting reminisces that make for a life worth listening to. Huston tells us of his young adulthood in California and Mexico, horseracing in Hollywood, foxhunting in Ireland, the shooting of his pictures in some of the most remote parts of the world, and a wide array of disparate characters and collaborators, like Clark Gable, Darryl F. Zanuck, Charlie Chaplin, Jean-Paul Sartre, Truman Capote, Marilyn Monroe, Tennessee Williams, Paul Newman, David O. Selznick, Otto Preminger, Errol Flynn, Ernest Hemingway, Humphrey Bogart, Orson Welles, and his father, Walter Huston. All of these people play roles in the story beyond mere mentions, and all of these stories are worth reading about, not for the fame of the people involved but for the sheer enormity of their personalities. Huston himself is one of the most important figures in film history, and one of the most entertaining. His skill as a writer ensures that this book should be read by anyone really, as he fills this memoir with stories of enormous interest and prose of enormous skill.

[Javier Roca · Rating 4 out of 5]

muy bueno. menuda vida

[M.R. Dowsing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-written book with lots of fascinating insights into the making of the director's films. For me, Huston is remarkable for two reasons: firstly, he was probably the best adaptor of literary works the cinema ever had, even managing to make impressive versions of books by authors such as Melville and Lowry; secondly, unlike many directors of his generation who became somewhat irrelevant in later years, Huston was still taking on adventurous projects such as "Fat City" and "Wise Blood", two low-budget films whose reputations have deservedly grown over the years. Huston himself comes across as a larger than life Hemingway-esque character. His passions for hunting, horses, practical jokes and acquiring expensive art left me cold and occasionally bored me, but by far the greater part of the book is entertaining, thoughtful and generous in spirit. There are valuable chapters on his experiences during WW2 and the McCarthy witch-hunts as well.

[John Millikin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not for the impatient. It drags at times, but there are moments of real brilliance and a sense of losing yourself in a bygone era, with characters that seem to live a little more boldly, bravely and quite likely selfishly (but this generation would never admit that last part). So it warrants four stars for film buffs (why else would you read about John Huston, if you’re not a film buff?!). It is insightful, the looking back after a life enjoyably lived, but from a later stage of life with much reduction from the glory days. Short review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, but felt a need to alternate it with others books intermittently.