Valentines & Vitriol

by Rex Reed

Stories about celebrities by Rex Reed

280 pages, Hardcover

First published April 18, 2013

About the author

Rex Taylor Reed is an American film critic and former co-host of the syndicated television show At the Movies. He currently writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for The New York Observer.

Reviews

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't expect much from this. I didn't even know who Rex Reed was. However, I enjoyed it immensely. The intelligent interviewer was witty and pithy, even incisive in exploring the interview subjects, films, etc. Covered here (generally late 70s) are:

* David Bowie while filming the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth. (Bowie want out of rock and permanently into cinema.)
* Elizabeth Taylor on the fraught filming of The Blue Bird (1976)
* Sophia Loren
* Pearl Bailey
* Jacqueline Susanne
* Bette Davis
* Carol Channing
* Two thirds of The Andrews Sister trying to chart a post-fame career
* Ginger Rogers
* Carroll Baker on the Andy Warhol-produced dark comedy Bad (1977)
* Geraldine Fitzgerald on the joys of belting out tunes roughly to small crowds
* Walter Matthau evincing an addiction to gambling on the horses
* Jeff Bridges embarking on his famous career
* Marvin Hamlisch as king of film scores
* Roy Schneider on the difficulties of filming Jaws

and many more!

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely could've done without that whole silly introductory thingie...all apparently intended to convey the notion that he really does Work For A Living ("Yeah Rexie, you're a regular coal miner"). Also the bit on Mabel Mercer grew pretty snobby and old-fartish ("Damn kids with all their newfangled dances--and sweating"); and indeed the "valentines" did tend to get a trifle unctuous at times. Enough interesting/compelling stuff though to keep the pages (even if they were electronic!) turning. And it's also funny how so many of these folks with such illustrious pasts say that they only live for the future. :)

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, I spent a lot of time googling further information on practically every person he interviewed. I really wish he had written more books. It would be really interesting to see what he would have to say about some of the contemporary 'stars'.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Life is too short to waste time being bored," Jacqueline Susann once told Rex Reed (which he recounts in his outstanding essay about her decade-long battle with cancer that ended Oct. 21, 1974 when she was 56). There not a boring profile in this book--Reed's fifth collection (following DO YOU SLEEP IN THE NUDE, CONVERSATIONS IN THE RAW, BIG SCREEN LITTLE SCREEN, PEOPLE ARE CRAZY HERE. This outstanding 1977 tome collects articles previously published in Ladies Home Journal and the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate.

This book is divided into four sections:

THE GODDESSES: Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, & Audrey Hepburn.

THE HEROES: Jacqueline Susann, Sylvia Syms, Hildegard Knef, Louise Fletcher, Pearl Bailey, George Burns, Melina Mercouri, Martin Ritt, and Lillian Hellman.

THE SURVIVORS: Bette Davis, Mabel Mercer, Carol Channing, The Andrew Sisters, Ginger Rogers, Dody Goodman, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Walter Matthau, Alexis Smith, & William Holden.

THE NEW BREED: Ellen Burstyn, James Coco, Robert Evans, Valerie Perrine, Glenda Jackson, JEff Bridges, Diane LAdd, Marvin Hamlish, Roy Scheider, Katharine Ross, Genevieve BujoldGiancarlo Giannini, Robert Redford, David Bowie and Madeline Kahn.

What a cast!

There's two 12-page sections of photos.

Another great selection of Hollywood profiles and interviews.