Nonfiction

Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

  • Downloads：2013
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2024-02-12 14:21:43
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Philip Gefter
  • ISBN：1635579627
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Amy ，

This is such a fun book about one of my favorite movies， Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf！ I love reading about Edward Albee， the play， and then the production of the movie。 I feel like I have a much better understanding of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton， and the drama involved in their personal lives， and how that drama was exhibited in their characters， Martha and George。 I also was intrigued with how Gefter related the story in the movie to all marriages， as well as all the other contempor This is such a fun book about one of my favorite movies， Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf！ I love reading about Edward Albee， the play， and then the production of the movie。 I feel like I have a much better understanding of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton， and the drama involved in their personal lives， and how that drama was exhibited in their characters， Martha and George。 I also was intrigued with how Gefter related the story in the movie to all marriages， as well as all the other contemporary marriage themed movies。Had I not seen this movie about a hundred times， I probably would not appreciate this book at all。 I did get a tad bogged down with some of the production details。Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Cocktails with George and Martha。 。。。more

Mark ，

When I first saw Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf on the big screen at the 2011 TCM Festival （with cinematographer Haskell Wexler introducing）， the greatness of this previously viewed movie was finally revealed to me。 The performances， writing， cinematography and direction came through in a way they never had on a small screen。 So， by all means see this movie if you haven't。 Once you have， you won't go wrong picking up this book， which although imperfect （more later）， provides tons of insight into When I first saw Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf on the big screen at the 2011 TCM Festival （with cinematographer Haskell Wexler introducing）， the greatness of this previously viewed movie was finally revealed to me。 The performances， writing， cinematography and direction came through in a way they never had on a small screen。 So， by all means see this movie if you haven't。 Once you have， you won't go wrong picking up this book， which although imperfect （more later）， provides tons of insight into the background behind， the making of， and the influential power of this landmark film。 All great movies seem inevitable， but this story shows just how contingent the process was on both wise and lucky decisions on the part of director Mike Nichols and producer/writer Ernest Lehman， who clashed continuously。My favorite part of the book is the first several chapters which describe the New York intellectual milieu in which the original Edward Albee play was created and received。 The bulk of the book then deals with the production history of the film。 The dominant figure is definitely the flamboyant Mike Nichols （I now need to read the Mark Harris biography） who even outshines Liz and Dick （at the height of their popularity/notoriety）。 But the dominant viewpoint is that of Ernest Lehman， largely because he kept comprehensive notes and dictaphone recordings throughout the process。 There's a nice balance between discussing the dishy interpersonal relations between giant egos， and the difficult artistic decisions （e。g。 filming in black and white， using Smith College as a location）。 One area that needed a little more amplification was exactly how the 3。5 hour play was transformed into a 130 minute movie。 We're told about the cutting， but nothing about what was cut。 Another odd choice was extended visual descriptions of several scenes in the movie， with no real explanation of why that scene was chosen， and no use of these descriptions to make a point （without those， why not just watch the movie）。The final pre-epilogue chapter is a short discussion of the movie's reception and its skillful navigation of the censorship regime。 I was particularly amused by the way Jacqueline Kennedy was used to soften the Catholic Legion of Decency。 But the way that Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf helped demolish the production code and give rise to the MPAA rating system was given short shrift。 Finally， there's an adequate but perhaps unnecessary epilogue discussing the movie's place in the history （both pre- and post- Virginia Woolf） movies about marriage。All in all， this is recommended for movie buffs and fans of either the play or the movie。 It's not as much of a knockout as Glenn Frankel's Shooting Midnight Cowboy， a book that I would even recommend to readers that may think they are uninterested in the topic。 But it's certainly a worthy addition to this particular genre of book （which I'm partial to）， the biography of a movie。Thanks to netgalley for providing an early copy of this title for review。 。。。more

Rhonda Lomazow ，

A delicious behind the scenes look at this iconic play & movie。Reading about Liz Taylor and Richard Burtons relationship and behavior on the set so much fun really enjoyed。#netgalley #bloomsbury

Carolyn Page ，

I have received an ARC via NetGalley。 This has not affected my voluntary review。 As a matter of whether or not this book lives up to its title， I have to admit it only really looks at two-thirds of the subtitle， and marriage tends to be left out in the cold。 Considering how the author and Albee appear to feel about it， can you blame them？ Albee was a gay man with contentious， cold parents。 No wonder he had a low opinion of marriage。 However， it doesn't follow that all of American couples were hy I have received an ARC via NetGalley。 This has not affected my voluntary review。 As a matter of whether or not this book lives up to its title， I have to admit it only really looks at two-thirds of the subtitle， and marriage tends to be left out in the cold。 Considering how the author and Albee appear to feel about it， can you blame them？ Albee was a gay man with contentious， cold parents。 No wonder he had a low opinion of marriage。 However， it doesn't follow that all of American couples were hypocritical if they looked happy， which seems to be the argument of the author。 I'll agree the 1950s happy-clappy propaganda was overly optimistic about everybody's mental state， but I hardly think that the average American heterosexual couple was cruel， alcoholic and promiscuous; or even deeply unhappy。 That being said， the movie-making descriptions and behind-the-scenes drama have more-than fulfilled the promise of cocktails with George and Martha， or Dick and Liz。 I didn't particularly care for the play， or the movie， but reading this book made me want to check them both out again。 I think that means the author did a fairly fine job。 。。。more

Kasa Cotugno ，

At first I thought this would be interesting， but the material is familiar， nothing new to report for those of us who have clear memories of the events as they unfolded and were reported in the press and in other biographies。