Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince wrote this 2018 book about mother and daughter Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher who both passed away in December of 2016. I read the book because my husband did. We generally try to read books together and talk about them. This year, we read Debbie Reynolds' UNSINKABLE: A MEMOIR and MAKE 'EM LAUGH: SHORT-TERM MEMORIES OF LONGTIME FRIENDS and Sheila Weller's CARRIE FISHER: A LIFE ON THE EDGE.
And? Debbie (and co-writer Dorian Hannaway on both books) wrote in an entertaining manner but the books were sleight. Sheila Weller's fan girl book was an embarrassment.
Debbie Reynolds was an Academy Award nominated actress, a Tony nominated one and an Emmy nominated one. Her classic films include SINGING IN THE RAIN, MOTHER, IN AND OUT, TAMMY AND THE BACHELOR (the film's theme "Tammy" also provided Debbie with a number one hit on BILLBOARD's pop chart), THE CATERED AFFAIR with Bette Davis, GOODBYE CHARLIE, THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, THE GAZEBO, THE SINGING NUN, ONE FOR THE MONEY and the TV movie THESE OLD BROADS. Her daughter Carrie Fisher is known for the STAR WARS films, the comedy classic WHEN HARRY MET SALLY . . . , SHAMPOO and HANNAH & HER SISTERS. She was also a writer with a string of strong books including POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE and THE BEST AWFUL and she wrote the screenplays for the film of POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE and THESE OLD BROADS as well as being a script doctor on many other films. She was also the voice of Peter's boss Angela on 25 episodes of FAMILY GUY.
Porter and Prince's book is a strong one and it restores some order in that you get Debbie Reynolds was a film star and not just a celebrity who was famous because her then-husband Eddie Fisher left her (and daughter Carrie and son Todd) for Elizabeth Taylor.
She made a lot of films -- many of which were hits. Not all were good as she herself noted. MGM, for example, didn't really care for her. When Dore Schary took over after ousting Louis B. Mayer, she was contracted to a studio whose boss made no effort to hide that he hated her. The only reason she was kept on at that point was because she was so popular with film audiences and MGM could make a small fortune by loaning her out to other studios.
And it was a small fortune. She was a big star but when she married Eddie Fisher, MGM was only paying her a little less than $500 a week -- that was three years after SINGING IN THE RAIN. But she was under contract and they could pay her peanuts and turn around and loan her out to RKO and pocket about $40,000 dollars since they would demand that other studios pay her actual value to have her on loan. (MGM would continue paying the less than $500 a week and pocket the thousands extra.)
She didn't like Dore Shary and you can't blame her. (He wasn't very likable for many.) She also didn't care for Richard Brooks who didn't want her in THE CATERED AFFAIR and who, she shared, slapped her across the fact after one take during THE CATERED AFFAIR when he realized Debbie still had on her actual wedding ring. She had to be strong to survive that and so much more.
She fought for roles. She had a very productive 60s film career post-MGM. Then she had THE DEBBIE REYNOLDS SHOW on NBC -- a success that got cancelled because she refused to go along with cigarette advertising during her show. That left her pretty much banned from TV. But she goes on to Broadway. And she has her own cabaret and club act.
No roadblock ever stopped Debbie Reynolds, she just turned a corner and took off on another road.
I really appreciated her and her accomplishments after reading this book.
And it will make you wonder about parents and children. Debbie was a survivor. Carrie was a basket case.
Who didn't want to her mother. Ever.
Her most convincing performance on screen is in SHAMPOO -- espcially when she's arguing with Warren Beatty and insisting, "I'm nothing like my mother!"
I don't really see the heroic on Carrie. THE BEST AWFUL is a great book. But when you think about the story it tells and when you grasp that it was always autobiographical when it came to Carrie's novels, that's not a hero. That's a mother whose addictions, disease and other things aren't really heroic.
Carrie was also a bit of a star f**ker. She was a little too devoted, for example, to Elizabeth Taylor.
While Debbie appeared to have forgiven her and moved along with life, there's really no reason for Carrie to want so badly to be close to the woman her father left the family for.
Or Michael Jackson. That's just creepy. She came off like a real star f**king bitch in SHOCKAHOLIC -- a transcript pretending to be some form of a book. Yes, Carrie, the boys are the liars. Yes, Carrie, the dentist was the big problem. She was just a star f**ker and you can understand why Penny Marshall had stepped away from her.
As Princess Lea, her big claim to fame, she delivered a so-so performance that wasn't all that. Her friendship with Meryl Streep was largely two mean women bonding over the women they hated.
Debbie had an amazing live and CARRIE FISHER & DEBBIE REYNOLDS: PRINCESS LEIA & UNSINKABLE TAMMY IN HELL makes that clear while noting that drug odyssey Carrie got herself lost on and that's apparently supposed to excuse her acting career.
