The Devil's Candy: The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco

by Julie Salamon Narrated by Julie Salamon

Overview

When Brian De Palma agreed to allow Julie Salamon unlimited access to the film production of Tom Wolfe's bestselling book The Bonfire of the Vanities, both director and journalist must have felt like they were on to something big. How could it lose? But instead Salamon got a front-row seat at the Hollywood disaster of the decade. She shadowed the film from its early stages through the last of the eviscerating reviews, and met everyone from the actors to the technicians to the studio executives. They'd all signed on for a blockbuster, but there was a sense of impending doom from the start-heart-of-gold characters replaced Wolfe's satiric creations; affable Tom Hanks was cast as the patrician heel; Melanie Griffith appeared mid-shoot with new, bigger breasts. With a keen eye and ear, Salamon shows us how the best of intentions turned into a legendary Hollywood debacle.



The Devil's Candy joins John Gregory Dunne's The Studio, Steven Bach's Final Cut, and William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade as a classic for anyone interested in the workings of Hollywood.

Editorial Reviews

JULY 2021 - AudioFile

Journalist Julie Salamon wrote and narrates this account of the making of the 1990 film BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES. Director Brian De Palma granted her unlimited access to the entire film production of Tom Wolfe’s novel. Salamon’s vocal pitch and a degree of nasality detract from what is otherwise a carefully enunciated workmanlike narration. While anticipated to be a blockbuster, the film was a mega-flop—even the participation of Tom Hanks and Melanie Griffith, among many others, could not save the film. Nonetheless, listeners who have an interest in every action, reaction, international excursion, and scene setup from a big studio will likely enjoy what is primarily a cataloguing effort. “The Devil’s Candy” was the original name a Warner Brothers executive assigned the film project. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176236491
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	06/15/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

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