A fascinating survey of the career of one of Hollywood's great mavericks. Andre de Toth expounds on his film-making career. The cast of characters includes his former wife Veronica Lake, along with a host of Hollywood's greatest, late and present. De Toth talks about his work on "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Superman", as well as how a one-eyed director could make the 3-D masterpiece, "House of Wax". 27 photographs.
de Toth on de Toth (Directors on Directors)
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Though this is a transcript of conversations between filmmaker Andre de Toth and interviewer Anthony Slide, de Toth consistently addresses his remarks to an invisible listener whom he calls "Herr Future Director." De Toth seems to think that the only people interested in his remarks are those who wish to become filmmakers. But the dialogues here will fascinate anyone curious about Hollywood in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s; the producers who ran it; and the directors who struggled to realize their visions on screen. Part of the fun of this interview is watching de Toth sneak around Slide's questions, jumping from them to the topics he wishes to discuss, the counsel he wishes to dispense. Though he begins by saying he does not know the secret of being a film director, it becomes clear in the reading that de Toth believes good directors must have a strong sense of personal integrity as well as humble insight into their limitations. Evasive and cantankerous as de Toth so often appears, his fiercely independent and curiously charming personality jumps right off the pages of this enjoyable book.
About the Author
Anthony Slide is the author or editor of more than 50 volumes on the history of popular entertainment, including The Films of D.W. Griffith, The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville and Lois Weber: The Director Who Lost her Way in History. The former resident film historian of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he is also the editor of the Film-makers series published by Scarecrow Press.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Setting the Record Straight,
By Daniel Symmes (Hollywood) - See all my reviews
This review is from: De Toth on De Toth: Putting the Drama in Front of the Camera (Directors on Directors) (Paperback)
A READER from New York DIDN'T read.First I suggest reading Andre de Toth's amazing autobiography, FRAGMENTS - Portraits from the Inside (Faber and Faber, 1994). Having known de Toth since 1972, I can certify that he had a great deal of respect for the book's interviewer/editor Anthony Slide, or he wouldn't have given him his most prized possession, time. Slide did his homework and spent enough time with de Toth to cover de Toth's films in detail. This was an amazing achievement since de Toth rarely wanted to discuss past, being a "now" and "future" man. The "Herr future director" references throughout were to the READER, the aspiring director to whom the book was largely aimed. When one reads BOTH books, one gets a huge impression of this amazing man's life, and the world as he experienced it. My only dissatisfaction with both books is the relative paucity of photos. De Toth was a director of IMAGES, and there aren't enough. Otherwise, between these books, you'll have an experience few film-maker books have ever delivered.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Andre DeToth Takes No Prisoners - A fun read for everyone,
By Leeny "Beany" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: De Toth on De Toth: Putting the Drama in Front of the Camera (Directors on Directors) (Paperback)
Even if you aren't an aspiring director - or in the movie industry - this is a fun read. Interview format books can be tedious and boring, but not this one. De Toth was one of the greats in his profession, though not as famous as some of his lesser talented peers. He has stuff he wants to get off his chest - about himself and others - and he's not worried about what people think. This interview is entertaining, humorous, and contains practical advice for people on other pathways through life. Anthony Slide does a great job interviewing him -- he pushes De Toth's buttons and De Toth gives him a hard time - and they're both loving every minute of it.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating director meets dull interviewer,
By A Customer
This review is from: De Toth on De Toth: Putting the Drama in Front of the Camera (Directors on Directors) (Paperback)
Andre DeToth is a fascinating character and one of the most underrated directors of golden age Hollywood. In this q&a book, the great DeToth is ill served by the banal questions and one dimensional approach of the interviewer. DeToth himself seems vaguely contemptuous of the questioner's dull inquisition, and refers to him with a sarcastic "Herr Future Director." DeToth (by evidence of other interviews and his own book of memoirs) is a hilarious, larger-than-life figure, and some of this comes through, but the interviewer's complete lack of a sense of humor more often deadens the proceedings.
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