- Paperback: 128 pages
- Publisher: Allen Lane (27 Aug 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1846140781
- ISBN-13: 978-1846140785
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 0.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 798,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Ingrid Bergman (Great Stars)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
'Ingrid Bergman was far more than just a sweet, virtuous, "natural" Swedish girl - she was a dark sensualist over whom many men might go mad. Her very gaze delivered a climate of adult romantic expectation.'
Adored by millions for her luminous beauty and elegance, at the height of her career Ingrid Bergman commanded a love that has hardly ever been matched, until her marriage fell apart and created an international scandal. Here renowned film writer David Thomson gives his own unique and original take on a woman who was constantly driven by her passions and by her need to act, even if it meant sacrificing everything.
About the Author
David Thomson is, among many other things, author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, now in its fourth edition. His recent books include a biography of Nicole Kidman, Fan Tan (a novel written in collaboration with Marlon Brando) and The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood. His latest work is the acclaimed Have You Seen...? A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films. Born in London, he now lives in San Francisco.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There are, at this writing, four titles in what, one would hope, will be an ongoing series from Thomson: Gary Cooper, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and Ingrid Bergman. This review will, if allowed, apply to all of them. As expected, Thomson gets to the heart of the appeal of each of these performer's and, succinctly and acutely (as ever) presents in each brief monograph a portrait of the star better than many a full-length biography. What one would like to know, is: Who chose these stars? Are there more to be added? If so, when? If not, why not? One cannot, for example, believe that Gary Cooper was one of Thomson's first choices, since he treats the performer (one hardly feels Thomson even wants to call him an actor) with something bordering on disdain; granting him his (few) choice roles, while implying that, if the casting couch didn't exist, Cooper would have invented it. One feels that, at the very least, Cary Grant or, even, in his own way, Bob Hope, might have appealed more to Thomson. The same applies, albeit to a lesser extant, to Ingrid Bergman (instead of Barbara Stanwyck, say, or EITHER Hepburn?) At any road: these are fine "brief lives" and, as with ANY work by Thomson, deserve to be in any film buff's library
Format:Paperback
(3.5 stars) In the first biography of his new Great Stars series, which also includes Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, and Bette Davis, author David Thomson examines the career of Ingrid Bergman, from her makeup-free screen test for David O. Selznick (1939) through Autumn Sonata (1978) made with Ingmar Bergman. Using the plots of her films as a framework for placing Bergman's life and career into perspective, Thomson shows how each film drew on her life experience and increasing maturity to provide added depth to her characterizations. Thomson, a film critic, film historian, and author is uniquely suited for this role, and as he presents each film and critiques Ingrid Bergman's performances, the reader sees her growing on both the personal and professional levels.
Her breakthrough performance, Casablanca (1942), made with Humphrey Bogart when she was twenty-seven, made her the darling of the American public. Each subsequent film for the next seven years added to Bergman's luster. For Whom the Bell Tolls with Gary Cooper (1943); Gaslight (1944) with Charles Boyer, for which she won an Academy Award; Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945), with Gregory Peck; Saratoga Trunk (1945) with Gary Cooper; The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), with Bing Crosby; Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946), with Cary Grant; Arch of Triumph (1948), with Charles Boyer; Victor Fleming's Joan of Arc (1948); and Alfred Hitchcock's Under Capricorn (1949), with Joseph Cotton--an amazing ten huge successes in seven years--attest to her work ethic and her popularity.
Instinctive and natural as an actress, and impulsive and romantic as a person, Bergman conveyed sensuality at the same time that she conveyed innocence, and the public loved her. They saw her as Sister Mary Benedict in Bells of St. Mary's and as Joan of Arc. Her affairs with Gary Cooper and Victor Fleming were never publicized. Her flagrant affair with Roberto Rossellini, her pregnancy, and her out-of-wedlock child in 1950 shocked the public which had believed her image. Bergman remained the US until 1956, when she made Anastasia, with Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes, for which she won another Academy Award.
Bergman was never again regarded as the darling of the audience, no matter how well respected she may have been as an actress, making new kinds of films, such as Rossellini's neo-realism and Ingmar Bergman's films of darkness and despair. These non-Hollywood films may have made audiences more sophisticated but led to a change in the Hollywood studio scene and its star system. Thomson successfully recreates Ingrid Bergman's career through his attention to her films, leaning heavily on them to convey the ups and downs of her life, without relying on original research to present new information. The book is a fascinating walk down memory lane, and those who may have regarded Ingrid Bergman as a megastar for most of her career may be as shocked as I was to see how limited this period of her life really was. Mary Whipple
Her breakthrough performance, Casablanca (1942), made with Humphrey Bogart when she was twenty-seven, made her the darling of the American public. Each subsequent film for the next seven years added to Bergman's luster. For Whom the Bell Tolls with Gary Cooper (1943); Gaslight (1944) with Charles Boyer, for which she won an Academy Award; Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945), with Gregory Peck; Saratoga Trunk (1945) with Gary Cooper; The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), with Bing Crosby; Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946), with Cary Grant; Arch of Triumph (1948), with Charles Boyer; Victor Fleming's Joan of Arc (1948); and Alfred Hitchcock's Under Capricorn (1949), with Joseph Cotton--an amazing ten huge successes in seven years--attest to her work ethic and her popularity.
Instinctive and natural as an actress, and impulsive and romantic as a person, Bergman conveyed sensuality at the same time that she conveyed innocence, and the public loved her. They saw her as Sister Mary Benedict in Bells of St. Mary's and as Joan of Arc. Her affairs with Gary Cooper and Victor Fleming were never publicized. Her flagrant affair with Roberto Rossellini, her pregnancy, and her out-of-wedlock child in 1950 shocked the public which had believed her image. Bergman remained the US until 1956, when she made Anastasia, with Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes, for which she won another Academy Award.
Bergman was never again regarded as the darling of the audience, no matter how well respected she may have been as an actress, making new kinds of films, such as Rossellini's neo-realism and Ingmar Bergman's films of darkness and despair. These non-Hollywood films may have made audiences more sophisticated but led to a change in the Hollywood studio scene and its star system. Thomson successfully recreates Ingrid Bergman's career through his attention to her films, leaning heavily on them to convey the ups and downs of her life, without relying on original research to present new information. The book is a fascinating walk down memory lane, and those who may have regarded Ingrid Bergman as a megastar for most of her career may be as shocked as I was to see how limited this period of her life really was. Mary Whipple
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
"Ingrid Bergman was only really Ingrid from Casablanca [1942] to Under Capricorn [1949]--seven years."
10 Jan 2010
Format:Paperback
(3.5 stars) In the first biography of his new Great Stars series, which also includes Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, and Bette Davis, author David Thomson examines the career of Ingrid Bergman, from her makeup-free screen test for David O. Selznick (1939) through Autumn Sonata (1978) made with Ingmar Bergman. Using the plots of her films as a framework for placing Bergman's life and career into perspective, Thomson shows how each film drew on her life experience and increasing maturity to provide added depth to her characterizations. Thomson, a film critic, film historian, and author is uniquely suited for this role, and as he presents each film and critiques Ingrid Bergman's performances, the reader sees her growing on both the personal and professional levels.
Her breakthrough performance, Casablanca (1942), made with Humphrey Bogart when she was twenty-seven, made her the darling of the American public. Each subsequent film for the next seven years added to Bergman's luster. For Whom the Bell Tolls with Gary Cooper (1943); Gaslight (1944) with Charles Boyer, for which she won an Academy Award; Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945), with Gregory Peck; Saratoga Trunk (1945) with Gary Cooper; The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), with Bing Crosby; Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946), with Cary Grant; Arch of Triumph (1948), with Charles Boyer; Victor Fleming's Joan of Arc (1948); and Alfred Hitchcock's Under Capricorn (1949), with Joseph Cotton--an amazing ten huge successes in seven years--attest to her work ethic and her popularity.
Instinctive and natural as an actress, and impulsive and romantic as a person, Bergman conveyed sensuality at the same time that she conveyed innocence, and the public loved her. They saw her as Sister Mary Benedict in Bells of St. Mary's and as Joan of Arc. Her affairs with Gary Cooper and Victor Fleming were never publicized. Her flagrant affair with Roberto Rossellini, her pregnancy, and her out-of-wedlock child in 1950 shocked the public which had believed her image. Bergman remained the US until 1956, when she made Anastasia, with Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes, for which she won another Academy Award.
Bergman was never again regarded as the darling of the audience, no matter how well respected she may have been as an actress, making new kinds of films, such as Rossellini's neo-realism and Ingmar Bergman's films of darkness and despair. These non-Hollywood films may have made audiences more sophisticated but led to a change in the Hollywood studio scene and its star system. Thomson successfully recreates Ingrid Bergman's career through his attention to her films, leaning heavily on them to convey the ups and downs of her life, without relying on original research to present new information. The book is a fascinating walk down memory lane, and those who may have regarded Ingrid Bergman as a megastar for most of her career may be as shocked as I was to see how limited this period of her life really was. Mary Whipple
Her breakthrough performance, Casablanca (1942), made with Humphrey Bogart when she was twenty-seven, made her the darling of the American public. Each subsequent film for the next seven years added to Bergman's luster. For Whom the Bell Tolls with Gary Cooper (1943); Gaslight (1944) with Charles Boyer, for which she won an Academy Award; Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945), with Gregory Peck; Saratoga Trunk (1945) with Gary Cooper; The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), with Bing Crosby; Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946), with Cary Grant; Arch of Triumph (1948), with Charles Boyer; Victor Fleming's Joan of Arc (1948); and Alfred Hitchcock's Under Capricorn (1949), with Joseph Cotton--an amazing ten huge successes in seven years--attest to her work ethic and her popularity.
Instinctive and natural as an actress, and impulsive and romantic as a person, Bergman conveyed sensuality at the same time that she conveyed innocence, and the public loved her. They saw her as Sister Mary Benedict in Bells of St. Mary's and as Joan of Arc. Her affairs with Gary Cooper and Victor Fleming were never publicized. Her flagrant affair with Roberto Rossellini, her pregnancy, and her out-of-wedlock child in 1950 shocked the public which had believed her image. Bergman remained the US until 1956, when she made Anastasia, with Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes, for which she won another Academy Award.
Bergman was never again regarded as the darling of the audience, no matter how well respected she may have been as an actress, making new kinds of films, such as Rossellini's neo-realism and Ingmar Bergman's films of darkness and despair. These non-Hollywood films may have made audiences more sophisticated but led to a change in the Hollywood studio scene and its star system. Thomson successfully recreates Ingrid Bergman's career through his attention to her films, leaning heavily on them to convey the ups and downs of her life, without relying on original research to present new information. The book is a fascinating walk down memory lane, and those who may have regarded Ingrid Bergman as a megastar for most of her career may be as shocked as I was to see how limited this period of her life really was. Mary Whipple
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