Elizabeth Taylor's Self-Help Book: Elizabeth Takes Off [Book Review]

Even Hollywood legends have tough times. Personal problems become public news, whether you like it or not. Actor Elizabeth Taylor most certainly did not like becoming the butt of jokes for her weight gain during the latter part of the 20th century. Comedian Joan Rivers practically made a name for herself on late night talk shows ribbing the actor's size. Elizabeth Taylor's measurements would sometimes take precedence in the news over floods, Wall Street scandals and national politics.

Things were getting ridiculous.

In 1987, Ms. Taylor threw herself into the conversation, shaping the narrative with a self-help book- Elizabeth Takes Off: On Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Self-Image, and Self-Esteem.

The author distinguishes image and self-image, saying,

" Image refers to our appearance. Self-image deals with who we really are.We all know heavy people whose emotional lives are in good order who have an excellent sense of self-worth. And Hollywood is filled with thin...women who are unhappy and unfulfilled, with little self-esteem."

The author goes on to mention that she "learned to divorce my self-image from my public persona," answering for her actions only to those to whom she was directly responsible, not to the general public. "After spending so many years being some movie mogul's idea of an ideal, it's a relief  to present myself as I am," she says.

Despite this strength, the author admits that she is an emotional eater. Delicious, highly-caloric foods were not nearly as enticing when she was content with life, active and busy. When her personal or professional life took a nosedive so did her self-esteem; she would then make a beeline for the double-chocolate fudge in the freezer.

After a while, with inactivity and feelings of purposelessness, food "became my only consuming interest. The first thing I thought when I got up in the morning was, 'What am I going to eat?' After breakfast I began the countdown to lunch...." She considers overeating another addiction that she used to comfort herself.

After trying every diet under the sun, the author found permanent weight loss in simple procedures. "I heard what I call the 'click,'", says the actress,"that little bell that goes off in your mind and says, 'Enough, time to stop.'" The Click is a reference to a line in one of her movies - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. When an alcoholic in the film is satiated, he describes that turn from rabid restlessness to contented state as a Click. Ms. Taylor spins this negative word into a positive for her eating control. She says the switch must be clicked in your own mind first, before you can succeed at your goal.

Takes Off includes a chapter on why the star gained weight, another chapter with tips on weight loss  (included how to dine with non-dieters) and recipes to use at home. Another chapter includes suggested exercise routines. Sprinkled throughout this book are photos of the star at home or at public functions before, during and after weight loss. The captions on the photos are raw and honest.

In Elizabeth Takes Off, Ms.Taylor shapes the narrative surrounding her appearance and creates something positive for other people. "This book," she says, "is not just to set the record straight as to why I gained weight and how I lost it. I also want to pass on some of the ways I was able to shed my own false ideas about being fat." One marvels at her vulnerability.  

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This post is part 5 of 6 book reviews for  Raquel's Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge Blogathon.

Read more at the Out of the Past website.

• Read the 1st book review for this series here: Robert Wagner's You Must Remember This
• Read the 2nd book review for Searching for My Father, Tyrone Power by Romina Power.
• Read the 3rd book review: Walt Disney's Peter Pan featuring the art of Mary Blair. 
• Read the 4th book review: David Niven's autobiography The Moon's a Balloon 

David Niven's The Moon's a Balloon [Book Review]

Actor David Niven released his autobiography in 1972 to rave reviews. The title - The Moon's a Balloon- references an e.e. cummings poem about flying into the sky with pretty people, a possible allusion to Hollywood.

Niven spends ample time describing his childhood in an oppressive boarding school, his journey into the Army. Through the course of things, his charmed life leads him to friends of friends who are acquainted with Hollywood actors. Niven is , in due course, well on his way to being courted by film studios, often playing dashing men of wealth or military officers. (Niven would receive an Academy Award for his portrayal of a man who claims to be a retired military veteran in Separate Tables.)

Do not get your heart set on copious details of memories on the set of this or that film. Niven relays the most meaningful stories of his life, most of them were off camera. Niven married twice. The first one ended in a frightful accident at Tyrone Power's house. Still, Niven had great fun in both marriages. He also raised four children and seems to have been loved by all of them.

 David Jr. says this of his father in Thomas Hutchinson’s book NIVEN'S HOLLYWOOD:

“As a father he showed no favoritism and was always there whenever we needed him. He never insisted we be ‘the best’ only to do ‘our best.’ He instilled in us the value of family unity, the importance of loyalty, humility and honesty. He loved us very much and I only hope we gave him as much love and pleasure as he gave us.”

The Moon's a Balloon is an intimate foray into the life of a man who was a delight on- and off-screen.

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This post is part 4 of 6 of Raquel's Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge Blogathon. Read more at the Out of the Past website.

• Read the 1st book review for this series here: Robert Wagner's You Must Remember This
• Read the 2nd book review for Searching for My Father, Tyrone Power by Romina Power.
• Read the 3rd book review: Walt Disney's Peter Pan featuring the art of Mary Blair. 
• Explore newspaper clippings of David Niven's life here: Niven is Star of the Month. 
• Niven recorded the audio for his autobiography. Do find it and listen to it. It's wonderful to hear the words in his own voice. 

Disney's Peter Pan w/ Mary Blair's Art [Book Review]

For 34 years, Mary  Blair worked at The Walt Disney Company, creating concepts for many of the company's animated feature films. One of those films is Disney's version of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan - the story of a boy who never grows old, and who invites a group of children to the fantastic world of mermaids and pirates called Neverland.

The film is an enduring classic released in 1953. However, long before the movie hit theaters, Blair created concept art for the look and tone of the story which the animators would later use.


In 2009, Disney Book Group would publish Blair's original work for Peter Pan accompanied by a story written by authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. It is a pared down version of the movie's plot on every other page of the 64-page book.

The book is meant for children up to the age of 6, but all ages can appreciate the detail of each painting and the history of Mary Blair's art.

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This post is part 3 of 6 of Raquel's Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge Blogathon. Read more at the Out of the Past website.

• Read the 1st book review for this series here: Robert Wagner's You Must Remember This
• Read the 2nd book review for Searching for My Father, Tyrone Power by Romina Power.

Mitzi Gaynor in The Birds and the Bees (1956) [Movie Review]

The Birds and the Bees (1956) stars David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor as a father-daughter card sharp team who bilks wealthy people out of their money. This is a remake of The Lady Eve (1941)- a comedy starring Barbara Stanwyck and Charles Coburn as the crooks. Henry Fonda stars as the unsuspecting victim who falls in love with Stanwyck.


In The Birds and the Bees, the victim is newcomer to film - George Gobel. Gobel was a TV star with an eponymous comedy variety hour on CBS, a Paramount company.

We've discussed before how Paramount of the 1950s seemed to bankroll lots of money and a starring gig for an unknown talent who has first succeeded in some other format of entertainment. [See our discussion of Pat Crowley in the review of Forever Female (1953).]

This time, Paramount does it with a very popular, crew-cut wearing, comedian who was in millions of homes weekly. Though I'm sure audiences enjoyed seeing their favorite TV star rub elbows with legendary film stars, there wasn't enough enthusiasm to make this remake a box office success. Gobel's subsequent success would mostly come from television shows, including recurring spots on "The Red Skelton Hour."

Mitzi Gaynor is winning as the cunning seductress. David Niven isn't given much to do as her father and partner-in-crime, but he's charming as ever. Gobel is giving it a good try, but with Henry Fonda in your memory, this performance leaves one slightly disappointed.

Part of what makes The Lady Eve a good con, an effective con is that the target believes he's smarter than everyone else, when really he's the last to know anything. In The Birds and The Bees, the target plays sheepish and perhaps a little disassociated from reality. This makes conning him too easy and not as fun. His innocence reminds you that these people should be behind bars, not running around on cruise ships.

About 40 minutes into the film, the story becomes a musical.  Gobel serenades Gaynor on deck with the title song -an attempt to sell albums and sheet music with this film. It's a little jarring, since this has been a straight comedy up to this point. But the audiences at the time would have expected Gobel to sing since he started his entertainment career as a singer and took that talent to his comedy show.

Although, The Birds and the Bees remains a bit obscured by the memory of its more witty and successful predecessor, it is still a fun little rom-com .