The Devil's Candy: The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood by Julie Salamon (Hardcover)

Published by Houghton Mifflin, 1991
Sewn-bound Hardcover
Second printing
434 pages
9x6 inches

Near Fine condition. Comes in removable protective Brodart mylar cover.

Wall Street Journal film critic Salamon systematically and incisively lays out the process that conceived of Bonfire as a socially relevant epic, then turned it into a successor to Heaven's Gate. Moving from pre- to post-production, she charts the ruinous situations—the stars' high salaries and scheduling problems, the limited range of Bruce Willis, the conflicting messages from studio heads and more. The requisite tidbits are here, as well–did Melanie Griffith have breast augmentation during the shooting? (Yes.) What does Brian DePalma drink for lunch? (Three cappuccinos.) There is also much detailed material on how a movie is made, including the range of instruments used to recreate sounds and the type of beading attached to Griffith's eye-popping party dress. Casual film fans may be overwhelmed by the scope of Salamon's information; aficionados will feel they've finally gotten enough. More speculation would have been welcome on whether Hollywood will learn from the mistakes of Bonfire or always fall prey to "the devil's candy"—that "impossible, expensive, possibly monumental thing."