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The Devil’s Candy

The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco

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The Devil’s Candy

By: Julie Salamon
Narrated by: Julie Salamon
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About this listen

When Brian De Palma agreed to allow Julie Salamon unlimited access to the film production of Tom Wolfe's best-selling 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.

©1991, 2002 Julie Salamon (P)2021 Tantor Direction & Production Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism Heartfelt

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just the best inside narrative on film making, from story, to script, selling the package, the producers and the blah blah nobody knows nothing to production and the talent engaged in bringing the story to screen, this audio book needs replaying multiple times because it is so so so very rich in detail and just human shite that's involved in a massive a lister film production, its just exquisite, and a history lesson to all film buffs and you never know, Hollywood producers financers and us movie fans alike. wonderfull stuff. Good on ya x

here it is....

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The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) starred some big names - including Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith. And it was directed by Brian De Palma, the edgy auteur operating in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock. So why did it bomb? Julie Salamon attempts to explain why in this forensic, sprawling account of the film’s production. It is an extraordinary accomplishment. She was given ring-side access to the filming of Vanities. Many in the industry, including Willis, were furious at the result, seeing The Devil’s Candy as a blatant betrayal. De Palma is much more philosophical, and still keeps in touch with Salamon (she was even a virtual guest at his lockdown birthday party). The screenwriter William Goldman famously said that in Hollywood nobody knows anything - hits happen, flops happen, and no one can accurately predict whether a movie will clean up at the box office, or disappear without trace. With Vanities, very much an example of the latter, there were many warning signs, including big cost overruns. The casting seems bizarre, with the determinedly uncynical Hanks portraying ‘Master of the Universe’ bond trader Sherman McCoy. Tom Wolfe’s epic novel was a bold choice for adaptation. Salamon persuasively suggests it might’ve worked better as a TV drama - not nearly as popular back then as now - and there are rumours that Amazon might be working on one. But anyone embarking on such a venture would be well-advised to listen to this audiobook to avoid making the same mistakes (or perhaps to avoid making another doomed adaptation). This is a long book. But it didn’t feel like it. Salamon is a witty and engaging guide. The narration may prove Marmite - but worked for me. This is obligatory listening for movie fans and anyone interested in how the industry works (and doesn’t work…) As a postscript, I should add I loved the Wolfe novel, and liked De Palma’s movie… well, nobody knows anything, after all…

Anatomy of a silver screen disaster

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A snapshot of a time a movie and it’s people.
After listening “The Devils Candy” will do some digging to see if a directors cut was ever released.

Great Reportage

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This would have been a better book if it wasn't as long. Some sections lag a bit.

Very informative, interesting but too long

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I first read this wonderful book as a young teenager, already obsessed with film production, and I have revisited it a great many times. My first copy literally fell apart at the seams.

This latest revisit, this time actually getting to hear Salamon tell the story, has been just as enjoyable as the first time I read it, if not even more so.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

A Devil’s Candy - A Book I’ve Never Really Stopped Reading

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