Memoirs of a legendary film reviewer (And Why Not?: As I Never Did Say - Barry Norman)

Member Name: markos9

Product:	And Why Not?: As I Never Did Say - Barry Norman
Date:	17/06/09 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting story written with the same dry style he uses on Film

Disadvantages: None.

Barry Norman's BBC TV program "Film" ran from 1972 until he decamped to Sky in 1998. During this time he gained the reputation as being the national guide to all the best and worst that the world of cinema had to offer.

This autobiography chronicles the life of a talented writer with a love of film who got into TV almost by accident. The combination of an interesting life, combined with a dry, witty writing style (similar to his presenting on Film) makes this an enthralling read even for someone like myself who is not a big Barry Norman fan.

The title of the book 'and why not?' is subtitled 'as I never did say'. Norman explains how he inherited his 'catch phrase' from the power of TV, Rory Bremner, and Norman's spitting image puppet!

The description of Norman's early childhood, growing up in war time East End London is fascinating. His whole family, living in poverty, apparently had a motto, if you can nick something and get away with it, nick it. Norman himself started a criminal 'career' stealing toys from Woolworth's, before graduating to participating in a 'scam' to steal food from a grocer's for his mum.

His relationship with his mum appears complex; plenty of love there, but they did not appear to like each other that much. Describing her last years, and how she died alone, was clearly painful to him, however.

He was, for 13 years, a writer for the Daily Mail. He was made redundant from the newspaper in what was termed 'the Night of the Long Envelopes' in 1971. Casting around for further work, a single appearance on TV was enough for him to be offered the presenter's role on Film 72. The rest, as they say, is history.

During his career, he has had the chance to meet a huge number of celebrities and other famous people. Some he admired, other's he didn't like at all, and some took a real dislike to him.

My favourite tale from the book concerns Norman's interview of John Wayne. Wayne had, apparently consumed 15 double bourbons (before lunch) and he and Norman really did not hit it off. Norman asked Wayne what he thought of the Vietnam War. Wayne replied:

'Well...I'll tell ya. It's easy to stop that war. All you have to do is call up Kosygin on the hot line and say, "You send one more bullet, one more gun to Vietnam and we'll bomb Moscow."'

Thinking (as any sane person would) that Wayne was joking, Norman laughed. No one laughs at the Duke so the interview went downhill fast (Norman getting called a "goddamn pinko liberal faggot") and ended up with Wayne (not a small guy) straining to get through a group of publicists to punch Norman's lights out! The dry delivery of this episode in Norman's inimitable style had me creased with laughter.

It's evident from the book that one of Norman's pet hates is people who are not punctual. Unfortunately, 'super stars' are renowned for turning up in their own good time. This has infuriated Norman on many occasions. He once told Madonna that turning up an hour and forty minutes late was "a disgraceful way to treat people". When Robert De Niro kept him waiting for an hour, it made him so angry that, after the interview, they almost came to blows. Again, these episodes are recounted in a wonderfully dry way, and Norman has a knack for showing these 'super stars' as they really are.

This is then, an extremely enjoyable read. Reading the accounts of Norman's encounters with ordinary situations and ultra-famous people had an almost voyeuristic effect on me. I can highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Barry Norman, or indeed, more about the world he works in.

The book is available from Amazon for £7.19 in paperback.

Summary: An engrossing read giving a small insight into the world of the movie 'superstars'.