I'd Love to Kiss You...: Conversations with Bette Davis

by Whitney Stine

Whitney Stine, author of the bestseller on Davis’s film career, Mother Goddam , has created the ultimate Bette Davis book. Told in her own words, I’d Love to Kiss You … is a priceless collection of conversations and photographs gathered over the course of the actress and author’s nearly twenty-year friendship.

After meeting in 1972, Whitney Stine and Bette Davis developed a friendship that flourished into Whitney recording the uninhibited conversations the duo had over the years about Bette’s co-stars, lovers, husbands, and career.

As the female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the first woman to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, and more than 100 acting credits over her 50-year career, Bette shares an abundance of wisdom and humor in this tell-all about her life as a critically acclaimed actress.

Illustrated with exclusive photographs and told in with utter candor about her tempestuous affairs—with Howard Hughes, William Wyler, and George Brent among them—as well as opinions on friends, family, and colleagues, such as Audrey Hepburn and Helen Hayes, this retelling of Bette’s fabulous stories and tantalizing experiences is a passionate account, right from her heart, of her unforgettable career and life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[MBenzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened upon this book quite by accident. While impatiently waiting for one of my libraries to have 'The Girl Who Walked Home Alone' (the new Bette Davis Bio) available, I found this book, and figured, what the heck, maybe this would hold me over till I could get the new one. Well, it was much better than I expected! It was Bette telling her own stories in her own words, to her good friend and author Whitney Stine.

Mr. Stine became a fan of Ms. Davis's when he was 8, and kept a scrapbook of the star all throughout her career. Well, in 1968, and in his thirties, he finally got the chance to meet her after she heard he was writing a Biography of her career, not her life (Mother Goddam - 1974). She was intrigued, and once the two met, they remained very close friends for almost 20 years.

What I enjoyed most about this book was it was conversations that Bette had had with Mr. Stine over their 20-year friendship. Bette herself explaining her favorite movies, people she did and didn't like working with, tidbits about her personal life, awards she'd won, and missed opportunities. It wasn't some author who never knew her personally making up things they thought had happened or filling in blanks themselves.

Overall I was very pleased with this book...and am very glad I found it. Now that I've had my Bette Davis fill, I can be a little more patient while waiting for her new bio to become available!

[Nancy]

Thanks so much to my friend Blair Fraipont for recommending this book to me. It's taken from a series of interviews author Whitney Stine had with Bette Davis, starting when he brought her the text of an unauthorized biography he'd written of her. In the final version of that bio, called Mother Goddam, she wound up commenting on his text.
The conversations in I'd love to kiss you... are remarkably frank. bette Davis gave Stine permission to collect them and publish them after her death. I think she was sorry that she couldn't have been more frank in her own books, given the mores of the time she grew up in and the era when she published them.
If you are interested in the theatre of the 1920s and the Hollywood of the 1930s-1960s, this is for you. It also gave me leads to a bunch of other movies and TV films she did late in her career that I plan to track down.

[Areli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. it gave me a different side of Bette that I kind of already knew she had. she must of been a very awesome person to hang out with. she had wit, talent, drive to be the best and to leave a big mark in the movie industry. I felt like I know her a bit better. I just wish I could have met her in person.

[Judy Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was surprised that I liked it as much as I did.

[Sjfstudio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun anecdotes and about the wonderful actress Bette Davis in her later years by her friend and fan Whitney Stein.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a very quick read. It was definitely a page turner. I felt like I was just listening to Bette Davis tell me about her career for the first 100 pages. Very good.

[Rob Pritts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing, heartbreaking biography written by a young admirer that was clearly in love with her.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly this book is full of fabrications that have been exposed by Bette Davis’ personal assistant Kathy Sermak. It’s unfortunate that a good wrote had to stoop to such levels to sell books.