The screenplay edition of the major motion picture adaptation; starring Maggie Smith; of Alan Bennetts acclaimed story "The Lady in the Van"From acclaimed author and playwright Alan Bennett; whose smash hit The History Boys won a Tony Award for Best Play; comes the screenplay of The Lady in the Van-soon to be a major motion picture starring Dame Maggie Smith.The Lady in the Van is the true story of Bennetts experiences with an eccentric homeless woman; Miss Mary Shepherd; whom he befriended in the 1970s and allowed to temporarily park her van in front of his Camden home. She ended up staying there for fifteen years; resulting in an uncommon; often infuriating; and always highly entertaining friendship of a lifetime for the author.Read the screenplay of the film destined to be among the most talked about of the year; and discover the unbelievable story of one of the most unlikely-yet heartwarmingly real-relationships in modern literature.
#1402888 in eBooks 2014-11-04 2014-11-04File Name: B00XRUEEKM
Review
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful. A MessBy Larry T. RouseThe flaws in this book are already well documented so I wont go into them except to say that this is not an objective investigation of the crime. Charles Higham appears to have developed a theory of the murder and worked backwards from that. Anyone whose statements or eye witness accounts do not fit his theory he simply brands a liar (with no supporting evidence by the way.) For example; a minor detail that has nothing to do with the crime: Taylor kept a .32 Savage Automatic in his dresser drawer. Higham fixates on this and claims that it was a Luger in the dresser drawer. Then he refers to the Luger as a revolver several times in the book. At the inquest one of the detectives refers to the Savage pistols presence in the drawer; Higham accuses him of lying under oath. (Taylor owned a Luger Carbine; the long barreled version with a detachable shoulder stock; it was found in the closet.)Mr. Higham clearly has some kind of personal animosity toward Mary Miles Minter and that animosity fairly reeks from this book; starting with his grotesque physical description of the elderly woman in the very beginning. Vincent Bugliosi does not subject Charles Manson to the kind of vicious personal attack in Helter Skelter that Charles Higham subjects Mary Miles Minter to here.In short; Murder in Hollywood is poorly written; superficially researched; and doesnt appear to have been edited at all. It is the work of an author who clearly has an agenda and doesnt let minor details like the established facts get in the way.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. HOLLYWOODS WORST STAGEMOTHER/HACK/MONSTER/MURDERER OF ALL CHARLOTTE SHELBYBy SARAHLEIGHTHIS IS A GREAT BOOK AND COMPLETELY EXPLAINS MY SO MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE TODAY THAT MARY MILES MINTER CAUSED DESMOND TAYLORS DEATH;THAN MOM CHARLOTTE LIED TO THE POLICE DETECTIVES.HER REFUSAL TO COOPERATE IN ANY MEANINGFUL MANNER WITH THE DESMOND TAYLOR MURDER INVESTIGATION BROUGHT HOME TO EVERYBODY WATCHINGINVESTIGATION THAT THE ONLY THING OR PERSON OR ISSUE OF CONCEREN FOR CHARLOTTE SHELBY{MARY MILES MINTERS MOTHER} was that HHER LITTLE DARLING WAS NEVER EVER IN ANY FASHION OR MANNER BE EITHER HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR OBSESSIVE AND DELUDED DARLING OF A CASH COW CHARLOTTES CASHCOW AND IF DESMOND -TAYLOR DID ANYTHING TO BRING SCANDAL SHAME OR WORST OF ALL A CAREER ENDIND SCANDAL WHY OVER MY DEAD BODY CHARLOTTE WOULD HAVE SCREECHED AND THEREFOR IT SEEMD LIKE NO BIG DEAL; TO CHARLOTTE SHELBY TO BRIBE THREATON INTIMIDATE COERCE ;KIDNAP;IMPRISON OR ANYTHING SHE BELEVED NECESSARY TO THE FULLFILLMENT OF THIS SERIES OF GOAL KEEP MARY A STAR KEEP MAGAING MARY AT THE RATE OF A EEXTORUNATE UNHEARD OF EVEN THAN 20% FROM MARY HERSELF OFF 1ST OFF THE TOP ANY CONTRACT THAT GUARANTEED MARY ANY MONEY;SHE HAD TO GTIVE A MINIMUM OF 20%TO CHARLOTTE ANY TIME MARY SIGNED ANY NEW OR UPDATED/IMPROVED CONTRACTS DURING MARY ENTIRE ACTING CAREER0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. ManureBy S M SendenI read this; it took some time to wade through the crap; and the biased rubbish that seems to come from an angry hollow place in the authors mind. He was so focused on trashing everyone; even the poor victim; William Desomnd Taylor. In reading this a growing feeling of distrust for the writer grew and grew; so that any conclusion Higham proposed became impossible to believe. In light of the slanted rubbish Higham was pushing in this book; I doubt I would ever trust any of his works; and he has published many a biography. AVOID this book if you want to know any FACTS. Higham misses the mark Big Time due to his own agenda getting in the way.
