The Way They Were: How Epic Battles and Bruised Egos Brought a Classic Hollywood Love Story to the Screen by Robert Hofler 304 pages

 

The 1973 movie “The Way Were” is one of the greatest movies Hollywood has ever produced. And that’s just not my opinion either. It ranks sixth on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Years…100 Passions list. Celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year, Robert Hofler has written a behind-the-scenes tell-all about the greatest movie that was almost never made. Sort of.

It’s no secret that screenwriter Arthur Laurents wrote the role specifically for Barbra Streisand, but finding her Hubble was another story. Robert Redford did not want to play what he referred to as a “Ken” doll. Director Sydney Pollack and Laurents fought bitterly over the film as each had a different vision. 

That’s the gist of this truly awful book.  Each chapter heading pits someone against someone else, whether real of fictional.  I felt like I was just reading a bunch of facts punctuated by made up dialogue.

Fellow readers, avoid “The Way They Were: How Epic Battles and Bruised Egos Brought a Classic Hollywood Love Story to the Screen” at all costs. I want to give this book zero stars. I only give it 1 star for Amazon and Goodreads requests it.