To the one I love the best / Ludwig Bemelmans.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bemelmans, Ludwig, 1898-1962, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

De Wolfe, Elsie, 1865-1950.

De Wolfe, Elsie.

Interior decorators--United States--Biography.

Interior decorators.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

284 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Pushkin Press, 2022.

Summary:

"A witty and charming account of the wildly entertaining Elsie de Wolfe in 1950s Hollywood, recounted by her dear friend, the beloved creator of Madeline. Ludwig Bemelmans' charming intergenerational friendship with the late-in-life "First Lady of Interior Decoration" provides an enormously enjoyable nostalgia trip to the sun-soaked glamour of Los Angeles, where de Wolfe surrounded herself with classic movie stars and a luminous parade of life's oddities. With hilarity and mischief that de Wolfe would no doubt approve, To the One I Love the Best lifts the curtain on 1950s Hollywood -- a bygone world of extravagance and eccentricity, where the parties are held in circus tents and populated by ravishing movie stars. Bemelmans, who was working at MGM, had originally come to the California home of de Wolfe just for cocktails but by the end of the night, he was firmly established as a member of the family: given a bedroom in their sumptuous house, invitations to the most outrageous parties in Hollywood, and the friendship of the larger-than-life woman known to her closest friends simply as 'Mother'. To the One I Love the Best (which refers to de Wolfe's dog) is a touching tribute to a fabulously funny woman and an American icon. "Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you." -- Elsie de Wolfe -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. ONE ELSIE AT HOME

1. Invitation

2. The Footstool of Madame Pompadour

3. At Home

4. Benedict Canyon

5. The Snake Charmer

6. To the One I Love the Best

7. You Shall Have Music

8. A Thing of Beauty Is a Joy Forever

9. The Iron Will

10. The Little Red Clock

11. The Prospect of Tara

12. Central Casting

13. The Anniversary

14. Mad Dogs and Englishmen

15. Kitty Cats and Puthy Cats

16. Late for Dinner

17. The Visit to San Simeon

pt. TWO ELSIE ABROAD

18. Little Old New York

19. The Cyanide Pill

20. The Villa in Versailles

21. The Kindergarten

22. Old Friends

23. Thirteen at Table

24. Dog Story

25. Aboard the Future.

ISBN:

9781782277934

1782277935

OCLC:

1289734292