At the age of 30, British born comedic actress Kay Kendall had finally reached the pinnacle of professional and personal success: she was Britain's biggest, most glamorous comic star since Gertrude Lawrence, and she stood at the altar to marry Rex Harrison, who had just taken Broadway by storm in My Fair Lady. But behind her dazzling smile and growing fame was an air of tragedy.

Since her teens, Kendall had dashed madly through life, working her way through one show and movie after another and surviving the distinction of appearing in the biggest box-office flop in British history. Her private life was even more colorful than the plots of her films as she embarked on a series of affairs with minor royalty, costars, directors, producers, and married men.

Kendall finally found stardom in the 1953 comedy Genevieve. Often compared to Carole Lombard and Lucille Ball, she went on to score success after success with her light style in movies such as Doctor in the House, The Reluctant Debutante , and the Gene Kelly musical Les Girls.

His father, an inventor, inherited two fortunes and spent them, largely on his own ideas; and in the 1930's, among three million unemployed, his son was walking the streets of London in search of work.

-From the dust jacket.

Me and My Big Mouth is a brilliantly written, first person account of the evolution of show business and popular music in the twentieth century. It is a book to make you laugh out loud and to bring tears pricking the corners of your eyes.        -From the back cover.

CHRISTOPHER CHALLIS, a distinguished Director of Photography, worked in the British Film Industry for
almost fifty years and now looks back on a career that involved him with such giants as Alexander Korda, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger and Stanley Donen. Among the many films he photographed are: CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES, THE TALES OF HOFFMAN and -perhaps the most famous of them all - GENEVIEVE.

His compulsively readable memoirs reveal his joy in the madness of it all and tell of the vanity of Cary Grant; the warmth of Audrey Hepburn; the wit of Robert Morley; the professionalism of Sophia Loren; and the long lunches of Richard Burton. In his preface, Christopher Challis modestly deflects any comparison with David Niven. Although he may not be able to call upon empty horses, Mr. Challis does have a ballet-dancing donkey, a fish on drugs and an amorous stallion who took a shine to a leading lady. ARE THEY REALLY so AWFUL? was a question directed at Christopher Challis when he was a young man, and referred to everyone involved in the making of films. In retirement his answer to the question is 'Yes' - but his delightful memoir shows that he loved every
moment of it.      -From the dust jacket