By James Munn. Photographs by Bob Willoughby. Forword by Taylor Hackford.
The birthing of Rosemary's Baby: behind the scenes, 50 years on
This Is No Dream: Making Rosemary’s Baby is a definitive, illustrated history of Roman Polanski’s great 1968 film, from director and casting choices to the kudos and condemnation it received upon its release. During its making, Polanski fell seriously behind schedule and was almost fired; star Mia Farrow faced an ultimatum—career or marriage—from husband Frank Sinatra; and actor John Cassavetes nearly came to blows with his genius director. Photographer Bob Willoughby—a veteran special set photographer who shot for such movies as Ocean’s 11 (1960), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and The Graduate (1967)—captured it all, along with other studio photographers.
The story begins with author Ira Levin, who was struck with the idea that “a fetus could be an effective horror if the reader knew it was growing into something malignly different from the baby expected.” He set his story in present-day Manhattan, he made the mother-to-be a young woman who had just moved into a mysterious apartment building with her actor husband and he had the baby’s father just happen to be the devil incarnate. And with that, Rosemary’s Baby was born. For most of 1967, Levin’s novel rested comfortably in the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list. It was practically a given that a movie version would be made and, by August 1967, cameras were ready to roll. On June 12, 1968, Rosemary’s Baby hit American theaters.
This book, commemorating the 50th anniversary of this landmark picture, features Bob Willoughby’s work, with many of his behind-the-scenes images presented here for the first time.
Featured image is reproduced from 'This Is No Dream: Making Rosemary's Baby.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
AnOther
Miss Rosen
In a genre best known for its gruesome and grisly tropes, Rosemary’s Baby made the realm of the supernatural all too plausible in a delectable mixture of the mystical and the mundane.
WSJ
Rich Cohen
From the start, people sensed that there was something real and unreal about the movie. It did not feel or seem like other horror flicks. It was beautiful, languid, a fever dream you suspect is really happening, like Hitchcock on LSD.
Vanity Fair
Laura Jacobs
An insightful study of the film.
Washington Post
Lisa Zeidner
Provides a fascinating look at the inspired choices — and lucky breaks — that made the film iconic.
Globe and Mail
On the film’s 50th anniversary,this study and the unseen behind-the-scenes saga is almost as unsettling as the movie itself.
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Sunday, August 26 at 3:40 PM, ARTBOOK | D.A.P., Reel Art Press and IFC invite you to celebrate the publication of This Is No Dream: Making Rosemary's Baby! Join us for a screening of Rosemary’s Baby with an extended introduction by the book’s author, James Munn, followed by a book signing. continue to blog
When Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby premiered in 1968, it instantly set new standards for horror. It also became the immediate target of extravagant protest and criticism. One reviewer wrote, "this contemporary horror story about devil worship would qualify for a condemned rating [because of] the perverted use which the film makes of fundamental Christian beliefs, especially in the events surrounding the birth of Christ, and its mockery of religious persons and practices." Another piece of hate mail sent to the producer, William Castle, read, "Rosemary's Baby is filth and YOU will die as a result. Lover of Satan, Purveyor of Evil, you have sold your soul. Die. Die. Die… Bastard! Believer in Witchcraft. Worshipper at the Shrine of Satanism. My prediction is you will slowly rot during a long and painful illness which you have brought upon yourself." continue to blog
Congratulations REEL ART PRESS! It's not every day that one of our books gets a full length review in the Washington Post, so we were delighted to read Lisa Zeidner’s appreciation for the new book by James Munn and noted Hollywood set photographer Bob Willoughby. "Willoughby’s still photographs capture the soul of the performance and the director’s vision of Rosemary," she concludes. "Gazing off-camera, diaphanous as a Vogue model in her hippie clothes, Farrow is the perfect film victim, especially because there’s nothing obviously menacing, because she’s so easy to dismiss as a ditz in her fuzzy blue slippers. Perhaps no filmmaker has been as deeply empathetic to female isolation and vulnerability, or with the bizarre alien occupation that is even an average, unsatanic pregnancy. That Polanski’s films are essentially feminist makes his position in the crosshairs of #MeToo even more ironic." continue to blog
Following Rosemary's Baby's release on June 11, 1968, The New York Times' Renata Adler wrote, “Miss Farrow is quite marvelous, pale, suffering, almost constantly on-screen in a difficult role that requires her to be learning for almost two hours what the audience has guessed from the start.” Kathleen Carroll of The New York Daily News added, “Miss Farrow’s special magic is her fragility. She reminds one of a fawn in captivity. What she does so remarkably well is draw sympathy to Rosemary who is herself a captive fawn, a totally helpless heroine surrounded by evil on all sides with no way out. Everyone in the audience will want desperately to help her.” Go way behind the scenes of Roman Polanski's horror masterpiece with Reel Art Press' fiftieth-anniversary in-depth study, This Is No Dream: Making Rosemary's Baby, featuring photographs by Bob Willoughby and text by James Munn. continue to blog
When Polish-born filmmaker Roman Polanski released his first American feature—the psychological horror film Rosemary's Baby—in 1968, he changed the genre forever. Starring John Cassavetes and Mia Farrow (pictured here), the film was famous not only for its Satanic / supernatural plotline, but for its hairy production issues. (Polanski went way over schedule, almost getting fired; Cassavetes and Polanski fought; Farrow's husband, Frank Sinatra, threatened to leave if she didn't quit acting to better play his wife.) Now, on the occasion of the film's fiftieth anniversary, Reel Art Press has released This Is No Dream: Making Rosemary's Baby, featuring photographs (many of which have never been published before) by veteran set photographer Bob Willoughby, alongside an insightful yet playful text by James Munn. continue to blog
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FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 11 in. / 208 pgs / 100 color / 100 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $49.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $67.5 ISBN: 9781909526587 PUBLISHER: Reel Art Press AVAILABLE: 7/24/2018 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: Out of stock TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AFR ME
The birthing of Rosemary's Baby: behind the scenes, 50 years on
Published by Reel Art Press. By James Munn. Photographs by Bob Willoughby. Forword by Taylor Hackford.
This Is No Dream: Making Rosemary’s Baby is a definitive, illustrated history of Roman Polanski’s great 1968 film, from director and casting choices to the kudos and condemnation it received upon its release. During its making, Polanski fell seriously behind schedule and was almost fired; star Mia Farrow faced an ultimatum—career or marriage—from husband Frank Sinatra; and actor John Cassavetes nearly came to blows with his genius director. Photographer Bob Willoughby—a veteran special set photographer who shot for such movies as Ocean’s 11 (1960), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and The Graduate (1967)—captured it all, along with other studio photographers.
The story begins with author Ira Levin, who was struck with the idea that “a fetus could be an effective horror if the reader knew it was growing into something malignly different from the baby expected.” He set his story in present-day Manhattan, he made the mother-to-be a young woman who had just moved into a mysterious apartment building with her actor husband and he had the baby’s father just happen to be the devil incarnate. And with that, Rosemary’s Baby was born. For most of 1967, Levin’s novel rested comfortably in the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list. It was practically a given that a movie version would be made and, by August 1967, cameras were ready to roll. On June 12, 1968, Rosemary’s Baby hit American theaters.
This book, commemorating the 50th anniversary of this landmark picture, features Bob Willoughby’s work, with many of his behind-the-scenes images presented here for the first time.
