Sliver and Sharon Stone as Superstar (Erotic 90’s, Part 12)

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Sharon Stone and Joe Eszterhas’s post-Basic Instinct reunion film was one of the most troubled productions of the 90s. A post-Hitchcock tale of sexual surveillance given a technological update for the 90s, after a long battle with the MPAA the sanitized, R-rated version of Sliver was rejected by critics and audiences, but the movie and the juicy gossip leaked from its production (which included a love pentagon involving both actress and screenwriter) only enhanced Sharon Stone’s aura as an old-school Hollywood star for a decade that didn’t know what to do with her.

Zeke's surveillance mission control in *Sliver,* 1993

SHOW NOTES:

Sources:

“Robert Evans Comes Home to Par” Variety, July 15, 1991

“Sex is Back” by William Stadiem, Movieline November 1991

Playboy Interview: Sharon Stone by David Sheff, Playboy, December 1992

“ON LOCATION: ‘SLIVER’: Visualize Sharon Stone in ‘Basic Instinct.’ Now Imagine a Guy Sitting In That Chair” by Ryan Murphy, LA Times, Feb. 14, 1993

“‘SLIVER’ UPDATE: Remember That Great Idea to Show All of William Baldwin? Well…” by Jane Galbraith, LA Times, Mar 14, 1993

“Ratings Board an Affront to First Amendment” by Sam Frank, LA Times Mar 31, 1993

“Lights! Action! Attitude” People Magazine, April 5, 1993

“A Few Good Women,” by Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine, April 5, 1993

“A to Z to Alternative Culture” SPIN, April 1993

“Topspin: Sex in the ‘90s” by Celia Farber, SPIN, April 1993

“Out of Africa, Part Two” by Celia Farber, SPIN, April 1993

“Par Shivers: Will Sliver Deliver” by Michael Fleming Variety, April 26, 1993

“The Reliable Source” by Lois Romano, Washington Post, April 27, 1993

“Stone Free” by Fred Schruers, Premiere, May 1993

"Paramount's Sliver Loses Some Steam And Finally Gets An R Rating" by Robert W. Welkos, LA Times, May 9,1993

“Bucks and Blondes: Joe Eszterhas Lives The Big Dream” by Maureen Dowd, NYTimes, May 30, 1993

“Their Little Secret” LA Times, May 14, 1993

The Rise and Fall and, Now, Rise of Robert Evans by Bernard Weinraub, NYTimes, May 20, 1993

“Reaction as Mute as the Mimes” by Kevin Allman, LA Times, May 21, 1993

“The Troubled Making Of ''Sliver'' -- The Lowdown On The Stormy Making Of Sharon Stone's Sexy New Thriller” by Jess Cagle, Entertainment Weekly, May 21, 1993

Liz Smiths’ column, LA Times, May 24, 1993

“Stone Gets a Sliver of Box Office But Not a Runaway” by David J. Fox, LA Times, May 24, 1993

Sharon Stone Cover Story Premiere, May 1993

“Sharon Stone, Untamed” by Stephen Rebello. Movieline, June 1993

“Sliver” Spy Magazine, June 1993

“Sliver” Wall Street Journal, June 3, 1993

“Unsigned” Wall Street Journal, June 3, 1993

“Sliver” by Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly, June 4, 1993

“Meanwhile” LA Daily News, June 13, 1993

“Soft Focus” Jeffrey Ressner, US Magazine, June 1993

“Sharon Stone” by Margy Rochlin, US Magazine, June 1993

“Peek Viewing” Timeout London, July 14, 1993

“Every Day Was High Noon : That’s The Way It Seemed When Sherry Lansing Took Over Rebuilding Paramount. Now That The Tough Stuff Is Out Of The Way, The Really Hard Work Starts. Hey, Just Another Day In Hollywood” by Robert W. Welkos, LA Times, Aug. 22, 1993

“Sliver Finds its Voyeurs” by Liz Smith, LA Times, Dec 6, 1993

“Midlife Rewrite” People, June 20, 1994

“Writing Life’s Wrongs” Sunday Times, November 13, 1994

“Is Sharon Stone Scaring You Yet?” by Bill Zehme, Esquire, March 1995

Hollywood Animal: A Memoir by Joe Eszterhas, January 27, 2004

The Beauty of Living Twice by Sharon Stone, March 30, 2021

“Photographer Loren Haynes Tells Us The Story Behind Our April 1993 Cover (And All About That Kiss!)” by Liza Lentini, SPIN, March 14, 2022

The Beauty of Living Twice by Sharon Stone

Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker by Stephen Galloway

Hollywood Animal: A Memoir by Joe Eszterhas

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Billy Baldwin and Sharon Stone in *Sliver*, 1993

Music:

The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.

Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:

Three Stories - Skittles
Two Dollar Token - Warmbody
Song at the End of Times - Limoncello
Roadside Bunkhouse - Truckstop
Vdet - Fjell
Riesling - Cafe Nostro
Nine Count - Reflections
Chai Belltini - Vermouth
Junca - Orange Cat
Single Still - Vermouth