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Rating: 
Summary: A Challenge
Review: Bernard Gordon has written a most entertaining and informative tale on the art of movie making with its facets, and twists and all explained with clarity, suspense, drama, humor, and good nature. His settings take place mostly in Europe, after he and his family were forced to leave the United States, because of the effects of the Hollywood Black List. His story is an inspiring example of "Grace Under Fire" which is certainly what it took for him and the other "Blacklistees" who were working abroad at the time. Mr. Gordon has done us a great favor in reminding us of the political inquisition carried on by the House Committee on un-American Activities in the 1940's and 1950's and the destruction of personal and Constitutional rights that followed in its wake. We can be thankful that he and others rallied and fought the battle for our precious American heritage.This book beautifully illustrates how a positive attitude in a bad situation can result in lemonade. The cast of characters and anecdotes of Philip Yordan, Charles Heston, John Wayne, Ava Gardner, David Niven, Sam Bronston, Rock Hudson, Frank Capra, and many others of the media, are endlessly entertaining and frequently funny enough to make you laugh out loud. This is a fascinating time capsule not only as a document about America but as a story of Hollywood's past and present.
Rating: 
Summary: Hollywood Exile (or How I Learned To Love The Blacklist)
Review: Bernard Gordon's book is a compelling first hand account of how this Nation treated some of it's most talented citizens in an era when the only Americans who truly enjoyed freedom were the decendants of those who came over on the Mayflower. It is impossible for the younger generation to comprehend the motivation of those who's idealism led them to explore other political avenues, without truly understanding the context of the dark times in which the HUAC hearings took place. Mr. Gordon's book sheds an intimate and personal light on that context and should be required reading for every student of political science, and indeed, every young American. I recently heard someone say, trying to make choices in today's society without a knowledge of history is like planting cut flowers and expecting them to grow. In a country that represented itself to be free and great, this book explains how the Gordons, and the many other families of many of our finest citizens, were deprived of that freedom, persecuted, and denied even the right to work and feed their children. In the comfortable 90's it is very easy to simply condem communism and hindsight is indeed 20/20, but this book will give those who truly want to know, the real perspective on those who selflessly stood up to the tyranny of our own government for the good of all our citizens and endured the subsequent hardships. All who experience this book will be infinitly more prepared to cast a meaningful vote at the ballot box, and the very future of our Nation depends on the votes of those who understand its history. I hope all who have a real desire for truth, will share in reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Nostalgic
Review: Gordon's book brought back memories of the old glory days of the gulag archipelago, Kolyma, midnight knocks at the door and the tank treads red with the blood of pulped hungarians. Though Gordon spent much time suspiciously in Franco's Spain, it is obvious that he is still an old comrade at heart. A wonderful book that should be forced reading in today's schools.
Rating:
Summary: A page-turner that is also history!
Review: Gordon's book, Hollywood Exile, combines tales of movie stars (Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, David Niven), the fierce political 'hangings' of the American blacklist (Gordon, a screenwriter begining his career, was both a victim of and a witness to this terrible scene), and, until now, the unwritten history of American writers, producers, actors and directors--temporary expatriots who fled the blacklist into France, England and Spain to work at their craft. Gordon landed in Madrid's mini-Hollywood. He tells witty, inside stories of scripting and producing such classics as 'Horror Express' and 'Day of the Triffids'. Moreover, he is an honorable man who did not turn in his principles as so many did. You won't be able to put the book down and you'll feel glad that such people survived that American crucible to write about it and its sequel in Europe for all of us who were not there. (Actually, reading this book is like being there.)
Rating: 
Summary: How an avowed communist dealt with the Blacklist
Review: I read this book to understand more about communism in America mid-century, how America could castigate some citizens and how some citizens could "worship" another country's ideals while living here. I was pleased and somewhat let down. The book has two distinct parts but needs a third. First, he quickly explains why he was a member of the communist party. I still believe this fascination was a liberal viewpoint which was carried to an extreme given the recent depression. This section discussing life in Hollywood under fear of subpeona was very interesting and compelling as written from a struggling screenwriter. Section 2 then deals with his life as a screenwriter working mainly in Spain and Paris. This section really didn't deal with the politics of the time but instead is a personal memoir into his life in the business. I learned a lot of the movie business from a different perspective but actually found this part to run a little long. His description of his side trips in Europe was also very interesting. There are two important pieces I felt were left out. A more in-depth discussion of his involvement with communism and his current feelings. When he came back to America he talks of how pleasing the return was but he never closes the chapter on what his current feelings are about communism. I think anyone that condemns this man's thoughts without listening are short-sighted. But I also think that he should more fully explain his thoughts, how they have developed and what his thinking is now since that was the premise for the book. The final item left out of the book were the last 20? years of his life. Since I invested this much time reading about him, at least he could have given a short description of what he has been doing once he left the business. What's happened in the last few years. He mentions what his daughter is doing. What about him? He does mention his wife dying and I was very touched as they seem to have had a very good marriage in a business where there are so few. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It taught me and showed me a life with which I was not familiar. It also addressed some of my unanswered questions as to the fascination with Communism in the mid-century. But it also left some questions unanswered. If the Author reads this review, I wish he would contact me and explain some of his beliefs in further depth than the book.
Rating:
Summary: How an avowed communist dealt with the Blacklist
Review: I read this book to understand more about communism in America mid-century, how America could castigate some citizens and how some citizens could "worship" another country's ideals while living here. I was pleased and somewhat let down. The book has two distinct parts but needs a third. First, he quickly explains why he was a member of the communist party. I still believe this fascination was a liberal viewpoint which was carried to an extreme given the recent depression. This section discussing life in Hollywood under fear of subpeona was very interesting and compelling as written from a struggling screenwriter. Section 2 then deals with his life as a screenwriter working mainly in Spain and Paris. This section really didn't deal with the politics of the time but instead is a personal memoir into his life in the business. I learned a lot of the movie business from a different perspective but actually found this part to run a little long. His description of his side trips in Europe was also very interesting. There are two important pieces I felt were left out. A more in-depth discussion of his involvement with communism and his current feelings. When he came back to America he talks of how pleasing the return was but he never closes the chapter on what his current feelings are about communism. I think anyone that condemns this man's thoughts without listening are short-sighted. But I also think that he should more fully explain his thoughts, how they have developed and what his thinking is now since that was the premise for the book. The final item left out of the book were the last 20? years of his life. Since I invested this much time reading about him, at least he could have given a short description of what he has been doing once he left the business. What's happened in the last few years. He mentions what his daughter is doing. What about him? He does mention his wife dying and I was very touched as they seem to have had a very good marriage in a business where there are so few. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It taught me and showed me a life with which I was not familiar. It also addressed some of my unanswered questions as to the fascination with Communism in the mid-century. But it also left some questions unanswered. If the Author reads this review, I wish he would contact me and explain some of his beliefs in further depth than the book.
Rating:
Summary: Nostalgic
Review: This book is a wonderful surprise. Although it deals with very serious matters, it is vastly entertaining, plum full of tasty anecdotes about people whose names we know, people we wish to know. Movie makers and movie stars are dealt with without fear of favour. Among them are Ronald and Nancy (Davis) Reagan. Ronnie denied there was a blacklist although when president of the Screen Actors Guild, he was secretly and treacherously supplying the FBI with the names of his members he considered radicals; Gordon, while blacklisted, was secretly writing love scenes for Ronnie and Nancy in the film, Hellcats of the Navy. This became one of the First Couple's favourite films and was run repeatedly at the White House.They never knew who had put the words in their mouths. Read about David Niven, Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner (not so good); Telly Savalas, Robert Shaw, James Mason (good) and many others. Most of all, read how Gordon, laughing much of the way, turned the tables, built a fascinating career and refused to be destroyed by the blacklist. This book is not just about Hollywood. Europeans will be surprised to read of the involvement of their contrymen in the McCarthy period. The British and Spanish film industries gain new stature as places where Gordon finds he can work without having to suppress his independent spirit.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood Exile
Review: This book is a wonderful surprise. Although it deals with very serious matters, it is vastly entertaining, plum full of tasty anecdotes about people whose names we know, people we wish to know. Movie makers and movie stars are dealt with without fear of favour. Among them are Ronald and Nancy (Davis) Reagan. Ronnie denied there was a blacklist although when president of the Screen Actors Guild, he was secretly and treacherously supplying the FBI with the names of his members he considered radicals; Gordon, while blacklisted, was secretly writing love scenes for Ronnie and Nancy in the film, Hellcats of the Navy. This became one of the First Couple's favourite films and was run repeatedly at the White House.They never knew who had put the words in their mouths. Read about David Niven, Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner (not so good); Telly Savalas, Robert Shaw, James Mason (good) and many others. Most of all, read how Gordon, laughing much of the way, turned the tables, built a fascinating career and refused to be destroyed by the blacklist. This book is not just about Hollywood. Europeans will be surprised to read of the involvement of their contrymen in the McCarthy period. The British and Spanish film industries gain new stature as places where Gordon finds he can work without having to suppress his independent spirit.
Rating:
Summary: Remembering the Black List with Horror and Humor
Review: This book will certainly infuriate the troglodytes (still among us) who bemoan the passing of Joe McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover and John Foster Dulles. Where oh where are the good old days of the Cold War when we could blame all of our ills on the Reds at home and abroad? For the rest of us, this is a unique and fascinating personal account of someone who honorably stood up to all the forces against him, tells the unvarnished truth about one our darkest time, and reained his humor and wit while beating back the bad guys (plus the studio bosses). It reads like a riveting suspense story. You will turn the pages late into the night, wanting to know what comes next, how he won his personal war, wrote and produced some twenty of your favorite films, and never forgot to tell an entertaining story. Read and enjoy.
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