<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: a book that is a fun guilty-pleasure!!!
Review: Hollywood is a place i have always dreamed about and have NEVER wanted to visit, and this book only solidifies my conviction.
what's great about it is that all of our present day sandals-- OJ, Michael Jackson, J-Lo, the list goes on-- seem like small potatoes compared to the movers and shakers of the Golden Age of Cinema. Drug overdoeses, sex, violence, police corruption, and hintings of the underworld ran rampant and Anger's prose in the style of a tabloid is so engaging i couldn't put this book down!and i'm not ashamed to admit that the pictures (which were helpful in stories regarding actors i had never heard of before) add to the narrative in surreal and funny ways *** check out the picture of Jayne Mansfield's dead dog at the end! a fun and quick read for the summer!
Rating: 
Summary: An inside glimpse of Tinsel Town
Review: Kenneth Anger, once a child actor himself, unvales and points both barrels at Hollywood and its subculture of excess and outrageousness. Anger tells many stories of Hollywood's greats and not so great throughout the early history of films to the more recent personalities of the golden era of movies (1920s to 1950s). The book is writen in a gossipy National Enquire tone and is entertaining. However, after reading through the book, it seems that the author has a vendetta against Hollywood and is quick to shine the spotlight to uncover the weaknesses and shortcomings of the stars. One cannot help but feel that Anger, (an interesting last name for the author), may have had his own dreams broken by Hollywood and writes to salve his own bitterness about his encounters with Tinsel Town. If not for this edge to the writing, it would have gotten a higher rating. Just the same, if you are interested in Hollywood, in all its foibles, this may be a good read for you.
Rating:
Summary: Dead Men Tell Many Tales!
Review: OK, first of all, anyone who has anything bad to say about this book should be taught a lesson in fair criticism. This is a GREAT read! I couldn't put it down the first time I read it back around 1996, and I couldn't put it down any of the other times, either! It is simply that good! Everything in it, I believe to be true (and if it isn't, at least I am open enough to accept it as partially true, or good fun even if I know it is false), and the reasons why are simple. First, many of it's juicy tales were published before, during, and are still being revived to this day; meaning it is a consistency that proves the book to be at least partially true. Second, this is from a man who wined and dined with some of these people. Why shouldn't he have some factual tales to tell about the trashes of Tinseltown?
The entries in this sordid and scandalous soiree into Hollywood's elite past are genuinely juicy and intriguing to read. Who doesn't love to read about Hollywood sin? Included are some facts about the murder of director William Desmond Taylor, which followed closely behind the Fatty Arbuckle scandal. Also, you can learn about some suicides of silent stars when sound entered the picture, those stars (female) who died as a result of their drug addictions, and an immense amount of sex scandals, from older men and younger gals, to homosexuality. And, if that isn't enough, it is packed with many eye-opening photographs. I am telling you this is a WONDERFUL and powerfully charged book that every film buff should own. I love it so much that I would be buried with it (just as Bela Lugosi was buried with his Dracula cape, which is true)when I die! So if you are interested in classic film, or even more, in film stars of yesteryear, then this is definitely a book that you MUST read at least once (although reading it more than once is also very rewarding!). Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: this book lies
Review: Some of this book is interesting about early Hollywood, however a lot of it simply isn't true. The part about Clara Bow is especially mean-spirited and cruel. It is a rather well known fact that the story about Clara Bow "entertaining" the USC football team isn't true, yet, here the story is in print. I also found it uncalled for to show a photo of Judy Garland at about age 15 and then show "old Judy" and describe her as a pill popping queen... it's well known she took pills because of the studio and was given them as "medication." These are screen ledgends being trashed by some yellow journalist who writes at the quality level of The National Enquirer. Also, I don't care to read about supposed sexual escapades of male stars as great conquests and rumors about the sexuality of female stars as actions of a cheap, street corner hooker. This rag essentially says that Errol Flynn could have banged (yes, slang) anyone he wanted to, but Lillian Gish has a incestous lesbian relationship with her sister. Umm, trash, lies, and male boasting.
<< 1 >>
|
