Hollywoodland

Rating:
Summary: Hollywood History
Review: "Hollywoodland" has alot of stories about the early history of Hollywood and the movie business. It goes into alot of the gossip and myths surrounding the start of film. I think it is a good book for anyone who wants a good overview of this. I don't think it was very well written. But if you are looking for an easy start to learning about Hollywood history, this would be a good book.

Rating:
Summary: Hollywood History
Review: "Hollywoodland" has alot of stories about the early history of Hollywood and the movie business. It goes into alot of the gossip and myths surrounding the start of film. I think it is a good book for anyone who wants a good overview of this. I don't think it was very well written. But if you are looking for an easy start to learning about Hollywood history, this would be a good book.

Rating:
Summary: Babylonland
Review: As in his previous volume "Lost Hollywood," Wallace here does little more than recycle the gossip & rumors found in Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon." Much of it is fun reading - for example, it's always amusing to re-visit Mae West's witty one-liners - but the book is rife with factual inaccuracies and typos. Many of them - but certainly not all - have already been cited in other reviews. One correction I might add is that Herbert Stothart, not Max Steiner, was the film composer for "Wizard of Oz." After that sort of gaffe, it becomes difficult to trust Wallace's information (new to me) that "Oz" author L. Frank Baum designed the crown-like chandeliers that still hang in the dining room at the Hotel del Coronado. Wallace's assertion that "Citizen Kane" was "certainly the best" film music Bernard Herrmann ever composed would likely be disputed by most film music critics (the consensus would appear to favor "Vertigo"). The absence of even a single footnote and the lack of a bibliography are simply additional indications of a carelessly researched and poorly edited volume. Rather disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Babylonland
Review: As in his previous volume "Lost Hollywood," Wallace here does little more than recycle the gossip & rumors found in Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon." Much of it is fun reading - for example, it's always amusing to re-visit Mae West's witty one-liners - but the book is rife with factual inaccuracies and typos. Many of them - but certainly not all - have already been cited in other reviews. One correction I might add is that Herbert Stothart, not Max Steiner, was the film composer for "Wizard of Oz." After that sort of gaffe, it becomes difficult to trust Wallace's information (new to me) that "Oz" author L. Frank Baum designed the crown-like chandeliers that still hang in the dining room at the Hotel del Coronado. Wallace's assertion that "Citizen Kane" was "certainly the best" film music Bernard Herrmann ever composed would likely be disputed by most film music critics (the consensus would appear to favor "Vertigo"). The absence of even a single footnote and the lack of a bibliography are simply additional indications of a carelessly researched and poorly edited volume. Rather disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Babylonland
Review: As in his previous volume "Lost Hollywood," Wallace here does little more than recycle the gossip & rumors found in Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon." Much of it is fun reading - for example, it's always amusing to re-visit Mae West's witty one-liners - but the book is rife with factual inaccuracies and typos. Many of them - but certainly not all - have already been cited in other reviews. One correction I might add is that Herbert Stothart, not Max Steiner, was the film composer for "Wizard of Oz." After that sort of gaffe, it becomes difficult to trust Wallace's information (new to me) that "Oz" author L. Frank Baum designed the crown-like chandeliers that still hang in the dining room at the Hotel del Coronado. Wallace's assertion that "Citizen Kane" was "certainly the best" film music Bernard Herrmann ever composed would likely be disputed by most film music critics (the consensus would appear to favor "Vertigo"). The absence of even a single footnote and the lack of a bibliography are simply additional indications of a carelessly researched and poorly edited volume. Rather disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: SOME NEW SPINS TO OLD LA STORIES
Review: David Wallace is an extremely gifted writer and I am becoming a fan. While I am familiar with a lot of the material covered in this book, I couldn't help myself and just couldn't put it down. Even the familiar stories had a fresh feel and there were aspects to a lot of the stories which I was completely unaware of.
Wallace has managed to carefully research his topics and provide a lot of information for his readers. One of the more interesting cases in point was his examination of the Doheney murder/suicide (?) and its implications in regard to the Teapot Dome scandal.
Even with the dubious title of HOLLYWOODLAND which sounds like a cross between a scandal rag and a land development scheme (which in fact it was when originally used in the '20's to sell real estate in the Beechwood Canyon area), this book is an incredible combination of fact and urban legend.
This is a very nifty book and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! What makes Hollywoodland such a compelling read is the manner in which the writer has chosen to handle and develop his material. David Wallace's way with a good story is what makes this book a standout for me.

Rating:
Summary: Inaccuracyland
Review: Despite Mr. Wallace's avowed claim to find the "truth behind the anecdotes," this book--just like his first on the subject (Lost Hollywood)--is nothing more than a series of mostly unsubtantiated Hollywood myths coupled with outright inaccuracies (e.g., Mr. Wallace indicates Jean Harlow as being the recipient of James Cagney's grapefruit-in-the-face in the famous "Public Enemy" scene--when, in fact, it was Mae Clarke), held together by numerous misspellings and typos. Only for the desperate! The dust jacket is nice, though.

Rating:
Summary: Inaccuracyland
Review: Despite Mr. Wallace's avowed claim to find the "truth behind the anecdotes," this book--just like his first on the subject (Lost Hollywood)--is nothing more than a series of mostly unsubtantiated Hollywood myths coupled with outright inaccuracies (e.g., Mr. Wallace indicates Jean Harlow as being the recipient of James Cagney's grapefruit-in-the-face in the famous "Public Enemy" scene--when, in fact, it was Mae Clarke), held together by numerous misspellings and typos. Only for the desperate! The dust jacket is nice, though.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific follow up to LOST HOLLYWOOD
Review: FOR those who really want to understand Hollywood,
I would suggest a much greater book on the subject,
a book about the town and the industry more than the
scandals. IT's HOLLYWOOD REMEMBERED by Paul Zollo.
I highly recommend it.

JF

Rating:
Summary: not bad
Review: FOR those who really want to understand Hollywood,
I would suggest a much greater book on the subject,
a book about the town and the industry more than the
scandals. IT's HOLLYWOOD REMEMBERED by Paul Zollo.
I highly recommend it.

JF