Showing posts with label movie stars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie stars. Show all posts

The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others Review

The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others ReviewUnfortunately, it seems to be an increasingly popular trend today to try and destroy the reputations of deceased screen legends who can no longer defend themselves. This is certainly not the first of its kind, and it's obviously not the last either (too bad!). This book has many brief chapters, each one filled with the worst scandals (abortions, adulterous affairs, criminal activities, etc.) of a specific female screen legend, such as Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly. Elizabeth Taylor, Hedy Lamarr, and several others.
The sections on Lana Turner, Greta Garbo, and Hedy Lamaar were especially infuriating, filled with rumors that even the National Enquirer would hesitate to print. For example, according to this book, Mickey Rooney and Lana Turner had an affair in the late 1930's which resulted in Lana having an abortion. Lana Turner already denied this rumor, and the very idea of a beautiful goddess like Lana Turner going for baby-faced Mickey Rooney is, quite frankly, disgusting and totally unbelievable. It also hints strongly that she had an affair with Clark Gable, although in her memoir she wrote that they had no chemistry off-screen. While some may find this kind of book entertaining, I think it's in poor taste. The book also describes Hedy Lamarr's orgies and bi-sexual relationships, and basically tries to pass her off as an arrogant nymphomaniac (the author does the same thing with Garbo).
This book quickly summarizes the screen careers and lives of these great actresses yet goes into great detail about their sexual activity (and preferences). Don't be too naive when reading about the many imperfections of these famous actresses. After all, there is some truth to many of the scandals mentioned, but there are also plenty of rumors that no one could posibly prove to be true. And after all, the author is merely rehashing what you've already read in previous books written by better authors. I suggest that instead of reading this trash you buy a well-researched biography.The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others Overview

Want to learn more information about The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...

Rin-Tin-Tin: The Movie Star Review

Rin-Tin-Tin: The Movie Star
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy Rin-Tin-Tin: The Movie Star? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Rin-Tin-Tin: The Movie Star. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Rin-Tin-Tin: The Movie Star ReviewFull disclosure - I am a friend of the author but it doesn't matter. Were I so fortunate as to stumble over this absolute delight of a book in an unlived alternate life somewhere else, I'd still love it! Why? Because it pulled me in to a world about which I knew nothing. RIN-TIN-TIN:THE MOVIE STAR is exhaustively researched yet not remotely pedantic. Ann Elwood's warmth and concern for the actualities of a dog movie star's life dissolve the usual flags indicating academic research, yet leave the quotable facts available. The multi-layered tale of a French WWI puppy and his enigmatic owner, transported to Hollywood in its heyday, is told with humor, accuracy and an expansive analytical style that will fascinate even cat people.
Most readers now extant were not alive during an epoch in American history when studio shots of canine faces adorned movie posters outside a thousand theaters. The rise of the dog movie star is a curious social artifact that Elwood deciphers with intelligent, thought-provoking verve, enhanced by explorations of the storyboards of Rin-Tin-Tin's movies. And the wealth of accompanying archival material, especially photographs, provides a guided tour to a significant but forgotten time.
Highly recommended for cinema buffs, dog lovers, historians of post-WWI American culture and everyone else who loves finding that special, unusual book that turns out to be a goldmine of provocative ideas.
Rin-Tin-Tin: The Movie Star OverviewRin-Tin-Tin, a German Shepherd, an icon of the 1920s and early 1930s, was as famous a movie hero as Rudolph Valentino or Douglas Fairbanks. His athletic feats astonished audiences - he could scale an eleven-foot fence, leap over chasms, and climb trees. His acting brought tears, laughter, and amazement. At train stops, when he was on tour, crowds gathered to give him ice cream. Thousands of children wrote him fan letters, and he answered with a paw-autographed photograph. This book is a biography of both Rin-Tin-Tin and Lee Duncan, his owner and trainer. It places their lives in the context of their times, especially France, where they met, and Hollywood, where Rin-Tin-Tin became a star. At the heart of the book are the questions: 'Why did a dog, at that particular time, become so famous?" and 'How much of the legend of Rin-Tin-Tin is really true?"

Want to learn more information about Rin-Tin-Tin: The Movie Star?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...

The Hollywood Book of Extravagance: The Totally Infamous, Mostly Disastrous, and Always Compelling Excesses of America's Film and TV Idols Review

The Hollywood Book of Extravagance: The Totally Infamous, Mostly Disastrous, and Always Compelling Excesses of America's Film and TV Idols
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy The Hollywood Book of Extravagance: The Totally Infamous, Mostly Disastrous, and Always Compelling Excesses of America's Film and TV Idols? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Hollywood Book of Extravagance: The Totally Infamous, Mostly Disastrous, and Always Compelling Excesses of America's Film and TV Idols. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Hollywood Book of Extravagance: The Totally Infamous, Mostly Disastrous, and Always Compelling Excesses of America's Film and TV Idols ReviewProlific Hollywood author and biographer, James Robert Parish, has just published a fascinating gallery of sketches of the great and near-great Hollywood celebrities from the past 70 years through today in his latest book, THE HOLLYWOOD BOOK OF EXTRAVAGANCE. Let's be honest: there were many great stars of Hollywood's Golden Age who were quite sensible and level-headed (Rosalind Russell, Irene Dunne, Ray Milland and Fred MacMurray easily come to mind) but really, who wants to read about THEM? Far more entertaining are the celebs whose lives and careers flared brightly and often briefly though fate, but more often through mismanagement and by their own personal demons. Such circumstances may have ultimately made for a hellish life to live, but these are the stuff of the biographer's dream - and the reader's delight.
Parish reviews the familiar names such as Marilyn Monroe, Richard Burton, Frank Sinatra, and Joan Crawford, but for the true film aficionado are the cautionary tales of Veronica Lake, Betty Hutton, Oscar Levant, Macaulay Culkin, Burt Reynolds, and many other celebs - some quite forgotten today but celebrated (or notorious) in their own day. A highly recommended book that will make the actors you see on Turner Classic Movies become three dimensional for their follies and foibles.The Hollywood Book of Extravagance: The Totally Infamous, Mostly Disastrous, and Always Compelling Excesses of America's Film and TV Idols OverviewSavor the inside scoop on over-the-top superstars"I'm not a paranoid, deranged millionaire. . . . I'm a billionaire!""Acting is an empty and useless profession.""Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere else.""I'm interested in being provocative and pushing people's buttons."Which screen icons gave us the quotes above? How do stars get away with self-indulgent, unrestrained behaviors-or do they? In The Hollywood Book of Extravagance, longtime industry insider and Hollywood historian James Robert Parish gives you a provocative look behind the scenes at the lavish indulgences and larger-than-life egos of Tinseltown's rich and famous. The featured celebrities range from heartthrobs to industry tycoons, and from yesterday's matinee idols to today's hottest celebs. The stars are grouped according to their excesses: ego, neurosis, partying, power, rich living, and romancing. You'll devour little-known details on the excesses and exploits of notables ranging from Mae West to Madonna, Greta Garbo to Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando, Bela Lugosi to John Belushi, Zsa Zsa Gabor to Paris Hilton, Errol Flynn to Jude Law, and many more.

Want to learn more information about The Hollywood Book of Extravagance: The Totally Infamous, Mostly Disastrous, and Always Compelling Excesses of America's Film and TV Idols?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...

Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes about the Stars and Legends of the Movies Review

Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes about the Stars and Legends of the Movies
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes about the Stars and Legends of the Movies? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes about the Stars and Legends of the Movies. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes about the Stars and Legends of the Movies ReviewWell finally someone wrote a book, a collection of tales and anecdotes about Hollywood and the people who work and dwell there that is actually readable and believable. I must admit that when I first received this work I was terribly skeptical and actually put if off for a awhile. I am a bit old, a bit jaded and the normal Hollywood "tell all" type of book bores me to tears...well actually, not to tears so much, due to the fact that I normally fall asleep before I finish the first few pages.
Not so this wonderful collection! These stories about our acting "nobility" are quite down to earth. Some (actually many) are extremely funny, others rather whimsical and a few sort of down right sad. The author, Stephen Schochet has a wonderful no nonsense writing style that is absolutely refreshing in this genre. No lurid and off color stories which usually come from the mind and pen of `wishful thinking' so called authors wanting to sell books; no, these are bits of history; pieces of lore taken from what has been and is a strong and influential institution in our country. Like it or not, our entire society has to one extent or another, been influenced by the actors, directors, producers, writers and other workers in Hollywood or film industry.
Each story is smartly written and a delight to read. The author covers the entire gambit of our film industry from the old silent films right up to current times. While not every actor that ever made a film is featured here, literally hundreds upon hundreds are, along with many producers, directors and film makers. There is a bit of something is this work for everyone. There are even stories from T.V. land and its stars to pick from. These little anecdotes are for the most part brief. Many are about a paragraph long...a few extend past a page. Each story though shines in that it is quite obviously being told by a master story teller and a very fine writer. All in all, this is a very impressive bit of work.
For myself, I enjoyed the historical aspect of the work. I must admit that I learned much in that the writer takes us behind the scenes time and again to reveal little quirks, bright remarks, banter between actors and in many cases, why a film was made and how. All of these little tidbits add so much the enjoyment of a movie; both of those you have seen in the past, and those you will in the future.
This work can easily be read from cover to cover; non stop, or it can be picked up at random, a few stories read and set aside to savor another time. The problem I had though; like my title above indicates, this book and these stories were like a bowl of pistachios setting in front of me. I am one of those people who simply cannot eat just one of the darn things, no, no, no...I will eat until each shell is cracked and each nut gobbled. I simply cannot stop. That was the way of this book! Once I started reading the thing, I simply had to go on and on and on.
If you enjoy films, or are interested in film history, or just want a good belly laugh here and there, then you certainly will want to add this one to your reading list soon.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes about the Stars and Legends of the Movies OverviewAt high noon on a cold November day in 1974, sixty-seven-year-old John Wayne faced off with the staff of the Harvard Lampoon on the famous campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The students had issued their challenge by calling the beloved American icon a fraud. Wayne, who had his new movie McQ to promote, responded by saying he would be happy to show his film in the pseudo-intellectual swamps of Harvard Square. After the screening, without writers, the former USC footballer delivered a classic performance. When one smart young man asked where he got his phony toupee, Wayne insisted the hair was real. It wasn t his, but it was real. The appreciative underclassmen loved him and after the Q and A session, they all sat down to dinner. Later Wayne, who was suffering greatly from both gout and the after effects of lung cancer (sadly the Duke only had five years to live), said that day at Harvard was the best time he ever had.Just when you thought you've heard everything about Hollywood comes a totally original new book. Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes About the Stars and Legends of the Movies! by Stephen Schochet contains a timeless treasure trove of colorful vignettes featuring an amazing all-star cast of icons including John Wayne, Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Jack Nicholson, Johnny Depp, Shirley Temple, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Errol Flynn and many others both past and contemporary.A special blend of biography, history and lore Hollywood Stories is full of humorous tales often with unexpected endings. What makes the book unique is that the reader can go to any page and find a completely engaging and illuminating yarn. Sometimes people won't realize that they are reading about The Three Stooges or Popeye the Sailor until they come to the end of the story.A professional tour guide in Hollywood, Stephen Schochet has researched and told thousands of entertaining anecdotes for over twenty years. He is also the author and narrator of two audiobooks Tales of Hollywood and Fascinating Walt Disney. Tim Sika, host of the radio show Celluloid Dreams on KSJS in San Jose has called Stephen, "The best storyteller about Hollywood we have ever heard."

Want to learn more information about Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes about the Stars and Legends of the Movies?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...