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daviddiamond's review against another edition
5.0
Detailed account of the murder of Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor. Author William Mann leaves no stone unturned as he examines in great detail the players involved in this unsolved case (yet he definitely names the most likely culprit)! An intimate and fascinating account of Hollywood in it's infancy. If you're a classic film fan...you won't be dissapointed.
mountie9's review against another edition
3.0
The Good Stuff
Reads like fiction. Forgot on many occasions that I was reading non-fiction
Absolutely fascinating, hooked me in with the first chapter. Author really knows how to set a scene
Henry Peavey sounded like he was a delightful and colourful man
Interesting to find out about the scandal involving Fatty Arbuckle. I knew a little about it from stories from my Dad, but had no idea what really had happened. Poor bastard.
I know, I know, but I am still flabbergasted at the Anti-antisemitism against the Jews in Hollywood - especially by so called christian people who went to church every sunday but thought Jews were evil - still blows me away
Made me very interested in reading more about Hays
Extremely thorough and well researched
Fascinating exploration of the decadence of Hollywood in the Twenties
The Not So Good Stuff
Not sure if the finished copy (I received an ARC) has pictures, but if not, this would be a lovely addition
My lord, Mary's mother was a truly horrific women - cannot believe the scene in which she forces her daughter to have an abortion - worse than many evil fictional characters
Ummm tagline says murder was solved until now- well technically it is not solved, this is just a theory (This is the reason I lowered the rating on the book)
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"The affair had started as a lark, full of fun and laughs, but it had ended up wrecking Mabel's health and depleting her bank account--the way romances with cocaine usually ended."
"The only part of his religious education that had ever interested the future moviemaker was the Bible itself, because it was a primer in how to tell good stories."
"Zukor knew that bringing on Hays wouldn't completely silence bigots like Ford, but it would deprive them of one of their most potent, and loathsome, rallying cries. The leader of the movies would no longer be a Jewish infidel, but a Christian elder."
3.25 Dewey's
I received this from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review
Reads like fiction. Forgot on many occasions that I was reading non-fiction
Absolutely fascinating, hooked me in with the first chapter. Author really knows how to set a scene
Henry Peavey sounded like he was a delightful and colourful man
Interesting to find out about the scandal involving Fatty Arbuckle. I knew a little about it from stories from my Dad, but had no idea what really had happened. Poor bastard.
I know, I know, but I am still flabbergasted at the Anti-antisemitism against the Jews in Hollywood - especially by so called christian people who went to church every sunday but thought Jews were evil - still blows me away
Made me very interested in reading more about Hays
Extremely thorough and well researched
Fascinating exploration of the decadence of Hollywood in the Twenties
The Not So Good Stuff
Not sure if the finished copy (I received an ARC) has pictures, but if not, this would be a lovely addition
My lord, Mary's mother was a truly horrific women - cannot believe the scene in which she forces her daughter to have an abortion - worse than many evil fictional characters
Ummm tagline says murder was solved until now- well technically it is not solved, this is just a theory (This is the reason I lowered the rating on the book)
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"The affair had started as a lark, full of fun and laughs, but it had ended up wrecking Mabel's health and depleting her bank account--the way romances with cocaine usually ended."
"The only part of his religious education that had ever interested the future moviemaker was the Bible itself, because it was a primer in how to tell good stories."
"Zukor knew that bringing on Hays wouldn't completely silence bigots like Ford, but it would deprive them of one of their most potent, and loathsome, rallying cries. The leader of the movies would no longer be a Jewish infidel, but a Christian elder."
3.25 Dewey's
I received this from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review
kaylor_guitar's review against another edition
4.0
This was definitely an interesting book. The premise of it, a murder at the dawn of Hollywood that has gone unsolved for almost a century, was what drew me in initially. But it was the exquisite, story-like, telling and all the surrounding cast that held me enthralled.
The book revolves around the still unofficially unsolved murder of William Desmond Taylor, a prominent movie director in the early days of Hollywood (the 1920s) and the potential suspects. But beyond that the author William J. Mann does a wonderful job rounding out almost all of the people involved (the exception in my opinion being the victim himself). The three "desperate dames". The "megalomaniac" CEO. The "locusts". The investigators. All of them have been carefully researched and portrayed as they really were, flaws and all.
And beyond the whodunit, there is a whole other story playing out in between the pages of this book. It's the story of Hollywood. Of power, corruption, and greed. But also of honest people trying to make an honest living, yet having their names drawn through the mud by so-called journalists. It's the story of censorship vs. the first amendment. Of public democracy vs. political and religious groups. And how the story plays out is just as gripping as the whodunit.
The book revolves around the still unofficially unsolved murder of William Desmond Taylor, a prominent movie director in the early days of Hollywood (the 1920s) and the potential suspects. But beyond that the author William J. Mann does a wonderful job rounding out almost all of the people involved (the exception in my opinion being the victim himself). The three "desperate dames". The "megalomaniac" CEO. The "locusts". The investigators. All of them have been carefully researched and portrayed as they really were, flaws and all.
And beyond the whodunit, there is a whole other story playing out in between the pages of this book. It's the story of Hollywood. Of power, corruption, and greed. But also of honest people trying to make an honest living, yet having their names drawn through the mud by so-called journalists. It's the story of censorship vs. the first amendment. Of public democracy vs. political and religious groups. And how the story plays out is just as gripping as the whodunit.
socraticgadfly's review against another edition
2.0
This wasn't that good.
I'm not a big movies buff, but I do like occasional true crime reading, especially unsolved true crime, so I grabbed this at a library.
I don't know if Mann has movie errors, but I know he has a few obvious non-movie ones.
Like talking about geysers at Yosemite. Did you, perhaps, mean Yellowstone?
Then, there's writing errors, notably, his grating insistence on using "clew" instead of "clue" for authenticity.
Wrong.
Hey, Mann? Google N-gram said that, in books at least, "clew" peaked 25 years before the events of this book, and that in the early 1920s, its use was lower than in 1860. Besides, if you wanted authentic feel, it's kind of silly focusing on one word.
Beyond that, his writing in general is not that good. There wasn't a lot of sizzle, if he was looking for novelistic feel.
Nor did he make a convincing case for his claim as the suspect. Didn't tie him well to Taylor, nor did he explain why he could have killed him rather than continuing to blackmail him.
Finally, book publisher? Don't use a word in a title for alliteration if it's not a part of the book? Heroin might have been, though cocaine was more common, but morphine was not.
I'm not a big movies buff, but I do like occasional true crime reading, especially unsolved true crime, so I grabbed this at a library.
I don't know if Mann has movie errors, but I know he has a few obvious non-movie ones.
Like talking about geysers at Yosemite. Did you, perhaps, mean Yellowstone?
Then, there's writing errors, notably, his grating insistence on using "clew" instead of "clue" for authenticity.
Wrong.
Hey, Mann? Google N-gram said that, in books at least, "clew" peaked 25 years before the events of this book, and that in the early 1920s, its use was lower than in 1860. Besides, if you wanted authentic feel, it's kind of silly focusing on one word.
Beyond that, his writing in general is not that good. There wasn't a lot of sizzle, if he was looking for novelistic feel.
Nor did he make a convincing case for his claim as the suspect. Didn't tie him well to Taylor, nor did he explain why he could have killed him rather than continuing to blackmail him.
Finally, book publisher? Don't use a word in a title for alliteration if it's not a part of the book? Heroin might have been, though cocaine was more common, but morphine was not.
mrsburg528's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't love this book like I hoped I would. It had a lot of extra detail that might have been more interesting if I didn't have anything else to do or read. I started this book after listening to a podcast on the murder of William Desmond Taylor.
co2lreads's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
It's an incredibly fascinating bit of Hollywood history, but I felt like there were still some loose ends. Obviously this is still an unsolved case but I still felt that there were some people who didn't get enough page time. Still loved learning about 1920s Hollywood.
leeahsmestad's review against another edition
3.0
"Of course it did."
Well. It was okay. An interesting story about old Hollywood and how it hasn't changed but a bit dry. Glad I read it but glad it's done ;)
Well. It was okay. An interesting story about old Hollywood and how it hasn't changed but a bit dry. Glad I read it but glad it's done ;)