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A review by stlorca
American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood & the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum
4.0
Howard Blum's American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century is terrific reading--it completely envelops the reader in the atmosphere of 1900s Los Angeles. The central axis of the book turns on a series of bombings across America, culminating in the demolition of the Los Angeles Times building in 1910. The book concentrates on three central characters: celebrity lawyer Clarence Darrow, hired to defend two brothers accused of the crime; filmmaker D. W. Griffith; and America's greatest private detective, William "Billy" Burns.
Nobody involved in this has clean hands. Propaganda filmmaking, jury tampering, bribery, espionage...this sooo needs to be an HBO miniseries. If this were set in the 30s, it would be an awesome film noir starring Sam Spade. American Lightning makes an excellent companion piece to Cadillac Desert.
Nobody involved in this has clean hands. Propaganda filmmaking, jury tampering, bribery, espionage...this sooo needs to be an HBO miniseries. If this were set in the 30s, it would be an awesome film noir starring Sam Spade. American Lightning makes an excellent companion piece to Cadillac Desert.