 "Hollywood
Babylon"
by Kenneth Anger
Straight Arrow Books, 1975
Ahhhhh...Hollywood and
the boulevards of broken dreams. In this well known book, Anger chronicles
the seedy history of tinsel town. From the dawn of the big film studios
to current era, all the tawdry tales are laid out. Anger focuses less on
the individual stories, but rather paints his tarnishes tapestry in broad
strokes highlighting the strange lives and deaths of the Hollywood stars.
It's the side of Hollywood that fans turn a blind eye to. Even though the
movie going world knows their idols are more sinner than saint, they want
to pretend that the world in front of the camera is somehow more magical
and wonderful than the world behind it. This is an example of tabloid journalism
at its best. Nothing is cencored, no punches pulled. (Take for example
the plunging neckline shot of Jayne Mansfield
on the cover and shots of her fatal accident inside.) There are scandals
galore like the infamous Fatty Arbuckle affair, Charlie Chaplin and his
child bride, Clara Bow and the University of Southern California football
team, the fury of Frances Farmer, hop heads, crimes of passion, suicide
sawn dives and all other sorts of crimes against god and man. So, if you
want the dirt on Hollywood history, dig no futher.
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