Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
£8.30
New York Times Bestseller • Edgar Award winner for Best Fact Crime
The Day of the Locust meets The Devil in the White City and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in this juicy, untold Hollywood story: an addictive true tale of ambition, scandal, intrigue, murder, and the creation of the modern film industry.
By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America’s new favorite pastime, and one of the nation’s largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence. Yet Hollywood’s glittering ascendency was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies—including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
In a fiendishly involving narrative, bestselling Hollywood chronicler William J. Mann draws on a rich host of sources, including recently released FBI files, to unpack the story of the enigmatic Taylor and the diverse cast that surrounded him—including three beautiful, ambitious actresses; a grasping stage mother; a devoted valet; and a gang of two-bit thugs, any of whom might have fired the fatal bullet. And overseeing this entire landscape of intrigue was Adolph Zukor, the brilliant and ruthless founder of Paramount, locked in a struggle for control of the industry and desperate to conceal the truth about the crime. Along the way, Mann brings to life Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties: a sparkling yet schizophrenic town filled with party girls, drug dealers, religious zealots, newly-minted legends and starlets already past their prime—a dangerous place where the powerful could still run afoul of the desperate.
A true story recreated with the suspense of a novel, Tinseltown is the work of a storyteller at the peak of his powers—and the solution to a crime that has stumped detectives and historians for nearly a century.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Harper Paperbacks, Reprint edition (5 Nov. 2015) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 528 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0062242199 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0062242198 |
| Dimensions | 2.54 x 13.21 x 19.56 cm |
by Simon1971
I have read numerous books on this scandal over the years. A great job by the author bringing the case to life against the backdrop of Hollywood in the 20s. A very different view of Will Hays to that which I had before. Recommended for those that love the early days of cinema.
by Hornsey Hound
Not a novel, but the attempt to present factual stuff in semi-novel form makes this book a bit ungainly – I wasn’t always sure what I was reading. And way too much detail…these might well have been interesting and important characters in a story about the rise of Hollywood and the movie business but none of them merit such in-depth analysis (some of which is conjecture anyway). Could have been trimmed by 70 pages or so and it would still have been a lot to take in. Still, it’s a hefty subject and the author brings the people, places, and prevailing attitudes to life in a pretty readable way. If you’re someone who’s a fan (ie obsessive) about the era and the people involved you’ll probably like it a lot; for the rest of us it caused a few yawns.
by Julian Wolfendale
Lovingly researched and wonderfully written, this book brings to life the early, dark days of Hollywood. Like a film noir script, they wrte days just as decadent as any decade, including today. The characters jump off the pages, in their determination, desperation and glamour. As ever, some win and some lose,
Great read.
by S Riaz
This is the story of a murder, which happened over 90 years ago in Los Angeles. In 1922, Los Angeles had become the centre of the fledgling film industry and William Desmond Taylor was one of the leading film directors. One morning, his valet, Henry Peavey arrived for work as normal to find his employer murdered and, once again, scandal hit Hollywood. For this is not just the story of William Desmond Taylor (or William Deane-Tanner, as he was originally known before re-creating himself – as so many did, and still do – in Hollywood) but of the film industry itself. As such, it involves not only those involved with the murder case, but of the characters that were finding their feet, and instilling control, on this new and lucrative business. From Adolph Zukor (known to employees as, “creepy”) the President of Famous Players, to Will Hays, who was brought in by the industry itself to help protect them from accusations of immorality, drug use, drinking (during a time of prohibition) and endless partying; this is a story of power, control, accusations, attempts at censorship and unfolding scandals…
Hollywood itself was under attack at the time of Taylor’s murder. From actors and actresses using drugs, to the all pervading press interest in the Fatty Arbuckle murder trial, the film industry stood accused of affecting the morals of the young and providing bad role models. It was gradually becoming understood that the young looked up to these new heroes and heroines of the screen and that, whether children were ‘swash-buckling’ like Douglas Fairbanks Jr. or dying their hair to look like the newest screen goddess, these people were becoming important and could not be ignored; causing a moral panic to erupt. When Taylor was murdered, those in the business were more concerned with covering up the scandal than in discovering the culprit – like most people in Hollywood, Taylor had his own secrets. A homosexual man who had abandoned his wife and daughter for a new life (although he certainly financially supported them), Taylor seemed to be loved by all who knew him – so, why was he killed?
This book takes us through all the possible scenario’s (before offering a solution at the very end) and these range from disgruntled, criminal former employees, drug dealers that Taylor had warned off, jealousy and possible blackmail. Much of the book revolves around three women in Taylor’s life. Actress Mabel Normand, a dear friend of Taylor’s and a woman re-making her life after drug dependency, Margaret ‘Gibby’ Gibson, an ambitious but fading actress, trying to reinvent herself as ‘Patricia Palmer’ and young starlet, Mary Miles Minter, just eighteen, and her over-bearing ‘stage’ mother, Mrs Shelby. This book takes us through Taylor’s life and relationships, including Mary Miles Minter’s obvious crush on the older man and also the investigation into his murder.
Although I have read many true crime books, this is much more a story of a time and place than of the actual murder investigation itself – although that is obviously covered. At times the book reads more like a novel and the flowery language, while suiting the era the author writes about, can sometimes be a little too much. However, the author is certainly realistic in re-telling how the crime scene was compromised and how the investigation was stalled and evidence covered up. Zukor was so concerned about Taylor – who he considered his spokesman for the industry – being damaged by scandal that he flew to L.A. himself and was utterly calculating and callous when protecting his own interests – sacrificing people with no thought to anyone but himself. In fact, like Hollywood itself, this is often a rather sordid tale. Scratching beneath the surface uncovers jealousy, thwarted ambition, financial desperation and the growing influence of drugs. If you have any interest in either true crime, or the early days of Hollywood, this is an interesting account of both a tragic event and how it was dealt with by an industry just beginning to feel their influence, and flex their muscles, in a fast changing time.
by Peter Laing
Mann paints an evocative picture of the early days of Hollywood and the struggles of the men who ran it from keeping censorship at bay. Thoroughly researched, Mann offers intriguing insights into the players at the top of the tree – such as Zukor and Loewe, and the man they got in to keep federal and state censorship at bay – Hayes. He also paints a fascinating account of three actresses – one a major star, now waning, another a stage daughter with a monster of a stage mother and a third, much lower down the pecking order who unaccountably kept getting breaks in big productions. In the middle of Hollywood’s attempts to talk their way out of regulation, one of their public faces of propriety was murdered – and another scandal threatened to engulf Hollywood. Mann aims to answer ‘whodunnit’ and advances a persuasive theory. Is he right? Who knows? But you’ll keep turning the pages to draw your own conclusion.
by Death to spurs
The title of this book explains the subject matter fully.
It’s a well written interesting snapshot of the dawn of hollywood centering on the strange murder of one of the leading players.
A very good and riveting read.
by Tiptonian
Not what I expected but I stuck with it. An interesting way of combining real stories into a type of novel. Too long and drawn out. Rather convoluted really.
by sebquest
Brilliant audio book with an incredible amount of detail of Hollywood in the 1920s. 90% of the book deals with the surrounding characters & related events while only 10% with the actual central crime, however, the listener is never bored – if you are interested in the period & subject matter this is a worthwhile purchase and a many-time repeatable listen. As always, the narrator is key to the presentation and his performance is excellent.