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BOOK LIST:

True Hollywood Stories

Updated: March 21, 2023

Insider accounts of the film industry, and the men and women who created it.


Book cover for The big goodbye : Chinatown and the last years of Hollywood
The big goodbye : Chinatown and the last years of Hollywood
Wasson, Sam
Call Number: 791.1 C539Wa

An incisive, scintillating examination of the making of the movie Chinatown that focuses on four people: Jack Nicholson, Roman Polanski, Robert Evans and Robert Towne.

 

Book cover for Complicated women : sex and power in pre-code Hollywood
Complicated women : sex and power in pre-code Hollywood
LaSalle, Mick.
Call Number: 791.9 L338
Author Mick La Salle celebrates the smart, strong, and saucy female characters of early 1930s cinema, and the actresses who brought these glorious gals to life.

Book cover for An empire of their own : how the Jews invented Hollywood
An empire of their own : how the Jews invented Hollywood
Gabler, Neal.
Call Number: 791.9 G115
Follow the history of East European Jews who traded names like Gelbfisz, Meir, Wonsal, for Goldwyn, Mayer, and Warner, and came to dominate popular American culture through the magic of movies.

Book cover for Fifth Avenue, 5 AM : Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the dawn of the modern woman
Fifth Avenue, 5 AM : Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the dawn of the modern woman
Wasson, Sam.
Call Number: 791.1 B828Wa
Find out why the tale of a party girl in a little black dress with a nameless cat and an affinity for a certain jewelry store still captures our imaginations a half a century later.

Book cover for The genius of the system : Hollywood filmmaking in the studio era
The genius of the system : Hollywood filmmaking in the studio era
Schatz, Thomas, 1948-
Call Number: 791.9 S312-1
Take a look at the major studios of Hollywood's Golden age and how their assembly-like precision gave us some of the most memorable films in the history of cinema.

Book cover for Hollywood be thy name : the Warner Brothers story
Hollywood be thy name : the Warner Brothers story
Sperling, Cass Warner, 1948-
Call Number: 791.9 W285Sp
Warner granddaughter Cass Warner Sperling recounts the family legend of four brothers who traded a horse for a movie projector and built a film empire.

Book cover for The making of The misfits
The making of The misfits
Goode, James.
Call Number: 791.1 M678Go 1986
A riveting look at the hellish production of a classic film written by playwright Arthur Miller, directed by John Huston, and starring a prize cast of Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, and Eli Wallach.

Book cover for Scarlett, Rhett, and a cast of thousands : the filming of Gone with the wind
Scarlett, Rhett, and a cast of thousands : the filming of Gone with the wind
Flamini, Roland.
Call Number: 791.1 G638Fla
Even though the lead actress was cast after filming began, the director walked off to have a nervous breakdown, and the producer sustained himself on handfuls of Benzedrine, this 1939 epic still managed to become one of the most successful and beloved films in Hollywood history.

Book cover for Shocking true story : the rise and fall of Confidential, America's most scandalous scandal magazine
Shocking true story : the rise and fall of Confidential, "America's most scandalous scandal magazine"
Scott, Henry E., 1951-
Call Number: 071 C7485Sc
Peruse the pages of the granddaddy of all tabloid magazines, and witness how publisher Robert Harrison created an empire of gossip that crumbled as quickly as it was built.

Book cover for When Blanche met Brando : the scandalous story of A streetcar named Desire
When Blanche met Brando : the scandalous story of "A streetcar named Desire"
Staggs, Sam.
Call Number: 812 W727Stag
Author Sam Staggs traces the history of the timeless southern tragedy from stage to screen and how a brute named Kowalski made an actor named Brando a star.

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