Apparently There Were Complaints by Sharon Gless

Emmy Award­–winning actress Sharon Gless tells all in this laugh-out-loud, juicy, and touching memoir about her five decades in Hollywood, where she took on some of the most groundbreaking roles of her time.

Anyone who has seen Sharon Gless act in Cagney and Lacey, Queer as Folk, Burn Notice, and countless other shows and movies, knows that she’s someone who gives every role her all. She holds nothing back in Apparently There Were Complaints, a hilarious, deeply personal memoir that spills all about Gless’s five decades in Hollywood.

A fifth-generation Californian, Sharon Gless knew from a young age that she wanted to be an actress. After some rocky teenage years that included Sharon’s parents’ divorce and some minor (and not-so-minor) rebellion, Gless landed a coveted spot as an exclusive contract player for Universal Studios. In 1982, she stepped into the role of New York Police Detective Christine Cagney for the series Cagney and Lacey, which eventually reached an audience of 30 million weekly viewers and garnered Gless with two Emmy Awards. The show made history as the first hour-long drama to feature two women in the leading roles.

Gless continued to make history long after Cagney and Lacey was over. In 2000, she took on the role of outrageous Debbie Novotny in Queer as Folk. Her portrayal of a devoted mother to a gay son and confidant to his gay friends touched countless hearts and changed the definition of family for millions of viewers.

Apparently There Were Complaints delves into Gless’s remarkable career and explores Gless’s complicated family, her struggles with alcoholism, and her fear of romantic commitment as well as her encounters with some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Brutally honest and incredibly relatable, Gless puts it all out on the page in the same way she has lived—never with moderation.

Check out the reviews on the official Simon & Schuster page

Review: The Doom List by Gerard O'Donovan

Synopsis: The Doom List - you'd rather be dead than be on it: the intriguing new 1920s mystery featuring Irish-born cop turned private investigator Tom Collins.

July, 1922. Newly-appointed 'movie czar' William H. Hays is about to arrive in town on a single-minded mission to clean up Hollywood. He is said to be compiling a list of 'undesirables' whom he plans to bar from screen work. They call it the Doom List.

With the industry in the grip of fear and paranoia, Hollywood's hottest young director Rex Ingram is determined that no hint of scandal should mar the premiere of his new movie, The Prisoner of Zenda, and hires private investigator Tom Collins, a fellow Irishman, with instructions to protect his leading lady's reputation at all costs. But, as Collins discovers, Barbara La Marr isn't the only member of the cast hiding a dangerous secret.

Meanwhile, a body is discovered in the Baldwin Hills to the south of the city. Could there be a connection? Against his better judgement, Collins is drawn into a case of scandal, forbidden love, blackmail . . . and cold-blooded murder.

This quite neatly follows on from "The Long Silence" which is set in February 1922 and has Tom investigating the disappearance of an actress with close links to the recently murdered director, William Desmond Taylor.

Hollywood 1922

Hollwood started out as a new land development in the 1880s.  It wasn't until 1910 that the first motion picture company - the Nestor Motion Picture Company- set up in Hollywood, which - unlike the East Coast where the majority of films were made - had ideal weather conditions and easy access to locations. The following year, four major film companies – Paramount, Warner Bros., RKO, and Columbia – had their studios in Hollywood, as did several minor companies and rental studios.

Rex Ingram

Tom is no longer attached to the studios as their in-house "fixer" - he has managed to open an office of his own, and through long time "friend" Fay Parker, he meets director Rex Ingram. Rex has just finished "The Prisoner of Zenda" for Metro Studios and is about to hit the publicity trail, whilst in the process of making yet another film, Black Orchids (renamed Trifling Women).

Barbara La Marr

However, his leading lady, Barbara La Marr is not the only one among his cast who has secrets they would much prefer to remain hidden, especially since moral crusader Will H Hays is on his way to clean up the fledgling Tinseltown.  An up and coming young Mexican star Ramon, rumoured to be the next Valentino, has problems of his own and Barbara asked Tom to help him out. Hollywood at this time had a burgeoning Mexican population, attracted by the closeness to the border and the multitude of new employment opportunities that arose from the movie industry.

Ramon Novarro

Hollywood had much to hide by way of scandals from secret pregnancies and abortions, drug and alcohol addiction, homosexuality, affairs, violence and murder.  Many stars burnt bright then faded back into obscurity; the lucky ones stuck around a little longer - it was the movie-going public who could make or break both a film and its stars, so the studios employed "fixers" to cover up an indiscretions and buy off silence.  Unfortunately, not everything could be swept under the carpet.

Will H Hays

In January 1922 Will H Hays was been appointed as chairman of Chairman of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) shortly after the organization's founding. The goal of the organization was to renovate the image of the movie industry in the wake of the scandal surrounding the alleged rape and murder of model and actress Virginia Rappe, of which film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was accused, and amid growing calls by religious groups for federal censorship of the movies. Hiring Hays to "clean up the pictures" was, at least in part, a public relations ploy and much was made of his conservative credentials, including his roles as a Presbyterian deacon and past chairman of the Republican Party. However, at the time of our story, Hays had not yet made a name for himself or trouble for the studios - but the implied threat was very real for some. 

I really enjoyed this second trip into old Hollywood - silents films are still the rage, talkies are barely on the scene, actors and actresses were glamourous, scandalous, mysterious and sometimes murderous. The weaving of some of these famous Hollywood folk into the story gives it a bit more of an edge, and O'Donovan again uses events from this time as a backdrop.

Whilst it is not necessary to have read the first in this series, I would recommend that you do as there are references to previous events in this new outing - events which have never quite been closed.

In Tom Collins, ex-cop, ex-studio fixer, now private inquiry agent, O'Donovan gives us a character straight from the pages of the classic noir playbook - right up their with Spade, Hammer or Marlowe.  I enjoyed the style of storytelling, which provided enough plot twists and turns and diversions to keep the reader firmly planted on the edge of their seat.  You get a true sense of what it was like back in the early days of Hollywood and Los Angeles.

Check out
- Silent Era: The Silent Film Website
- Wikipedia: real life Hollywood Fixer, Eddie Mannix
- Atlas Obscura: the Fixers who buried Old Hollywood's biggest scandals

Review: Hollywood's Dark History by Matt MacNabb

Synopsis: The early days of Hollywood were full of glamour and a newfound decadence. The stars in these films were instantly catapulted to fame and fortune and the spotlight of the public eye. The real people behind the glamour were far different than the characters that audiences grew to know and love and much like Hollywood today, the lives of the stars were often full of scandal and debauchery.

This book examines the forgotten scandals of yesterday, featuring silent and silver screen stars like Jean Harlow, Mae West, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and Errol Flynn. Don't let the romanticized black and white world of yesterday fool you, their stories are rife with sex, drugs and murder.

Not quite in the salacious and gossipy tone of Hollywood Babylon, these thirteen vignettes take us back to the early days of Hollywood and to a few of the earliest scandals. From failed marriages and numerous liaisons, drug and alcohol addiction, abusive childhoods and relationships, murder, blackmail, gangsters, sex tapes and everything else in between, this makes for remarkable reading.

Many of the names may already be familiar to those who harken back to the era of vaudeville, silent films, and the "talkies" - Chaplin, Arbuckle, Normand, Taylor, Flynn, Crawford, Turner & West. All are presented with a look to their earlier life, career, personal life, and legacy. Not all received their star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame - and one wonders if of those who did, whether they actually deserved them.

An afternoon's escapism.

Review: Murder Will Out by Tony Piazza

Synopsis: 1930s Hollywood wasn’t just moving picture stars and backlots. It was also a petri dish crawling with crime. Power breeding corruption, wealth motivating robbery, and revenge leading to murder. In these three tales, Private Investigator, Tom Logan uses his brains, fists, and caustic wit, to first, take on a mysterious organization called ‘The Syndicate,’ which is usurping territory from other mobs and has placed a target on him, and the female witness he’s protecting. In a second story, Tom rescues a fair maiden from the clutches of a racketeer running a gambling boat. She becomes the ‘marker’ Logan has to prevent him from cashing in. And finally, Tom discovers that revenge is anything but sweet. A repeat (serial) murderer – labeled ‘The Full Moon Killer’ by the press, is stalking The City of Angels. Unfortunately, Logan’s name is on this character’s list.

Not the first book with this title, nor the first to be set in this era. But I was intrigued. The theme of old Hollywood, detectives (or PIs), a mystery, an author with a connection - who could not be hooked.

The fact this that is a prequel - and that I had not read any in the preceding series - was a good omen. It meant that I was starting at the beginning, I hadn't missed anything, and I had something more to look forward to. And I will be seeking out this series.now that I have read these three "cases". I also enjoyed the first person narrative - which reminded me of two of the genre's other great detectives - Spade, Marlowe. 

I am returning to my roots - so to speak - of detective fiction, and have read extensively over the last few years, some old favourites and some new works. This is one I would happily add to my own collection - and the rest in the series. 

Review: Indigo by Loren D Estleman

Synopsis: Film detective Valentino is summoned to the estate of Ignacio Bozel to collect a prized donation to the university’s movie library: Bleak Street, a film from the classic noir period, thought lost for more than sixty years. Bleak Street was never released. Its star, Van Oliver, a gifted and charismatic actor with alleged ties to the mob, disappeared while the project was in post-production, presumably murdered by gangland rivals: another one of Hollywood’s unsolved mysteries. Studio bosses elected to shelve the film rather than risk box-office failure. UCLA’s PR Department is excited about the acquisition, but only if Valentino can find a way to sell it in the mainstream media by way of a sensational discovery to coincide with its release: “We want to know what happened to Oliver.”

Valentino searches for and restores lost films, and in between has restored his own movie theatre. An opportunity to showcase a film thought long lost comes at a price - find out what happened to its star. The more Valentino digs, the more he realises someone doesn't want this film to see light of day.

This was a nice little noir outing with the twist at the end slowly revealing itself in the final chapters. You sort of get a hint that something is not quite what it should be. I hadn't read any of the previous books in this series, though had no real issues with picking up the threads as I read along. Loved the bibliograghy and filmography at the end.

An afternoon's escapism for those that get the chance to read it one sitting. 

Review: Blues In The Dark by Raymond Benson

Synposis: Karissa Glover is a movie producer who moves into a decrepit but functional old mansion in the West Adams Heights area of Los Angeles, where black celebrities of yesteryear—Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers, and others—once resided. The former owner was a white actress, Blair Kendrick, who often starred as the "bad girl"—a femme fatale—in films noir of the 1940s. However, Blair’s career was cut short when she was tragically killed by the mob after allegedly witnessing the slaying of a corrupt studio head in 1949.

As Karissa and her producing partner decide to develop a modern film noir about Blair Kendrick, malevolent forces from the past attempt to stop them—first with intimidation, and then with the thread of murder.

Is this because Karissa has learned that Blair was involved in a then-taboo interracial relationship with jazz musician Hank Marley? What really happened on the night that death struck in a dimly lit studio mogul’s office? The consequences of Blair and Hank’s doomed love affair still resonate in the present day as Karissa attempts to unravel Blair’s secrets.

I love reading about the darker side of Hollywood - who doesn't love reading about a salacious scandal, a mysterious death (or two), blackmail, the infamous "casting couch", the "fixers" who kept the stars' secrets from becoming front page news, and studio bosses who ruled them all.

"Blues In The Dark" covers all of the above, through alternating and interweaving narrative from the present and the past, when a modern-day film maker decides to make a film on a long dead movie start, and in the process uncovers secrets many would kill to ensure remain well hidden.

We all know there's a mystery and a film, but how we get there is slowly teased out chapter by chapter, the tension constantly building as both stories unfold before us and little clues click into place. When the stories do merge, what is revealed is a cycle of destruction and sadness.

I was nearly tempted to categorise this as a cosy mystery - but cosy noir is more apt.

High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic

From History News Network:

In High Noon, journalist Glenn Frankel, the author of an outstanding book on John Ford’s The Searchers, examines the making of a classic Western film within the historical and cultural context of the Red Scare that divided America and Hollywood during the 1950s. While Hollywood is often perceived as a bastion of liberalism, Frankel documents how conservatives in the film capitol, such as Walt Disney, John Wayne, Cecil B. DeMille, and Hedda Hopper, formed the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and invited the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) to Hollywood following the Second World War. The result of the HUAC hearings was the imprisonment of the Hollywood Ten for contempt of Congress after they challenged the right of the committee to question their political beliefs and associations. 

read complete review by Ron Briley here @ History News Network

Review: Hollywood Hang Ten by Eve Goldberg

“Come to Los Angeles! The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see. There are jobs aplenty, and land is cheap. Every working man can have his own house, and inside every house, a happy, all-American family. You can have all this, and who knows...you could even be discovered, become a movie star... or at least see one.” (Danny DeVito, LA Confidential)

Whilst set in the early 1960s, a time of counterculture and revolution with regard to social norms and mores, a time of relaxation of social taboos especially relating to racism and sexism, this book definitely takes you back to the seedier side of the 1950s movie industry and the period just after the McCarthy witch-hunts that dominated Hollywood and elsewhere in America.

Naive wanna-be private eye Ryan Zorn embarks on a case (in his sick uncle's stead) to find a missing boy, before stumbling upon scandal, blackmail and murder, and someone intent on reviving long-dead secrets.

I get the impression that this could quite easily become a series.

read more about Hollywood in the 1950s & 1960s:

@ New York Times: 60s Hollywood

@ Encyclopedia dot com

@ Film History of the 1950s

@ Film History of the 1960s

Author: Amanda Quick

Amanda Quick is a pseudonym for Jayne Ann Krentz, the author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. She writes historical romance novels under the Quick name, contemporary romantic suspense novels under the Krentz name, and futuristic romance novels under the pseudonym Jayne Castle. There are more than 35 million copies of her books in print.

Two books which have caught my attention are:

The Girl Who Knew Too Much

At the exclusive Burning Cove Hotel on the coast of California, rookie reporter Irene Glasson finds herself staring down at a beautiful actress at the bottom of a pool…

The dead woman had something Irene wanted: a red-hot secret about an up-and-coming leading man—a scoop that may have gotten her killed. As Irene searches for the truth about the drowning, she’s drawn to a master of deception. Once a world-famous magician whose career was mysteriously cut short, Oliver Ward is now the owner of the Burning Cove Hotel. He can’t let scandal threaten his livelihood, even if it means trusting Irene, a woman who seems to have appeared in Los Angeles out of nowhere four months ago.

With Oliver’s help, Irene soon learns that the glamorous paradise of Burning Cove hides dark and dangerous secrets. And that the past—always just out of sight—could drag them both under…

The Other Lady Vanishes

After escaping from a private sanitarium, Adelaide Blake arrives in Burning Cove, California, desperate to start over.

Working at an herbal tea shop puts her on the radar of those who frequent the seaside resort town: Hollywood movers and shakers always in need of hangover cures and tonics. One such customer is Jake Truett, a recently widowed businessman in town for a therapeutic rest. But unbeknownst to Adelaide, his exhaustion is just a cover.

In Burning Cove, no one is who they seem. Behind facades of glamour and power hide drug dealers, gangsters, and grifters. Into this make-believe world comes psychic to the stars Madame Zolanda. Adelaide and Jake know better than to fall for her kind of con. But when the medium becomes a victim of her own dire prediction and is killed, they'll be drawn into a murky world of duplicity and misdirection.

Neither Adelaide or Jake can predict that in the shadowy underground they'll find connections to the woman Adelaide used to be--and uncover the specter of a killer who's been real all along...

Brave by Rose McGowan

From Harper Collins:

Rose McGowan was born in one cult and came of age in another, more visible cult: Hollywood.

In a strange world where she was continually on display, stardom soon became a personal nightmare of constant exposure and sexualization. Rose escaped into the world of her mind, something she had done as a child, and into high-profile relationships. Every detail of her personal life became public, and the realities of an inherently sexist industry emerged with every script, role, public appearance, and magazine cover. The Hollywood machine packaged her as a sexualized bombshell, hijacking her image and identity and marketing them for profit.

Hollywood expected Rose to be silent and cooperative and to stay the path. Instead, she rebelled and asserted her true identity and voice. She reemerged unscripted, courageous, victorious, angry, smart, fierce, unapologetic, controversial, and real as f*ck.

BRAVE is her raw, honest, and poignant memoir/manifesto—a no-holds-barred, pull-no-punches account of the rise of a millennial icon, fearless activist, and unstoppable force for change who is determined to expose the truth about the entertainment industry, dismantle the concept of fame, shine a light on a multibillion-dollar business built on systemic misogyny, and empower people everywhere to wake up and be BRAVE.

read more here 

@ Independent (Ireland)

@ The Guardian

@ Sydney Morning Herald

The Fixers Who Buried Old Hollywood's Biggest Scandals

The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine by EJ Fleming

Eddie Mannix and Howard Strickling are virtually unknown outside of Hollywood and little-remembered even there, but as General Manager and Head of Publicity for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, they lorded over all the stars in Hollywood’s golden age from the 1920s through the 1940s—including legends like Garbo, Dietrich, Gable and Garland. When MGM stars found themselves in trouble, it was Eddie and Howard who took care of them—solved their problems, hid their crimes, and kept their secrets. They were “the Fixers.” At a time when image meant everything and the stars were worth millions to the studios that owned them, Mannix and Strickling were the most important men at MGM. 

Through a complex web of contacts in every arena, from reporters and doctors to corrupt police and district attorneys, they covered up some of the most notorious crimes and scandals in Hollywood history, keeping stars out of jail and, more importantly, their names out of the papers. They handled problems as diverse as the murder of Paul Bern (husband of MGM’s biggest star, Jean Harlow), the studio-directed drug addictions of Judy Garland, the murder of Ted Healy (creator of The Three Stooges) at the hands of Wallace Beery, and arranging for an unmarried Loretta Young to adopt her own child—a child fathered by a married Clark Gable. Through exhaustive research and interviews with contemporaries, this is the never-before-told story of Eddie Mannix and Howard Strickling. The dual biography describes how a mob-related New Jersey laborer and the quiet son of a grocer became the most powerful men at the biggest studio in the world.

read article here @ Atlas Obscura on not just Mannix and Strickland but also Fred Otash, who took on the role in the 1970s