HOLLYWOOD HIGH: A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of TEEN MOVIES

HOLLYWOOD HIGH: A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of TEEN MOVIES. Bruce Handy. Avid Reader Press/Simon and Schuster; 2025.  

Be forewarned if you're looking for a book that critiques dozens and dozens of movies about teens that came out in the fifties and sixties, this is not that book. What it is is an amusing and informative look at Hollywood's attitudes towards teenagers -- and vice versa -- from decades ago until recent days. He has a section on Andy Hardy but doesn't really analyze the various entries in that series, then quickly moves on to an in-depth analysis of Rebel Without a Cause, the Beach Party movies, and then mostly focuses on other select films such as American Graffiti, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Boyz in the Hood and more. With the exception of Graffiti, which I never especially cared for, I haven't seen or wanted to see most of the movies Handy covers. He has a whole loooong chapter on John Hughes, a filmmaker I have never had the slightest interest in. But here's the rub: Handy is such a good and entertaining writer, that he kept me turning the pages as much as if he were writing about subjects more to my liking -- he's that good. No, Handy hasn't convinced me to rush out and pick up a slew of Hughes' movies, but he does a good job of informing the reader about his subject while keeping us engaged and amused. 

Verdict: The great teen movie book has yet to be written, but this highly interesting tome is worth perusing until it is. ***. 

FOUR GIRLS IN TOWN

Grant Williams and George Nader

FOUR GIRLS IN TOWN (1957). Written and directed by Jack Sher.  

A Hollywood studio wants to make a biblical epic about Esther, but their biggest star (whose face we never see) wants 50% of the profits. Therefore it is decided to find a new star and bring in four gals to do a screen test: American Kathy (Julie Adams), whose mother (Mabel Albertson) is pushing her to perform; Viennese Ina (Marianne Koch of The Monster of London City), whose husband recently died in a road accident; Italian Maria (Elsa Martinelli of One on Top of the Other), who appears to be a good-time girl who loves the men, especially the ones with money; and French Vicki (Gia Scala of The Big Boodle), who is trying to hide the fact that she has a husband and small son. 

John Gavin comes on to one of the "girls" 

Mike Snowden (George Nader) will helm the young ladies' screen tests, even though he'd much rather direct the picture itself. His best friend, Johnny (Sydney Chaplin) is a film composer nursing a broken heart and many hangovers. Mike is also friends with wealthy playboy Spencer Farrington Jr. (Grant Williams), who pursues women and does little else but attend parties with that end in mind. Tom Grant (John Gavin) is an actor who is chosen to appear in the tests with each of the ladies. Naturally these four men get involved in varying degrees with the "four girls in town." 

Nader with Gavin

I wish I could report that Four Girls in Town is a trenchant drama about Hollywood or at the very least a real trash wallow, but it's neither, although I can't say I ever found it boring. The acting is generally more than professional -- although none of the cast members really stand out -- and the picture has a good pace, but it just never quite comes alive. Maybe it just needed a few sensationalistic scenes to perk up the viewers' interest. An odd sequence has Mike taking some of the ladies and gents on a nighttime grunion hunt, a sequence that was a little more entertaining in Piranha 2: the Spawning, of all things. Jack Sher also directed The 3 Worlds of Gulliver. 

Verdict: At least it has a very attractive cast! **3/4. 

A STAR IS BORN (1954)

Judy Garland and James Mason

A STAR IS BORN (1954). Director: George Cukor.

Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) ignites the interest of movie star Norman Maine (James Mason) when he drunkenly stumbles upon the stage where she is performing a number for a Hollywood "Night of Stars" benefit. Esther is by no means a star, but rather a vocalist with a popular band. Norman is so impressed by Esther that he arranges a screen test for her and is instrumental in her taking over the lead role of a new musical production. Eventually Esther -- rechristened "Vicki Lester" by the studio -- and Norman marry, but as her career hits the heights and she does become a certified star, Norman's heavy drinking and bad behavior pay a toll ... 

The Man That Got Away

I've seen this version of the venerable story more than once in the past few years and my opinion of it waxes and wanes. I have now come to the conclusion that it is a very good and very entertaining classic motion picture, and the best version ever of this bit of Hollywood folklore. In previous years I may have been reacting negatively to the obsessive, near-hysterical reaction among some Garland fans who may have ruined many a screening of the picture. I first saw the film on television decades ago, chopped up by commercial interruptions and missing scenes that had even made the final theatrical cut. Color and cinemascope were lost. Now the film can be seen in its original three hour length in widescreen technicolor and stereophonic sound -- boy what a difference!

Born in a Trunk

There are times when you do get the impression that this is strictly A Judy Garland Extravaganza with the woman taking centerstage in one musical number after another and to hell with the story. But in the final quarter the film does get back to the central romantic relationship between Esther and Norman, and as for all of the musical numbers -- well, A Star is Born is a musical, after all, and the production numbers, featuring a luminescent and ultra-talented Garland at the top of her form, are extremely well-done and give the film its vitality. The long Born in a Trunk sequence is also quite stylish and memorable. 

Norman Maine overhears that he's washed up forever

Garland gives a terrific performance, and those who claim the Oscar was stolen from her may be correct. This time around I didn't find her overly mannered or too neurotic but pretty much on-target in her portrayal. Let's not forget James Mason, who is near-superb as the charming, dissipated Norman, who can be a pretty mean drunk when he wants to be. There is a lot we don't learn about Norman, unfortunately, which might have made him a bit more sympathetic, although when we see Mason as Maine in his bed listening to the studio boss tell Esther how washed up her husband is, you can't help but feel a stab of pity. 

Garland with Charles Bickford

Charles Bickford makes his mark as the studio boss, and he has two wonderful scenes with Mason in the Maine home and at the sanitorium where Norman is hopefully drying out. Bickford also figures in a especially well-written dressing room sequence when Esther tells of how helpless she feels trying to succor Norman and how there are times when she actually hates him due to his failure to control his drinking and all of his broken promises. Jack Carson also scores as the long-suffering publicity man who has had to put up with Norman's drunken antics for too long a time. Tommy Noonan is fine as Esther's friend, the band leader Danny, who gives her a needed pep talk, and there are bits from Irving Bacon as Norman's butler, Percy Helton as a drunk, Arthur Space as a court clerk, Frank Ferguson as a judge, Tristram Coffin as an assistant director, Grady Sutton as a reporter, and Richard Webb as a winner at the Oscar ceremony, and many, many other familiar names who show up only briefly. 

Get That Long Face Lost

In addition to Born in a Trunk, which includes a rendition of Swanee, the other song numbers include It's a New World, What am I here for? and Get That Long Face Lost which features two cute black children. Arguably the best number is The Man That Got Away, superbly delivered by Garland. One might wonder why she smiles during this torchiest of torch songs, but it may reflect a sheer joy in singing, and in this excellent Harold Arlen-Ira Gershwin song. (Arlen and Gershwin did the other numbers, aside from Born in a Trunk and Swanee). I confess that I've always found the number Garland does for Norman in her living room to be a little tiresome, but you can't win 'em all. In any case, Sam Leavitt's cinematography is first-class, as is Cukor's direction. 

Norman accidentally smacks Esther at the Oscar ceremony

Some things you just have to take with a grain of salt. Why would Norman Maine insist that Esther have a screen test when he's never actually seen her act, just sing? Sure her interpretive singing skills are impressive, but that doesn't mean she can act. Still, this is Hollywood. Based on the initial reviews and audience reaction, everyone expected A Star is Born to be a tremendous hit, but the studio cut forty minutes out of it so there could be more showings. I'm not certain if that really would have hurt the box office, but in any case the movie lost money and Garland only made two more pictures. Her big comeback was both a triumph and a failure. 

Verdict: A hell of a lot of work went into this picture and it shows! ***1/2.  

POSTHUMOUS

POSTHUMOUS. 

My latest thriller, for people who love movies, celebrities, psychos, and suspense fiction, is entitled POSTHUMOUS. Below is a description. It's available in hardcover, trade paperback, and inexpensive kindle editions on amazon.

"Anna Corrigan, the daughter of the late movie star and entertainer Mavis Edwards, has spent years trying to deal with the emotional fall out from the decades she spent with her often difficult and neurotic mother. Anna attends her sister Estelle's singing showcase at a tiny supper club uptown, where she encounters some of her mother's "friends" from the past. These include a crooked business manager named Louie Mayhew; her old co-star Jerry Giddings, who has fallen on hard times; her bitchy rival Marjorie Easterbrook; choreographer “Busy” Borroway, an unrepentant child molester who numbered Mavis Edwards among his victims; and George Kelker, a director who refused to hire Mavis Edwards for an important production many years before. George is only the first of these individuals to be horribly murdered by a crazed female intruder who, Kelker's wife insists, looks just like Mavis Edwards! There had always been nutty stories in the tabloids about Mavis Edwards being alive and hidden in a sanitarium and with all these reports of a crazy lady who resembles her beginning to surface, Anna wonders if it could possibly be true. But as the murders continue and Anna finds her life unraveling, she learns that the truth is far more terrible than she could ever even imagine."

"POSTHUMOUS is a movie lover's thriller, dissecting one impossible star's neurotic behavior and the effect it has even years later on her children."

Is "Mavis Edwards" meant to be Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, or someone else? Read the book to find out!  

THE OSCAR

THE OSCAR (1966). Director: Russell Rouse.

Frankie Fane (Stephen Boyd) is a low-level garment worker who sort of falls into acting because he "impresses" a lady talent scout named Sophie (Eleanor Parker). Sophie gets him a top agent in "Kappy" Kapstetter (Milton Berle), who manages to convince studio head Kenneth Regan (Joseph Cotten) to sign him to a contract even though Regan senses something off about the guy. Fane becomes a star, but keeps biting the hand that feeds him -- even though some of his remarks to those who helped him have a point. When his career starts slipping badly, he has nightmares of going back to being nobody, and hitches upon a desperate plan to nab an Oscar and put himself back on top. The Oscar does show how undeserving louts can become movie stars simply because somebody has the hots for them -- which has happened more often than anyone imagines. The movie might have had more bite had Fane been someone desperately committed to the art of acting, but this can't be confused with the far superior Career -- it's basically entertaining trash with mostly one-dimensional characters and often hokey dialogue -- and not a few tedious moments. Once Fane begins to slide, however, the pic picks up. The fact is that the narcissistic, ambitious, self-absorbed Fane is all too typical of most Hollywood actors.

Elke Sommer and Boyd

Although miscast as some low-bred tough guy, Boyd is not at all bad as Fane, and has his best moment at the very end of the movie (you almost feel sorry for him). As his pal and procurer, Hymie, Tony Bennett seems amateurish until he has some powerful moments at the climax. Jill St. John gives it a good try, but she hasn't the real acting chops to make the most of her scenes as the girlfriend Fane stole from Hymie. Elke Sommer is okay as Kay Bergdahl, a designer Fane makes a play for and eventually marries, and Berle is at least flavorful as Kappy. Eleanor Parker gives the sauciest performance as Sophie, and makes St. John and Sommer look like a couple of kittens in comparison. But Edie Adams and Ernest Borgnine almost walk off with the movie as a husband and wife who are celebrating their divorce in Mexico when they encounter Fane and Kay and re-enter their lives in an unexpected fashion. Peter Lawford has a small but significant scene where he plays a once-famous actor who is now a headwaiter at a Hollywood restaurant; Lawford is excellent and this is probably the best scene in the movie. There are some celebrity cameos and Hedda Hopper as well. One of the screenwriters was Harlan Elison, who became better known as a science fiction writer.

Verdict: Not exactly Eugene O'Neill but fun. ***.

BURT LANCASTER AT THE FILM FORUM

BURT LANCASTER FESTIVAL AT THE FILM FORUM. 

New York's Film Forum --located at 209 West Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue (212-727-8110)-- is presenting a festival of Burt Lancaster films from Friday July 19th to Thursday August 15th, 2019.

Lancaster with Janice Rule in The Swimmer

The films include The Killers, The Swimmer (my favorite Lancaster performance), From Here to Eternity, The Leopard, Criss Cross, The Crimson Pirate, A Child is Waiting, Atlantic City, The Professionals, Brute Force, Birdman of Alcatraz, Desert Fury, Elmer Gantry, The Rainmaker, Seven Days in May, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Rose Tattoo, Sorry Wrong Number, and others.


For a complete list of films and more information click here. 

MOVIE BOOK EXPLOSION

Baby Leroy

It seems that there have never been quite so many movie-oriented books before. Companies such as BearManor come out regularly with tomes on (to most people) obscure players, long-forgotten movies, supporting players with a story to tell, and everyone, apparently, has put together their memoirs. Then we have hastily cobbled together self-published bios from people with a tenuous connection to the "star" as well as books on old TV shows with lots of stills and production photos. Nothing wrong with any of that, except at times you think it looks like it's getting a little out of hand. To my knowledge, the following books don't actually exist (yet), but any day now you may see one of them.


Baby: The Wild, Sweet Life of Baby Leroy.
"The Tammy Grimes Show" Companion.
"Life with Lucy:" The Best Lucy Show Ever!
Everyone I have Ever Had Sex With. The Hot, Secret Life of Zasu Pitts.
Troy and Tab: Parallel Lives of Hollywood Heartthrobs
"Raw Wind in Eden:" The Story of This Fabulous Masterpiece.
Pinky! The Pinky Lee Story.
Shug Fisher as "Shorty Kellems": The Heart and Soul  of "The Beverly Hillbillies."
Jethro Bodine: His Life Story.
"The Partridge Family" Companion.
"My Mother the Car:"Behind the Scenes of the Classic Sitcom.
 Full of Genius. The Lives of the Barry Sisters.
Such Pain: The Horrible Hollywood Feud of Margaret Hamilton and Mary Wickes
Judy: I Married Garland in Secret -- and Wasn't Gay!
The Unparalleled Genius of the Fabulous Ritz Brothers.
Slightly Alfalfa: The Gas House Kids Companion.
My Story: Greta Garbo's Maid Tells of Her Life with The Reclusive Star
I Was Dean Martin's Dentist!
Sinatra's Pets: Frank's Menagerie from Sammy the Poodle to Ted the Chimp.
Love Bites: How I Slept with over 100,000 Men and Women in Hollywood!

TALES FROM DEVELOPMENT HELL

TALES FROM DEVELOPMENT HELL: The Greatest Movies Never Made? David Hughes. Titan; 2011.

Hughes' interesting book looks at how and why some movies, which seem like good bets or even certainties, never make it out of the development stage for one reason or another. Hughes writes about this process with a sense of humor and an understanding of the frustrating process of actually making a full-fledged movie come into being despite a number of pitfalls, including changes in executives, actors bowing out, script problems, lawsuits (and that old favorite of too many cooks spoil the broth), and so on. Some of these films were actually made [after years of delays] by other people, including remakes of Planet of the Apes (terrible) and Total Recall (acceptable), but others never saw the light of day: the remake of Fantastic Voyage; The Hot Zone; The Sandman. Hughes also looks at intriguing alternate versions of existing movies-that-never-were, such as another version of Batman and others. While one could argue that the efforts to mount a remake of Total Recall  are much ado about nothing, Tales from Development Hell is of interest to readers who want to go behind the scenes and discover why some movies get made and others don't.

Verdict: Interesting book on Hollywood behind-the-scenes. ***.

FEDORA

Fedora (Marthe Keller) accepts her Oscar

FEDORA (1978). Director: Billy Wilder.

"Moral turptitude. You can have six husbands but you can't have one illegitimate child. Now you can have no husbands and six children and nobody cares."

Years ago Barry Detweiler (William Holden) once had a fling with the famous actress, Fedora (Marthe Keller). Now she's a recluse in Corfu, living on an island with an old countess (Hildegard Knef) and her doctor (Jose Ferrer of The Shrike). Detweiler, who is now a rather desperate producer, tries to use this slender, long-ago connection to the woman to coax her into coming out of retirement, especially as she looks many years younger. But Fedora's associates seem determined to keep her out of the limelight ... Fedora was pilloried by many critics when it came out primarily because it wasn't Wilder's earlier "Hollywood" picture, Sunset Boulevard, which has many similarities to Fedora (Holden stars in both movies and in each gets involved with an aging actress who is no longer in the business.) Taken on its own terms, however, Fedora is a fascinating picture, not quite a Gothic horror story, that examines image vs reality, irresponsible and tragic behavior, and in the end unravels a decidedly bizarre deception. Marthe Keller was criticized for her work in the film, but she actually gives an excellent performance, far outstripping the others, especially Holden, who seems completely listless. Mario Adorf makes an impression as the Corfu hotel manager. Miss Balfour (Frances Sternhagen of Outland), Fedora's companion,  is almost comically evil and the picture is a trifle overlong. Still, it is a worthwhile companion piece to Sunset Boulevard with its twisted and tragic story. Based on the novella from Thomas Tryon's "Crowned Heads."

Verdict: Weird old Hollywood story generally well-told. ***.

HOPE

HOPE Richard Zoglin. Simon and Schuster; 2014.

Although Simon and Schuster is promoting this book as "the untold story of Bob Hope," that is hardly the case. Hope's career achievements, USO tours, Viet Nam controversy, and voracious lust for ladies other than his wife has been well-documented elsewhere. Zoglin's book has nothing new to say, although in general Zoglin says what he has to say well, a more-than-credible job of rehashing old stories. Zoglin makes the case that Hope was, as the publisher puts it, "the most important entertainer of the 20th century," pointing out that Hope virtually invented stand-up comedy and was a show business forerunner in other ways as well. Zoglin often disagrees with previous biographers' assessments of Hope's movies -- a stab at writing something new, perhaps -- but he doesn't argue that the comic's latter-day film projects were simply abysmal. Although Zoglin is supposedly putting forth a more positive spin on Hope's life and career, he doesn't shy away from the negative aspects of Hope's personality. All in all, this is by no means a bad book, but if you've read previous bios you'll just find it over-familiar.

Verdict: Not hopeless, but it's been done before. **1/2.

THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE

THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE (1968). Director: Robert Aldrich.

"I make movies -- not films!"

Apparently this movie was based on an old TV drama, with the script rewritten and turned into a theatrical feature. Dying agent Bert Langner (Milton Selzer) has discovered another young woman, Elsa (Kim Novak), who resembles the late, great [Garbo-like?] movie star Lylah Clare (also Novak). He takes her to Lylah's old producer, Lewis Zarken (Peter Finch), who lives with Lylah's old dialect coach Rossella (Rossella Falk), and they concoct a scheme to have Elsa play Lylah in a filmic biography of her life. But what to do about Lylah's death scene? Apparently she fell off of a balcony after discovering that the man she was about to go to bed with was actually a woman, but that's too scandalous to ever tell the truth about. Making matters worse, Elsa seems to be possessed by the spirit of Lylah at inopportune moments. There's a lot of intriguing material in Lylah Clare, but it's all junked up by a very trashy and utterly superficial screenplay. The sexual ambiguity of many of the characters makes the film seem dated instead of hip. Lewis and Rossella, both of whom seem to have been in love with Lylah, make disparaging remarks about each other's sexuality. [When it comes to the subject of homosexuality, this movie is definitely of the "sick, sad, ashamed and repressed" variety.] Another problem with Lylah Clare is that it says cynical things about Hollywood that have been said many times before even by 1968.

Kim Novak is not bad as Elsa/Lylah -- she appears to have been dubbed as Elsa -- but she's saddled with the fact that both characters are one-dimensional. Peter Finch has just a little more to work with as Lewis, and he's fine, as is Milton Selzer, who was probably given one of his best movie roles in this. Ernest Borgnine as a hollering producer is excellent, and Rossella Falk is equally vivid, but the actor who makes the best impression is Coral Browne, who plays venomous entertainment/gossip columnist Molly Luther (modeled on The Hollywood Reporter's Radie Harris, who also had a leg brace).The scene when Elsa/Lylah tells off Molly at a party is the best one in the movie, but, sadly, Legend of Lylah Clare is generally not even as entertaining as it should be.

Verdict: More a freak show than a serious drama. **.

I LOVE THE ILLUSION: THE LIFE AND CAREER OF AGNES MOOREHEAD

I LOVE THE ILLUSION: The Life and Career of AGNES MOOREHEAD. Charles Tranberg. BearManor Media; 2007.

In this excellent biography by the author of Fred MacMurray: A Biography, the life and career of talented actress Agnes Moorehead is thoroughly examined and scrupulously researched. Moorehead had a successful radio career -- "Sorry, Wrong Number" on Suspense was one of her career highlights -- and also benefited [and vice versa] from her association with Orson Welles, with such films as Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons. Moorehead toured with Shaw's "Don Juan in Hell," appeared in many movies [including Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte] and eventually landed a gig as Endora on Bewitched that made her a household name for the boob tube generation. Tranberg looks at Moorehead's marriages, her conservative politics and religious attitudes, and her relationships with her famous co-players.

Tranberg is to be congratulated for handling a sensitive area with class.Some biographers, when faced with rumors that their subject might be gay, react in a homophobic fashion, denying with outrage as if being gay were in a class with being a terrorist or child molester. Tranberg investigated the rumors, doesn't seem to give a damn if Moorehead were a lesbian or not, but simply could not come up with enough solid evidence to definitely say she was gay or bisexual. Apparently the rumors only got started because of a silly remark made by comedian Paul Lynde. Sure, Moorehead could have been a repressed lesbian restricted by her religious and conservative attitudes, but without solid proof one can't say so and no one will  ever know for sure [about Moorehead and many others]. Besides, her sexuality isn't the question or the point, but rather her talent, which Tranberg illustrates adeptly on virtually every page. The book also includes a list of especially memorable Bewitched episodes and is generously illustrated as well.

Verdict: Outstanding biography of a noteworthy figure. ****.

A STAR IS BORN (1954)

Mason accidentally smacks Garland at the Oscars

A STAR IS BORN (1954). Director: George Cukor.

Re-tailored for the talents of Judy Garland, this version of the venerable story does away with the early scenes of small-town home life and the old grandma in the 1934 original. This version is practically a musical, with production numbers for the star inserted at regular intervals. Some of the dialogue from the first film is used in this one as well. This version also has a lengthy scene [cut after the original release] which shows star Norman Maine (James Mason) searching all over Hollywood for Esther (Garland) after their first encounter; stills are mostly all that survive of this sequence. The "Born in a Trunk" number, which is very well done, has been reincorporated as well. Mason, Garland, Charles Bickford as a studio head and Jack Carson as the publicity man are all quite good, although it could be argued that in her more emotional scenes Garland displays technical virtuosity but is a touch over-rehearsed and mechanical, which may have cost her an Oscar. One scene that should have been left on the cutting room floor has Mason acting as a one-man cheering squad as Garland performs "Someone, Somewhere." On the other hand, Garland sings the pants off the excellent number "The Man That Got Away." Basically this is entertaining despite its length, handsomely produced, and well-edited. Others in the cast include Chick Chandler, Irving Bacon, Percy Helton, Olin Howland, and Grady Sutton.

Verdict: Garland's movie for better or worse. ***.

A STAR IS BORN (1937)

Norman accidentally smacks Esther at Oscars

A STAR IS BORN (1937). Director: William A. Wellman. Produced by David O. Selznick.

"For every dream of yours that comes true, you'll pay the price in heartbreak."

In this technicolor re-visioning of What Price Hollywood? -- a star on the rise juxtaposed with a star on the wane -- the two main characters are romantically involved and get married, adding some dramatic heft to the basic plot line. Norman Maine (Fredric March) is a heavy-drinking lead actor who is in danger of being cast off as too difficult to work with. [As one wag puts it, "his work is beginning to interfere with his drinking."] He becomes smitten with a sweet little hopeful named Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor of Sunrise), who is taken under his wing and signed to a contract. Rechristened "Vicki Lester," she becomes a big star even as Norman's phone stops ringing, culminating in an embarrassing scene at the Academy Awards when he storms in drunk as she gives an acceptance speech. The film shows much more of Esther's early life than either of the two remakes. Gaynor is fine as Esther, but she seems an unlikely bet for major stardom, although in real life she had already won the first Best Actress Oscar [for two silent films] and was an established name and one-time top box office attraction before the film was made -- her performance in this was also nominated for an Oscar, but ironically she had few film roles afterward. March does the best he can with a severely underwritten role. [It also seems unlikely that Maine would be so completely forgotten in so short a time.] Adolph Menjou, Lionel Stander, and Andy Devine are all notable in important supporting roles, and peppery May Robson is as wonderful as ever as Esther's loving grandmother. Max Steiner's score is one of his least memorable.

Verdict: Entertaining behind-the-scenes look at one of Hollywood's sad stories but not quite a true classic. ***.

WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD?

Neil Hamilton, Constance Bennett and Lowell Sherman

WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD? (1932). Director: George Cukor. Based on a story by Adela Rogers St. John.

"By midnight you'll have forgiven me."

"By midnight I'll have forgotten you."

Before there was A Star is Born -- all three versions -- there was What Price Hollywood?, which had a similar plot line and was greatly influential on the later films. Mary Evans (Constance Bennett), who works as a waitress at the famous Brown Derby, is a Hollywood hopeful who meets famous, heavy-drinking director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman) at the restaurant. Carey takes Mary under his wing, and after a false start or two, gets her started in motion pictures. But as her star rises, alcoholic, unreliable Carey's is on the wane. In the meantime Mary marries wealthy Lonny Borden (Neil Hamilton), which leads to rather stupid developments.  Sherman and Bennett are okay -- Hamilton is Hamilton -- but their characters are one-dimensional and not very likable, and Bennett was always a cold fish as an actress, talented but not sympathetic [and portraying innocence is not in her metier]. Gregory Ratoff is cast as Julius Saxe, essentially the same kind of producer part he would essay years later in All About Eve. The picture does have some sharp and on occasion daring dialogue. When Borden sarcastically suggests that Carey would be more comfortable in his bed instead of the guest room, it's as easy to imagine Borden is suggesting Carey wants to sleep with him as it is that he wants to sleep with Mary. Interestingly, there is no hint of a romance between the two main characters -- A Star is Born would fix that problem -- and if Carey has any particular feelings for Mary, Sherman never quite gets it across. George Cukor later directed the second version of A Star is Born with Judy Garland and James Mason.

Verdict: Gets credit for its influence, but much better movies about Hollywood were to come. **.

THE LAST WALTZ

The Band on the cover of their 2nd album

THE LAST WALTZ (1978). Director: Martin Scorsese.

"People ask me about The Last Waltz all the time. Rick Danko dying at fifty-six is what I think of The Last Waltz. It was the biggest fuckin' rip-off  that ever happened to The Band -- without a doubt." -- Levon Helm, one of the five original members of The Band in "This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band" by Helm with Stephen Davis.

According to Levon Helm's account, fellow Band member Robbie Robertson wanted to stop touring, go Hollywood and essentially break up the group whether the other fellows wanted to or not. [Helm admits that he was heroin-addled much of the time, which may have colored his account or explain why Robertson was able to "get away" with what he did.] In any case, Robertson brought filmmaker Martin Scorsese in to film a big Farewell [to touring] concert with many special guest stars. When some numbers didn't turn out quite the way the two wanted, it was decided to re-film them on a special set after the fact, and the soundtrack was apparently fiddled with afterward a great bit as well.

Strictly as a concert film, The Last Waltz is not bad at all, especially if you like the music of The Band and such guest-stars as Doctor John [Such a Night], Bob Dylan [Forever Young], Neil Young [Helpless], Neil Diamond [Dry Your Eyes], Joni Mitchell [Coyote], Van Morrison [Caravan], Emmylou Harris [Evangeline], Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, and others. But if you're expecting to get to know the individual members of the Band to any degree, forget it, as Scorsese, who conducted very minor interviews with the boys, is a pretty lousy interviewer [even given the fact that some of the members did not especially wish to cooperate]. As a documentary, this is superficial beyond belief.

As for the Band ... well, it would be all too easy to dismiss them as a kind of corn pone, even phoney "hillbilly" [or "rockabilly"] band -- only one of the four members, Helm, was Southern; the rest were Canadians! --  were it not for the fact that some of their songs are pure rock poetry. I mean, nobody [especially up north] can relate to its civil war setting and rebel viewpoint, yet "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down" has an irresistible melody, some splendid harmonizing, and certainly illustrates the group's fine musicianship. [I've always loved the song, "Unfaithful Servant" -- for the same reasons  -- but who the hell knows what the damn thing is about?] 

The Last Waltz is a good-looking picture with some great music and performances. But it's only a small part of the story of The Band.

Verdict: Just sit back and listen. ***.

GOING MY OWN WAY: GARY CROSBY AND ROSS FIRESTONE

GOING MY OWN WAY Gary Crosby and Ross Firestone. Doubleday; 1983.

If you ever wanted to learn what it's like growing up in the shadow of a famous father, Going My Own Way provides a very raw and sharply observed [if highly personal] answer. Gary Crosby [A Private's Affair], who had his own comparatively minor career in show biz that was curtailed and nearly derailed by alcoholism, was the first of four sons born to crooner and movie star Bing Crosby with his first wife, Dixie Lee. [Bing had other children with his second wife, Kathryn Grant.] In this absorbing book, which isn't just a "daddy dearest," Gary writes that the home life for him and his three younger brothers wasn't the idyllic picture that his father and alcoholic mother presented to the public. Today Bing might probably be considered a kind of child abuser, although corporal punishment was fairly standard for the day. Much of the book, however fascinating, must be taken with a grain of salt, as Gary -- with the help of Ross Firestone, an excellent writer -- of course tells a very subjective story, strictly his side of things, relating how he felt when he was a child and younger man. Was Bing simply a poor father who saved his good will and pleasant nature for his fans and co-workers, or was Gary an utterly impossible child who needed more discipline than most? You can decide for yourself. The late Gary Crosby [he died of cancer at 62] spares us nothing, from how he made out with an [unknown to him] drag queen whom he later beat up, and also beat his black girlfriend up while under the influence of alcohol. Whatever you think of the book, it isn't easy being the child of a celebrity, especially one who's so busy, so popular, and so distant. Two of Gary's younger brothers committed suicide. While Mommie Dearest was mostly made-up crap, Going My Own Way has the ring of truth, albeit it's understandably one-sided. One of the first tell-all Hollywood memoirs.

Verdict: Absorbing, very well-written, and in some ways horrifying. ***1/2.

BABY BOOMERS BACK IN THE MOVIE THEATER?

For those of you who despair that Hollywood films generally seem geared towards a 12-year-old mentality -- or something worse -- there's good news. Apparently Hollywood is becoming aware [finally!] that older people like to go to the movies too but want films that are just a little more -- shall we say -- challenging. Here's the piece for your edification [Now if we can only do something about those text-messaging teenagers!]:

From The New York Times:

By BROOKS BARNES and MICHAEL CIEPLY
LOS ANGELES ­ "Hollywood and older Americans have never had much use for each other. The 50-plus crowd doesn’t go to opening weekends or buy popcorn; a youth-obsessed Hollywood has happily ignored them.

But in the last few months an older audience has made a startling reassertion of its multiplex power. “True Grit,” “The King’s Speech,” “The Fighter,” “Black Swan” ­ all movies in contention for a clutch of Oscars on Sunday ­ have all been surprise hits at the box office.

And they have all been powered by people for whom 3-D means wearing glasses over glasses, and “Twilight” sounds vaguely threatening.

Hollywood, slower than almost any other industry to market to baby boomers, may be getting a glimpse of its graying future. While the percentage of moviegoers in the older population remains relatively small, the actual number of older moviegoers is growing explosively ­ up 67 percent since 1995, according to GfK MRI, a media research firm.

And the first of the 78 million baby boomers are hitting retirement age with some leisure hours to fill and a long-dormant love affair with movies.

“There is an older audience that is growing, and it’s an underserved audience, which makes for an obvious and important opportunity,” said Nancy Utley, co-president of Fox Searchlight, whose “Black Swan” has sold over $100 million at the North American box office. If the core audience for a particular film is over 50, she noted, “that’s now a gigantic core.”

There are glimmers of a shift. Aging action stars; theaters with adult fare, like better food; reserved seating; and, most important, movies like “The Social Network” and “The King’s Speech” that have become hits based on wit and storytelling, not special effects.

Theaters have long favored younger consumers in part because older moviegoers tend to skip the concession counter, where theaters make most of their money. The imbalance between young and old grew more pronounced over the last decade as theater chains, suffering the after-effects of overbuilding, cut back on maintenance.

Sticky floors and popcorn-strewn aisles have kept even more older people at home. That, and all those texting teenagers, “which is something that adult audiences really find irritating,” said Patrick Corcoran, director of media and research for the National Association of Theater Owners.

The very young still go to the movies more than anyone else ­ especially on those all-important opening weekends ­ but distribution executives say they are getting harder to lure in huge numbers. Social networking has sped up word of mouth, turning teenagers and young adults into more discerning moviegoers ­ a phenomenon pushed along by rising prices. People age 18 to 24 bought an average of seven tickets per person in 2010, down from eight in 2009.

And the industry is battling a generational quirk. When you can legally stream movies on laptops or order them from video-on-demand services soon after their release ­ or easily pirate them with high-speed Internet connections, often while they are still in theaters ­ it makes you less likely to buy a ticket.

Fewer teenagers, then, present an opening. Baby boomers are not their Depression-era parents, who grew up on radio and were very conscious of the price of a ticket. Baby boomers were weaned on movies.

“Our generation really had a love affair with the movies in a profound way,” said Nicholas Kazan, a screenwriter whose credits include “Reversal of Fortune,” which was nominated for an Oscar in 1991. “It was not a fling, not a casual relationship, but a real love affair.”

For many baby boomers, the relationship blossomed in 1969, as the movies belatedly caught up with the counterculture in a wave of films that included “Easy Rider,” “Medium Cool” and “Midnight Cowboy.” College film societies and an art-house circuit made generational heroes of foreign directors like Ingmar Bergman, whose “Cries and Whispers” had its New York debut in 1972. The “Godfather” series, from Francis Ford Coppola, forged the lexicon for a generation.

But then a younger, more fantasy-oriented generation asserted itself with “Star Wars” in 1977. Hollywood adjusted its output accordingly.

“For me, the ’80s is a dead zone,” said Peter Biskind, a film historian who sees the baby boomers as having been “betrayed and abandoned” by Hollywood in the era of “E.T.,” “Sixteen Candles” and “Top Gun.”

The baby boomers were taking their children to the movies, however, helping to make megahits of films like the “Home Alone” series. Mr. Biskind, himself a baby boomer, said he believed that as the generation’s love affair with movies ended, television stepped in.

“ ‘The Sopranos’ really nailed the boomer generation,” he said. It offered 50-ish viewers all the moody action of a Coppola film without the bother of a trip to the theater.

Slowly, the movie industry is trying to get baby boomers back in seats. You can see it in the bets studios are taking on scripts. Last year, there were two movies, “RED” and “The Expendables,” that featured older actors in action roles. Helen Mirren, who is 65, was a machine gun-toting assassin in “RED,” which stands for “retired and extremely dangerous.” Sylvester Stallone, who is 64, was a mercenary in “The Expendables.” Both movies were hits.

Just last weekend, “Unknown,” with a 58-year-old Liam Neeson as its action star, was No. 1 at the box office, beating a heavily promoted teenage science fiction movie. More than half of the audience was over 50.

Almost every studio has a movie aimed at an older audience on its current schedule or in development, whether it’s “Dirty Old Men” at Warner Brothers or “Larry Crowne” at Universal Pictures. Fox Searchlight has high hopes for “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” about a group a British retirees who go to India. It stars Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, who are both 76.

Movie theaters have begun to do their part. At ArcLight Cinemas you can now have a grilled ahi tuna sandwich or red pepper Gorgonzola dip.

At AMC Entertainment, the second-largest theater chain in North America after Regal Cinemas, older moviegoers are becoming “an increasingly important part of our plan,” said Stephen A. Colanero, chief marketing officer. He points to efforts to improve adult offerings even if Hollywood doesn’t provide them ­ Metropolitan Opera simulcasts, for instance.

AMC is also experimenting with seat-side food and cocktail service. The company now operates seven AMC Dine-In Theaters, including three new ones in New Jersey. More are planned.

Studios will continue to tailor the bulk of their releases to younger audiences, and for good reason. In 2010, North Americans ages 12 to 24 made up only 18 percent of the population, but bought 32 percent of the 1.34 billion tickets sold, according to the annual industry snapshot by the Motion Picture Association of America, released on Wednesday.

By contrast, people over 50 made up 32 percent of the population, but bought only 21 percent of the tickets. That is a slight uptick from 2009, when the over-50 audience bought 19 percent of the total tickets sold.

But the actual number of older moviegoers has grown enormously since 1995, the year before boomers started hitting the midcentury mark. Then about 26.8 million people over the age of 50 went to the movies, according to GfK MRI. That number grew to 44.9 million in 2010.

Studios used to deride older viewers as “the once-a-year audience.” They came out once a year, on Christmas Day, to see a movie. Columbia Pictures gave them “Prince of Tides” on Christmas Day in 1991.

It is an attitude, and a reality, that is shifting. “One of the most urgent issues we face as an industry is to figure out how to lure the boomers back to the movie theaters,” said Bob Pisano, president and interim chief executive of the M.P.A.A.

Nancy Perry Graham, editor of AARP The Magazine, says it's about time. “There is a huge demand that needs to be satisfied, and we've been trying to make that point to Hollywood for years,” she said. “I truly believe that Hollywood is finally listening."

CLORIS: MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY CLORIS LEACHMAN

CLORIS: MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Cloris Leachman with George Englund. Kensington; 2009.

Ms. Leachman -- with the help of ex-husband Englund -- writes pleasantly of her life and career in this memoir done in the style of Bette Davis' This 'n' That: instead of proceeding chronologically, Leachman jumps around from subject to subject on her whim, but she manages to cover most of the bases. One senses, however, that she could have had a lot more to say about her life with, and divorce from, Englund, the father of her children, as well as about some of her co-workers. Leachman writes of how -- despite having perhaps [in my opinion] one of the worst names in show business -- she became successful on Broadway, in films and on television, garnering a host of Emmys, Tonys and an Oscar along the way. She also describes her devastation at the death of one of her sons to drugs. Then there are amusing stories of awkward things that happened on live television. At times Leachman comes off as dithery as her character "Phyllis," especially when she relates how Ed Asner basically stopped speaking to her because of her public references to his weight -- but she repeats the anecdote he hated in the book! When she writes of ex-husband Englund -- "I'm number one with him. He has a girlfriend now .. [who] takes wonderful care of him, and he loves her. But I'm still the one" -- you have to wonder if this is enduring friendship of ex-spouses or the words of a woman who just won't let go. In any case, the book is entertaining, and Leachman remains a very gifted actress.

Verdict: Easy to take. ***.

FOXY: MY LIFE IN THREE ACTS -- PAM GRIER

FOXY: MY LIFE IN THREE ACTS A Memoir. Pam Grier with Andrea Cagan. Springboard; 2010.

Actress Pam Grier came to prominence in the seventies when she appeared in a number of popular "blaxpoitation" pictures such as Coffy and Foxy Brown. The only flaw in this otherwise excellent memoir is that she doesn't discuss those films very much [perhaps because they were not exactly cinematic masterpieces] nor her attitude toward the movies that gave black actors jobs but were often considered inherently racist with their stereotypes and negative depictions. Grier prefers to see the movies as depicting empowered [i.e. tough] female characters, but one wishes she had included a few on-set anecdotes and the like. [She does write about working on her early "women in prison" films that were made in the Philippines.] However, Grier does write very compellingly of her childhood and youth [when she was raped by cousins], her work on Jackie Brown [which Quentin Tarantino wrote with her in mind] and on the cable TV show The L Word, about lesbians, in which she played a straight character. She also describes her several unfortunate relationships with men: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who expected her to adhere to the outrageously sexist tenets of his Islamic religion; Freddie Prinze, who had a serious drug problem that led to his early death; a black man who virtually abandoned her when she developed cancer; and a white man who claimed his attraction to women of color wasn't a fetish but who ultimately couldn't see her as his wife because she didn't belong to the "country club" set. There are horrifying passages about her sister's painful death; her husband insisted she stick to their religious principals and she wasn't even allowed painkillers -- her 15-year-old son was so upset the poor boy committed suicide. Grier intelligently writes of the need for women to be themselves and make it on their own so they are not hung up by bad choices made by the men who supposedly want to "take care of them." Many books written by "B" or "C" list celebrities aren't worth the paper they're printed on, but Foxy is an exception and is a very worthwhile read.

Verdict: Absorbing and entertaining. ***1/2.