Hollywood Babylon

[Dadwasinflame]

Was in Waterstones in Camden today , when i was lookin through books, anyway to cut a long story short i got recomended the above book, it was banned in Hollywood for 3 decades , because it was so bad , and shocking , its only recently been allowed in shops there
Looks good just read the story of Olive Thomas who was the first real celebrity to Die in a scandal in 1910 aged only 20 in a paris hotel , fatty arbuckle seems as nasty piece of work too, of course the big Question is How much truth is there in it

[Steve Crook]

Was in Waterstones in Camden today , when i was lookin through books, anyway to cut a long story short i got recomended the above book, it was banned in Hollywood for 3 decades , because it was so bad , and shocking , its only recently been allowed in shops there
Looks good just read the story of Olive Thomas who was the first real celebrity to Die in a scandal in 1910 aged only 20 in a paris hotel , fatty arbuckle seems as nasty piece of work too, of course the big Question is How much truth is there in it

See the Wikipedia page about it for some criticisms and for warnings about what you shouldn't take as being true in it

Steve

[batman]

.... of course the big Question is How much truth is there in it

Very little, especially the Arbuckle stuff.

[didi-5]

I would say very little is true. Sensationalist and rather silly - but taken in the right spirit, it is OK. Ditto the Hollywood Babylon 2.

[Westengland]

As this is Britmovie, isn't Pinewood Babylon what we would all want to read, regardless of how truthful it was?

Of course, not that the UK film scene was at all like the USA one for decadent behaviour behind closed doors. ......

[Mr Sloane]

Babylon 1 and 2 are passable some truth thrown in amongst a lot of speculation and rumour. Babylon 3 is gutter writing at it's worse don't touch without a peg on your nose.

Pinewood Babylon is totally different, well researched and a great read. Highly recommended.

[Westengland]

As this is Britmovie, isn't Pinewood Babylon what we would all want to read, regardless of how truthful it was?

Of course, not that the UK film scene was at all like the USA one for decadent behaviour behind closed doors. ......

Sorry - I should have made my satirical intention clearer by distinguishing between an imaginary Pinewood Babylon in the style of the Hollwood Bs and the actual Pinewood Babylon, which is, as Mr Sloane says, a different kind of book (to the point that using that title was a mistake).

Of course, it is open to anybody to start a thread (subject to admin approval) called Pinewood Babylon for the purpose of telling those tales most of us have heard over the years of researching, perhaps even with evidence to back up the stories, for a change.

[orpheum2]

I recently read a new version of Hollywood babylon and it really is abysmal.Avoid like the plague.

[Kitty Whiskers]

I read both Hollywood Babylons many years ago and found them poorly researched, quite inaccurate, highly sensationalist, badly written and not a little drab.

A lot like the tabloid press in book form if you can imagine something so ghastly.

[seanflynn76]

As bad as Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon are for mis-truths and fabrications. Darwin Porter's version isn't fit for the rubbish tip, let alone for believing. It was rumoured that Anger was to sue Porter, but I don't know how that has developed, as Anger claimed "copyright" over the "Hollywood Babylon" title. One look at Porter's "Hollywood Babylon" says all you need to know about the author. Many would ask how he came to being published? The publishing house is own by his partner....

[waldo_lydecker]

Darwin Porter and Boze Hadleigh - two awful characters who could claim to have dug up dirt in laboratory-tested dirt free zone (and they'd also claim the laboratory owners were raging lesbians, but they forgot to tape their candid confessions).

[seanflynn76]

He (Darwin Porter) seems to have made a career claiming that he forgot to tape the candid confessions of the star's he claims he interviewed over the years, especially the star's of the silent screen. The bookshop near me has both copies of his "Hollywood Babylon", both have been reduced in price to clear, and still they languish on the bookshelf being completely ignore....Lol!!

[didi-5]

Darwin Porter wrote an appalling real person fiction book based on early Hollywood which makes Kenneth Anger's books look tame. Boze Hadleigh wrote The Lavender Screen - I found that an OK book. Did he write something else I've missed?

There is Matthew Sweet's Shepperton Babylon if we want to keep to all things British, but that was a well-researched read.

[waldo_lydecker]

Hadleigh wrote such books as 'Hollywood Gays' in which he claimed to have intervewed the likes of Barbara Stanwyck, Agnes Moorehead and others, all talking candidly about their sexuality even though he provided no evidence whatsoever of when and where he met them and, of course, he never recorded the chats, they were all recalled via his photographic memory. And they were all dead when he published.

[Rowdon]

I read both Hollywood Babylons many years ago and found them poorly researched, quite inaccurate, highly sensationalist, badly written and not a little drab.

I'd only disagree with 'badly written'. They are all the things you say, but are also a lot of fun to dip into.

[Kitty Whiskers]

I'd only disagree with 'badly written'. They are all the things you say, but are also a lot of fun to dip into.

To be fair, I did read two of the buggers so they must be entertainingly written, but I did get a bit bored with the high level of sensationalism. Surely even the most depraved Hollywood pervert must have a mundane day once in a while.

[wideboy]

Hadleigh wrote such books as 'Hollywood Gays' in which he claimed to have intervewed the likes of Barbara Stanwyck, Agnes Moorehead and others, all talking candidly about their sexuality even though he provided no evidence whatsoever of when and where he met them and, of course, he never recorded the chats, they were all recalled via his photographic memory. And they were all dead when he published.

The book is called Hollywood Lesbians. I've just re-read both interviews, and by no possible stretch of the imagination could either Moorehead or Stanwyck be said to have "talked candidly about their sexuality" whether the interviews were accurately transcribed or not, if indeed they took place. Stanwyck orders Hadleigh out of her house when he starts making innuendoes about her marriage to Robert Taylor!

[waldo_lydecker]

The book is called Hollywood Lesbians. I've just re-read both interviews, and by no possible stretch of the imagination could either Moorehead or Stanwyck be said to have "talked candidly about their sexuality" whether the interviews were accurately transcribed or not, if indeed they took place. Stanwyck orders Hadleigh out of her house when he starts making innuendoes about her marriage to Robert Taylor!

The book I'M referring to is called Hollywood Gays, thank you very much!

[wideboy]

There are two books: Hollywood Gays, which has interviews with male stars, and Hollywood Lesbians which has interviews with women, mostly actresses, including Stanwyck and Moorehead.