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Did anyone else not have cable growing up and instead watched a lot of PBS, including their late night movies? That’s how I got into classic films. For a Hollywood theme, I tried to pick books with a “behind the scenes” feel across the years, but mostly focusing on the ’30s to the ’70s. *dances offscreen with jazz hands*
Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman. It’s The Princess Bride‘s William Goldman! But also screenwriter of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which I haven’t seen since I was 12, but 12-year-old Alice would tell you it is GREAT. He also wrote All the President’s Men. Basically he was amazing at screenplays starring Robert Redford. If you’re interested in screenwriting, how it works, what the process is of someone who did it very well, this is it.
Stealing the Show: African American Performers and Audiences in 1930s Hollywood by Miriam J. Petty. “Stars” really came into their own in the 1930s. But how did Black actors fare during this time? This book focuses in on five performers, including Academy Award winner Hattie McDaniel, “to reveal the ‘problematic stardom’ and the enduring, interdependent patterns of performance and spectatorship for performers and audiences of color.”
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. I just restarted this one because sometimes you just need Carrie Fisher’s voice in your head, y’know? This is her last book, which came out in 2016, and looks back through the journals she kept during the filming of Star Wars: A New Hope. It’s hilarious, it’s relatable, it’s all the things that Fisher presented herself as to us, her public. And for a classic Hollywood tie-in, there is, as always, mention of her mom, Debbie Reynolds. Love a Debbie Reynolds cameo.
Everything and Nothing: The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy by Dorothy Dandridge, Earl Conrad. Dandridge, the first Black actor to be nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award, had what ended up being a tragic life. This was primarily due to racism. After her starring role in Carmen Jones and a few other gradually less-starring roles, she had to look for work in nightclubs, struggled with a substance-related disorder, and passed away at the very young age of 43. Check out clips of her in Carmen Jones if you haven’t. Or, you could watch the whole movie (do people still do that?).
That’s it for this week! You can find me on social media @itsalicetime and co-hosting the nonfiction For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.