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Fiction About Hollywood
& Cinema
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Books About Hollywood & Cinema History History of Cinema History of Hollywood History By Hollywood Hollywood People Hollywood & Women |
![still photograph from Billy Wilder's "Sunset Blvd." [1950] starring Erich von Stroheim {left}, Gloria Swanson {center} & William Holden](images/stillSunsetBlvd.jpg)
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Fiction (novels & stories) about Hollywood of the past & present,
about stars and private eyes and moguls and crew-people,
and about filming on location around the world.
"Every day in Tinsel Town is Hallowe'en." — Ken Russell
History of Cinema Pages
History of Radio & Television Page
 | "The Hollywood Novel: A Critical Guide To Over 1200 Works With Film-Related Themes or Characters, 1912-1994" [1995] by Anthony Slide McFarland & Co. 9¼x6¼ pb [7/95] for $49.95 |
 | "Hollywood Fictions: The Dream Factory In American Literature" [2000] by John Parris Springer Univ OK Press 9x6 pb [2/2000] out of print/used Univ OK Press hardcover [2/2000] out of print/used |
Fiction About Hollywood & Cinema
{ 1913 to present }
 | The folks at Stratemeyer Syndicate [est. 1899] paid writers to produce children's adventure fiction under various 'house names' such as Franklin W. Dixon (for "Hardy Boys" books), Carolyn Keene (for "Nancy Drew" books), Victor Appleton {for "Tom Swift" and "The Moving Picture Boys" books), and Laura Lee Hope (for "The Moving Picture Girls" books). Their series of movie-related fiction were "Motion Picture Chums" [7 titles, 1913–16], "Moving Picture Boys" [15 titles, 1913–22], "Moving Picture Girls" [7 titles, 1914-16], "Motion Picture Comrades" [5 titles, 1917], and "Movie Boys" [17 reprints, 1926–27]. |
New editions of these books are available at Amazon in hardcover & paper editions and editions for Kindle.
The free-to-download public domain texts at Project Gutenberg include three "Moving Picture Boys" titles
and all seven "Moving Picture Girls" titles.
Robert Leslie Bellem [1902-68] wrote nearly 3,000 stories for the pulps in their heyday (1930 to 1950), and his
most-successful tales were of Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective. After the pulps were replaced by television,
Bellem wrote for weekly TV shows such as "The Lone Ranger", "Perry Mason", and "77 Sunset Strip".
all Robert L. Bellem books •
movie/tv credits •
Wikipedia
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"The Case Files of Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective" [2009] by Robert L. Bellem CreateSpace 9½x7¼ pb [1/2009] 20 stories & 2 essays for $20.00 Volume 1, 1934-41: 9 pulp stories CreateSpace 9½x7¼ pb [11/2009] for $15.00 Volume 2, 1943: ? pulp stories CreateSpace 9x6 pb [11/2009] for $20.00 Volume 3, 1944: 9 pulp stories CreateSpace 9x6 pb [11/2009] for $20.00 Volume 4, 1944: ? pulp stories CreateSpace 9x6 pb [11/2009] for $20.00 Volume 5, 1945: 8 pulp stories CreateSpace 9x6 pb [11/2009] for $20.00 Volume 6, 1946: 11 pulp stories CreateSpace 9x6 pb [11/2009] for $20.00 Volume 7, 1950: 14 pulp stories CreateSpace 9x6 pb [10/2010] for $20.00 |
Stuart M. Kaminsky's Toby Peters mystery series [1977-2004]
at BlackHat Mystery Bookstore
two dozen novels set in Hollywood during the 1940s & 1950s
Susan Kandel's Cece Caruso mystery series [2004-2009]
at BlackHat Mystery Bookstore
set in Hollywood & Southern California; the five books so far involve Agatha Christie,
Nancy Drew, Erle Stanley Gardner, Dashiell Hammett & Alfred Hitchcock
 | "Shoot!: The Notebooks of Serafino Gubbio, Cinematograph Operator" [Italy 1915, English 1927] novel by Luigi Pirandello [1867-1936], Nobel Laureate Italian title: "Quaderni di Serafino Gubbio, Operatore" Univ Chicago Press 8x5¼ pb [1/2006] for $18.00 Univ Chicago Press 8x5½ hardcover [1/2006] for $45.00 |
 | "The Girl From Hollywood" [1923] by Edgar Rice Burroughs [1875-1950] Originally published in Munsey's Magazine as a six-part serial from June to November 1922, under the title "The Penningtons" Kindle Edition from Oak Grove [12/2007] for $4.79 Pulpville Press pb [2005] out of print/used Charter Books mass pb [7/79] out of print/used |
"The Hollywood Girl" novel [1927] by Beatrice Burton (Morgan)
Grosset & Dunlap hardcover [1927] out of print/rare
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"What Makes Sammy Run?" [1941 classic] by Budd Schulberg {see bio above} Vintage 8x5¼ pb [12/93] for $11.20 Random House 8x5½ hardcover [5/2002] for $15.40 planned Red House/DreamWorks feature film no longer listed on IMDb {4/2006} |
 | "Prater Violet" [Random House 1945] by Christopher Isherwood [1904-86] A stinging satirical novel about the film industry, using the (fictional) filming of a melodrama set in 19th Century Vienna as counterpoint to modern 'art' and the growing threat to modern Vienna from Hitler's Nazi forces. Univ MN Press 8¼x5½ pb [4/2001] for $10.85 FS&G 8¼x5½ pb [6.87] out of print/used publisher's book page |
 | "Rock Wagram: The Private Life of A Hollywood Star" [1951] by William Saroyan [1908-81] Written in 39 days, the tale of ex-GI and former bartender Arik Vagramian, who changed his name to Rock Wagram and has become a successful actor in Hollywood, and his struggles to maintain his career, his marriage, and his role as father to two children. Signet mass pb [1952] out of print/used Doubleday hardcover [1951] out of print/used Doubleday hardcover [1951] out of print/used |
 | "The Deer Park" [Putnam 1955] by Norman Mailer Based on Mailer's experiences working as a screenwriter in Hollywood in the early 1950s, set in a desert town much like Palm Springs. Vintage 8x5¼ pb [10/97] for $11.20 |
 | "Cast of Characters: A Novel" [1957] by Al Morgan
Story takes place during a premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, with alternate chapters telling the stories of various individuals in attendance. Pocket/Cardinal mass pb [1958] out of print/used Dutton hardcover [1957] out of print/used Dutton hardcover [1957] out of print/used Dutton hardcover [1957] out of print/used |
 | "Death On Location" [1962] by William R. Cox
Shoestring movie producer Tom Kincaid takes his crew north of Las Vegas, Nevada to film an adventure epic starring his live-in girlfriend; the murder of the leading lady's stand-in links to big-city dope traffic, putting the movie - and their lives - in jeopardy. New American Library mass pb [1962] out of print/used |
 | "The Big Laugh" [1962] by John O'Hara Not O'Hara's best, but still O'Hara. Blindly-ambitious actor Hubie Ward lies, cheats, and seduces his way to the big-time in Hollywood. Ecco 8¾x5½ pb [10/97] for $16.00 |
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"The Quick Red Fox" [1964] by John D. MacDonald Freelance 'salvage consultant' Travis McGee comes to Hollywood, where he saves movie star Lysa Dean from a blackmailer – with side trips to Big Sur, New York & Las Vegas giving the author opportunity to expound on the excesses of the vulgar rich. Fawcett/Gold Medal mass pb [8/95] for $7.99 |
 | "Betrayed By Rita Hayworth (La Traición de Rita Hayworth)" [1968 novel] by Manuel Puig [1932-90] of Argentina, Translated by Suzanne Jill Levine Puig's first novel is a comic romp, a stream-of-consciousness coming-of-age tale ably translated by Levine. Young Toto lives in a small pampas town in thrall to its own petty lusts, betrayals, scandals, thefts, gossip, and to the movies, and he fills in the ugly or upsetting moments of his childhood with Hollywood-inspired fantasy. Dalkey Archive Press 7½x6½ pb [3/2009] for $11.86 Random House mass pb [1981] out of print/used E.P. Dutton hardcover [1971] out of print/many used |
 | "Off With Their Heads: A Serio-Comic Tale of Hollywood" [1972 novel] by Frances Marion [1886-1973] Macmillan hardcover [1972] out of print/used |
 | "The True Life Story of Jody McKeegan: A Novel" [1975] by Don Carpenter E.P. Dutton hardcover [1975] out of print/used |
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"The Dream Lover" [1978] by Lawrence Sanders Intrigue and passion and betrayal in 1927 Hollywood Berkley 6¾x4¼ pb [7/2001] for $7.50 John Curley UNABR audio [5/99] for $54.95 |
 | "A Couple of Comedians: A Novel" [1979] by Don Carpenter A comedian nearly breaks down from the pressures at the end of filming a movie, but is rescued when he and his partner get a gig in Las Vegas, Nevada. North Point Press 8¼x5½ pb [6/88] out of print/used S&S 8½x5½ hardcover [1/79] out of print/used |
 | "Free Fall In Crimson" [1981] by John D. MacDonald
Freelance 'salvage consultant' Travis McGee asks movie star Lysa Dean {see "Quick Red Fox" [1964] above} for help investigating a biker movie director's connections to drugs, porn and murder. Fawcett/Gold Medal mass pb [4/96] for $7.99 |
 | "Turnaround: A Novel" [1981] by Don Carpenter
The hard-boiled (but not bitter) tale of a struggling screenwriter living in a seedy motel off the Sunset Strip, against the background of three generations of a Hollywood dynasty. S&S 8¾x6¼ hardcover [6/81] out of print/used |
 | "Bijou Dream" [1982] by Jack Warner, Jr. Robbins International Studios is the setting for 'bombastic' studio chief Hamilton J. Robbins, his brother Maurie, and Ham's second wife Nita. Random House hardcover [12/88] out of print/many used Crown hardcover [1/82] out of print/used renamed re-issue "The Dream Factory" [1988] PaperJacks pb [2/88] out of print/used |
 | "Money: A Suicide Note" [1984] by Martin Amis A savage comedy, the tale of a successful director of TV advertisements in London who is hired by a New York movie producer to make a feature film in Hollywood starring people who loathe each other; listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Novels (10/2005). Penguin 7¾x5 pb [4/86] for $10.46 |
 | "Suspects" novel [1985] by David Thomson Biographical sketches of (on-screen) Hollywood personalities morph into a novel of their inter-relationships. The icons of the silver screen herein include George Bailey, Norman Bates, Travis Bickle, Rick Blaine, Kitty Collins, Noah Cross, Norma Desmond, Gilda Farrell, Joe Gillis, Jake Gittes, Laura Hunt, Julian Kay, Harry Lime, Ilsa Lund, Waldo Lydecker, Walter Neff & Vivian Sternwood No Exit 7½x5 pb [9/2007] for $11.86 Vintage 8x5¼ pb [9/86] out of print/used Knopf hardcover [5/85] out of print/used |
 | "Her Only Sin: A Novel of Hollywood" [1986] by Benjamin Stein A Hollywood roman á clef, chronicling the rise of studio exec Susan-Marie, whose producer skills bring box-office success while the lousy choices in her personal life lead to tragedy. St Martin mass pb [2/87] out of stock/many used St Martin hardcover [1/86] out of stock/many used |
"Hollywood Heroes" [1986] by Hamilton T. Caine {aka Stephen Smoke}
When a hated TV soap opera star is run down after a cast party, the cops classify it as a hit-and-run
accident, but the dead man's girlfriend hires private detective Ace Carpenter to investigate.
Berkley mass pb [1/86] out of print/used
 | "Hollywood: A Novel" [1989] by Charles Bukowski
based on experiences during the making of the movie "Barfly" Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [12/89] for $11.20 Black Sparrow 9x6 hardcover [12/89] for $17.50 Charles Bukowski [1920-94] Page at Maison d'Ętre Philosophy Bookstore |
 | "Hollywood: A Novel of America In The 1920s" [1990] by Gore Vidal Ballantine pb [2/91] out of print/used Vintage 8x5¼ pb [8/2000] for $10.50 Modern Library 7¾x5 hardcover [2/99] out of print/used |
 | "Sweet La-La Land" [1990] by Robert Campbell Modern detective Whistler searches the dank underbelly of the streets of Hollywood, looking for a missing child and finding a serial killer. The characters are both romantic and cynical, the narration is often truly poetic, and the description of exploitation B-movie production and personnel is spot-on. Pocket mass pb [2/91] out of print/many used Disc-Us Books 8x6 pb [4/99] out of print/used Poseidon Press hardcover [3/90] out of print/many used |
 | "Dead At The Box Office" [1990] by John Dandola
M.G.M. decides to reap free publicity by premiering the 1940 Spencer Tracy movie "Edison, The Man" in Thomas Edison 's hometown of West Orange, New Jersey. Studio publicity girl Edie Koslow is already juggling the press, the personalities of the stars, and interference by the locals when several murders the week before the premiere threaten the festivities and her job – and her life. Quincannon Publng Group pb [5/2001] out of print/used Quincannon Publng Group 7¾x5¼ pb [5/93] out of print/used book available at author's website "Edison, The Man" feature film [M.G.M. May 1940] Directed by Clarence Brown; starring Spencer Tracy; Oscar nomination for Best Original Story Warner Bros. b&w DVD [6/2009] for $26.99 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
 | "Green Shadows, White Whale: A Novel of Ray Bradbury's Adventures Making Moby Dick With John Huston In Ireland" [1992] by Ray Bradbury
Harper Perennial 8x5¼ pb [9/98] for $13.99 Spectra mass pb [7/93] out of print/used Knopf 8¾x6 hardcover [5/92] out of print/many used see also Magic Lantern's John Huston Page |
 | "L. A. Times" [1993] by Stuart Woods A cinema-loving soldier for the mob in New York City reinvents himself as a Hollywood movie producer. HarperTorch mass pb [1/94] for $7.99 HarperCollins 9¼x6¼ hardcover [4/93] out of print/used |
 | "Pacific Coast Highway" [1994] by Stephen Smoke
The supposed hit-and-run death of a neighbor pulls ex-L.A.P.D. detective Derek Cheney into an investigation that leads to a serial killer who is attacking young actresses. HarperCollins mass pb [4/94] out of print/many used Headline Book Publng hardcover [4/94] out of print/scarce |
 | "Popcorn: A Novel" [1997] by Ben Elton Exploitation director Bruce Delametri wins an Oscar® and returns home to be captured by two crazed fans who have memorized all the murder & mayhem of his films. Cops and media surround the house as the fiends begin to act out gruesome scenes on Bruce's friends & family. St. Martin's Griffin 9¼x6¼ pb [10/98] out of print/used Thomas Dunne Books 9½x6½ hardcover [11/97] out of print/used |
 | "A Shoot In Cleveland" [1998] by Les Roberts Bummed about the death of best pal Meglich, Cleveland, Ohio P.I. Milan Jacovich gets dragged into a 'simple' job as bodyguard for the 24-year-old star of a cop movie filming on location there; when the kid sneaks away to spend a Sunday with the 15-year-old daughter of a local politico, Milan quits. Then the kid is shot to death ... Gray & Co. 8x5¼ pb [6/2005] for $11.86 St. Martin's Dead Letter mass pb [4/99] out of print/used St. Martin's / Thomas Dunne Books 8¼x6 hardcover [5/98] out of print/used author's official website |
 | "The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association: A Novel" [1999] by Loren D. Estleman The Russian heir to a California ice-cutting fortune becomes a writer of motion pictures in Hollywood, circa 1913 to 1930. Forge mass pb [7/2000] out of print/many, many used Forge 8½x5¾ hardcover [3/99] out of print/many used |
 | "The Hollywood Murders" [2000] 3 stories by Ellery Queen Four Walls Eight Windows 9x6 pb [11/2000] for $11.90 |
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"Stormy Weather: A Charlotte Justice Mystery" [2001] by Paula L. Woods One World pb [7/2002] for $11.20 W.W.Norton 8½x5¾ hardcover [8/2001] for $17.47 |
 | "The Dream Factory: A Novel About The Power of Secrets In A Town Built On Illusions" [2002] by Janet Leigh Mira mass pb [1/2003] out of print/used Mira 9½x6½ hardcover [2/2002] out of print/many used |
 | tales of stuntman-turned-private investigator Buck Ames "Murder At Republic" [2002] by W.W. Walker AuthorHouse 9x6 pb [12/2002] for $9.94 Writers Club Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [12/2002] for $19.95 "Murder At Columbia" [2004] by W.W. Walker PublishAmerica 8½x5½ pb [3/2004] out of print/used "Murder At R.K.O." short story [2007] by W.W. Walker Amazon digital download [5/2007] for 49˘ "Murder At Universal" [2008] by W.W. Walker CreateSpace 9x6 pb [3/2008] for $19.95 |
 | "Let's All Kill Constance" [2002] by Ray Bradbury "Bradbury's depiction of Hollywood as its first great glory begins to deteriorate effectively recaptures the past ... and he does so with more [bellylaughs] than nostalgia." — Paula Friedman, Los Angeles Times HarperCollins 8½x5¾ hardcover [12/2002] for $16.77 |
 | "Hollywood Tough: A Shane Scully Novel" [2003] by tv producer Stephen J. Cannell St Martin hardcover [1/2003] for $17.47 Audio Renaissance UNABR audio [1/2003] for $25.87 Chivers ABR audio CD [1/2003] for $81.94 official booksite |
 | "Scavenger Hunt" [2003] by Robert Ferrigno A dead Hollywood director, a missing screenplay . . . Vantage 8x5¼ pb [2/2004] for $10.40 Pantheon 9x6¾ hardcover [1/2003] for $17.47 |
 | "San Remo Drive: A Novel From Memory" [2003] by Leslie Epstein "one of the four best Hollywood books ever written" — Elizabeth Frank, New York Times Book Review; listed in 'L.A. Times 100 Best Books of 2003' Handsel Books 8¾x6 pb [7/2004] for $12.35 Handsel Books 9x6¼ hardcover [4/2003] for $24.00 |
 | "Action!" [2003] by Robert W. Cort [producer of 52 films] Random House 7¾x5¼ pb [7/2004] for $14.95 Random House 9¾x6 hardcover [6/2003] out of print/many used |
 | "Six Degrees of Warren Beatty: A Hollywood Novel" [2003] by Clayton Moore The teen drama TV series "Melrose Hills" may soon be cancelled; during a live national broadcast from Malibu Beach, the lead actress is shot to death; the victim's King Kong of a stage mother concocts a plan to save the show, "setting into motion a cycle of desperation and depravity bizarre even by Hollywood standards". iUniverse pb [12/2003] for $14.95 |
 | "The Manhattan Beach Project: A Novel" [2005] by Peter Lefcourt Hapless Oscar-winning producer Charlie Berns is down and out, so he jumps at the chance to work with a C.I.A. agent on a reality TV series about a trigger-happy warlord in Uzbekistan. S&S 9x6 pb [8/2007] for $22.95 S&S 9½x6 hardcover [2/2005] out of print/used |
 | "Backlot Requiem: A Rick Walker Mystery" [2005] by G.E. Nordell A long-buried body discovered at National Pictures Studios brings in private investigator Rick Walker and leads to a thirty-year-old murder case, a dying film director and his wild daughters, a legendary film star of the Silent Era, local gangsters, and a very discreet love affair. iUniverse 9x6 pb [3/2005] for $12.95 iUniverse 9x6 hardcover [3/2005] for $22.95 Kindle Edition from Amazon [7/2011] for $9.95 
official Rick Walker novels site • Croatian-language edition • click here for excerpt |
 | "Out There In The Dark" [2006] by Wesley Strick
Hollywood in the late Thirties: B-actor Harley Hayden begins dating the daughter of the head of Superior Studios, who hires ex-cop detective Mike Roarke to check Harley's background. Refugee German director Dieter Seife (name changed to Derek Sykes) is asked to star Harley in his next film; Dieter wants a better actor, so Harley hires Roarke to investigate Dieter. War breaks out and both Harley and 'Derek' are drafted to work at the Army's First Motion Picture Unit in Culver City. St. Martin/Thomas Dunne 8¼x6 hardcover [2/2006] out of print/used |
 | "Nickel-Plated Dream" [2006] by Stephen Lodge The rowdy escapades of The Kid and his faithful Indian companion among B-movie film companies in 1950s Texas, Arizona & Hollywood. Behler Publns 8½x5½ pb [5/2006] for $10.17 author's website |
 | "John O'Hara's Hollywood, 1932-1974" [22 stories 2006] by John O'Hara, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli Da Capo Press / Carroll & Graf 8x5½ pb [1/2007] for $13.46 |
 | "The Ronald Reagan Murder Case: A George Tirebiter Mystery" [2006] by David Ossman {member of The Firesign Theatre comedy troupe} Set in Hollywood in 1945, the tale of radio star George Tirebiter's solution of two mysterious deaths: the on-air shooting of movie star Army Captain Ronald Reagan's double, and the scandalous death of a movie director back in the 1920s. BearManor Media 8¾x6 pb [12/2006] for $19.95 see also Spirit of America Bookstore's Ronald Reagan [1911-2004] Page |
 | "The Blanchard Brothers Film Company" [2007] by R.D. Snowcroft A group of unemployed actors in 1911 New Jersey band together to make one-reeler movies and find sudden and fleeting success, except for one who goes on to stardom in Hollywood. Hampshire House Publng 8&frac13x5½ pb [1/2007] for $10.36 Hampshire House Publng 8½x5½ hardcover [1/2007] for $21.95 |
 | "Hollywood and Crime: Original Crime Stories Set During The History of Hollywood" [2007] Edited by Robert J. Randisi featuring stories by Michael Connelly, Terence Faherty, Bill Pronzini, Ken Kuhlken, Lee Goldberg, Max Allan Collins, Christine Matthews, Les Roberts, Stuart M. Kaminsky, and Dick Lochte Pegasus hardcover [3/2007] for $16.32 |
 | "Hollywood Exits: A Novel of 1935-1945" [2007] by Marilou Tomblin An orphaned teenage beauty becomes the protégé of a Hollywood studio executive. On a promotional tour in Europe, she is swept off her feet by an Italian count in Paris, just as war breaks out. She returns to Hollywood with a secret, torn between love and career. iUniverse/AuthorHouse 9x6 pb [6/2007] for $21.95 |
 | "Beverly Hills Dead: A Novel" [2008] by Stuart Woods
The first third of the book looks inside a Hollywood studio after World War II; the second third brings in the anti-Communist 'witch-hunts' of the early H.U.A.C. blacklist era; the final third is the actual murder mystery. Signet mass pb [9/2008] for $9.99 Putnam 9x6¼ hardcover [1/2008] for $15.09 |
 | "Oscar Season: A Novel" [2008] by Mary McNamara
Juliette is the PR manager for a swanky Los Angeles hotel, and during the busy month prior to the Academy Award ceremonies, somebody murders her Oscar-nominated screenwriter ex-husband. S&S pb [12/2008] for $12.60 S&S 9¼x6½ hardcover [1/2008] for $24.00 |
 | "Frames: A Valentino Mystery" [2008] by Loren D. Estleman Valentino, young 'film detective' at the U.C.L.A. Film Archives, stumbles upon some missing reels of von Stroheim's "Greed", the long-lost silent film masterpiece of 1924. But he also finds a human skeleton, and the stupid cops threaten to impound the film cans as 'evidence' (storing the delicate nitrate film improperly), so Valentino must solve the murder case before the cinematic treasure deteriorates even further. Forge 8¼x5½ pb [8/2010] for $11.40 Forge 8½x5¾ hardcover [4/2008] for $12.42 |
 | "Agent To The Stars" [2008] by John Scalzi Scifi author Scalzi jabs at the superficiality of Hollywood with the tale of a junior talent agent assigned to make the peaceful but very ugly interstellar invaders from Yherajk palatable to the human race, with snappy dialogue and a plot full of delightful surprises. Tor Books 8x5½ pb [10/2008] for $10.17 |
 | "Sunnyside: A Novel" [2009 bestseller] by Glen David Gold The lives of three men overlap at the beginning of The Great War: a soldier sent to France, another soldier sent to Russia, and the first and biggest worldwide movie star of the Silent Era, Charlie Chaplin; the cast also includes Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Rin-Tin-Tin, Adolph Zukor, Chaplin’s child bride, three Russian princesses, a thieving Girl Scout, and assorted movie-makers & starstruck fans. Vintage 8x5¼ pb [5/2010] for $11.53 Knopf 9¼x6¾ deckle-edge hardcover [5/2009] for $17.79 |
 | "Beverly Hills Adjacent" [2009] by Jennifer Steinhauer & Jessica Hendra It is pilot season in Hollywood, and while a seldom-hired actor stumbles from audition to audition, with panic in between, his poetry professor wife begins an affair with a movie producer. St. Martin's Griffin 8¼x5¾ pb [4/2010] for $11.89 St. Martin's Press 8¼x5¾ hardcover [5/2009] for $16.47 |
 | "Alone: A Valentino Mystery" [2009] "A letter from Garbo is the kiss of death." An elderly department store mogul offers Valentino a copy of a rare Greta Garbo silent short for the U.C.L.A. Archive if Valentino will dig up some dirt on the man's assistant, who is threatening blackmail. Days later, Valentino discovers the assistant shot dead in his client's office. Forge Books 8¼x5½ pb [DUE Nov 2011] for $10.87
Forge Books 8½x6½ hardcover [12/2009] for $11.52 |
 | "Long Memory: A Harry Logan Mystery" [2010] by W.H. Wheeler
Small-time Hollywood movie producer Harry Logan must find his way thru old Balkan hatreds to solve the murder of a young Serbian film maker. Kindle Edition from the author [6/2010] for $2.99 |
 | "The Starlet: A Novel" [2010] by Mary McNamara
While recovering in Italy from events in the previous book {"Oscar Season", above}, Juliette rescues a drugged-out actress who has fled from a location shoot and several murders. S&S 8¼x5½ pb [6/2010] for $11.25 |
 | "In Theda Bara's Tent: A Novel" [2010] by Diana Altman Young New Jersey orphan Harry Sirkus is helped by struggling theater owner Louis B. Mayer, then he runs away to New York City and works for avaricious William Fox at his newsreel company. Along the way to becoming a famous news broadcaster, Harry encounters screen stars (Theda Bara, Anita Stewart, fictional Nick Meadows), Tin Pan Alley song pluggers, bootleggers, dare-devil cameramen, movie moguls (Nicholas Schenck), and a young gossip columnist who steals his heart. Tapley Cove Press 8x5¼ pb [10/2010] for $15.00 |
 | "The Hollywood Op: Private Eye Scott Elliott In Tinseltown" [8 stories 2011] by Terence Faherty Perfect Crime Books 9x6 pb [1/2011] for $14.95 author's website |
 | "Murder On The Set: A Harry Logan Mystery" [2011] by W.H. Wheeler  During filming of small-time Hollywood producer Harry Logan's movie "The Versailles Plot", the lead actress is shot to death with a prop gun – not an accident, this is murder! Kindle Edition from the author [4/2011] for $2.99 |
 | "Valentino: Film Detective" [stories 2011] by Loren D. Estleman Valentino, the young 'film detective' at the U.C.L.A. Film Archives, in further adventures. Crippen & Landru Publrs 9x6 pb [5/2011] for $17.00 Crippen & Landru Publrs 9¼x6¼ hardcover [5/2011] for $43.00 |
 | "Our Gal Cal" [2011] by Cheryl Jordan 15-year-old Cal (short for 'Calamity') Ames is hired to act in a Hollywood teen film in 1963; she survives a nightmarish adult relationship and finds success in marriage and on the Broadway stage; motherhood runs parallel with a rocky marriage, and heart-wrenching loss leads to new beginnings. BearManor Fiction 9x6 pb [11/2011] for $29.95 publisher book page |
Books About Hollywood & Cinema
That Were Made Into Movies & TV
"The Day of The Locust"
 | "The Day of The Locust" [Jan 1939 classic novel] by Nathanael West listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Novels (10/2005) NAL pb [9/83] for $5.95 Amereon hardcover [12/97] for $19.95 DH Audio ABR [9/87] 2 tapes out of print/used |
 | "The Day of The Locust" feature film [Paramount May 1975] Directed by John Schlesinger; starring Donald Sutherland, Karen Black, Burgess Meredith, William Atherton, Geraldine Page, Richard A. Dysart, Bo Hopkins, Pepe Serna, Lelia Goldoni & Billy Barty Paramount widescreen color DVD [6/2004] for $14.23 Paramount color VHS [6/93] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"The Last Tycoon"
 | "The Love of The Last Tycoon: A Western" [1941 classic novel] by F. Scott Fitzgerald [1896-1940]; edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli The classic unfinished novel about Hollywood. The version edited in 1993 by Fitzgerald scholar Bruccoli restores the author's original intent; said to be based on M.G.M. exec Irving Thalberg. Scribner 8x5¼ pb [4/95] for $8.80 Cambridge Univ Press 8¾x5¾ hardcover [12/93] out of print/used |
 | "The Last Tycoon" feature film [Paramount 1976] Directed by Elia Kazan; script by Harold Pinter; starring Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Nicholson, Donald Pleasence & Ray Milland Paramount wudescreen color DVD [11/2003] for $9.98 Paramount color VHS [4/95] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb 11"x17" movie poster available at AllPosters.com |
"I Wake Up Screaming"
 | "I Wake Up Screaming" [1941 novel] by Steve Fisher
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard 8x5¼ pb [5/91] out of print/used Creative Arts mass pb [2/88] out of print/used Dodd, Mead & Co. hardcover [1941] out of print/used modern hardcover reissue, with Introduction by Keith Allan Deutsch plus ten short stories & two essays Centipede Press 9x6 hardcover [DUE 2011?] price unknown |
 | "I Wake Up Screaming" feature film [Fox Oct 1941] A sports promoter helps a beautiful waitress start a career; as she is about to dump him and leave for Hollywood, the girl is murdered; the corrupt cop on the case lets the murderer free and tries to pin the crime on the promoter, who hides out with the girl's sister until he clears his name. Directed by Bruce Humberstone; script by Dwight Taylor, based on the Steve Fisher novel; starring Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar, William Gargan, Alan Mowbray, Allyn Joslyn & Elisha Cook Jr.; DVD extras include commentary by film historian Eddie Muller, deleted 'Daddy' scene, U.K. "Hot Spot" opening sequence & posters, poster & photo galleries, theatrical trailer Fox b&w DVD [6/2006] for $10.99 Fox b&w VHS [9/98] for $13.98 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
 | remake "Vicki" [Fox Sept 1953] Directed by Harry Horner; script by Dwight Taylor & Leo Townsend; starring Jeanne Crain, Jean Peters, Elliott Reid, Richard Boone, Max Showalter, Alexander D'Arcy, Carl Betz & Aaron Spelling Fox color DVD [8/2006] for $13.49 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"The Slide Area: Scenes of Hollywood Life"
1959 collection of seven short stories by Gavin Lambert that portray a bevy of tinsel-town lowlifes
"Tales From The Hollywood Hills: The Closed Set" [P.B.S. Nov 1988]
Directed by Mollie Miller; teleplay by Ellen M. Violett, based on a 1959 Gavin Lambert short story;
starring Rita Moreno, D.W. Moffett, Harold Gould & Penelope Ann Miller
• full credits at IMDb
"The Oscar"
 | "The Oscar: A Novel" [1963] by Richard Sale "Five famous actors are nominated for the award, and they stop at nothing to win it." Pocket mass pb [8/72] out of print/used S&S hardcover [11/63] out of print/used "The Oscar" feature film [Embassy March 1966] Co-written & directed by Russell Rouse; starring Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, Milton Berle, Eleanor Parker, Joseph Cotten, Jill St. John, Tony Bennett, Edie Adams, Ernest Borgnine, Ed Begley, Walter Brennan, Broderick Crawford, Peter Lawford & Jack Soo; with cameos by Edith Head, Bob Hope, Hedda Hopper, Merle Oberon, Frank Sinatra & Nancy Sinatra • full credits at IMDb Sony color VHS [2/93] out of prodn/used |
"Inside Daisy Clover"
1963 novel by Gavin Lambert + Natalie Wood movie
"Moviola"
 | "Moviola" [1979 bestselling novel] by Garson Kanin [1912-99] Garson Kanin's Broadway credits • Garson Kanin's IMDb listing • Wikipedia A novelization of Kanin's life on Broadway & in Hollywood; aged movie mogul Ben Farber tells tales from his seventy years in show business, with an all-star cast Pocket TV tie-in mass pb [4/80] out of print/many, many used S&S 9½x6¼ hardcover [11/79] out of print/many, many used |
book cited as the source for three NBC-TV movies:
"This Year's Blonde" [May 1980] about Marilyn Monroe & Johnny Hyde
DVD/Blu-ray not available; full credits at IMDb
"The Scarlett O'Hara War" [May 1980] about making "Gone With The Wind" [1939]
DVD/Blu-ray not available; full credits at IMDb
"The Silent Lovers" [May 1980] about Greta Gartbo & John Gilbert
DVD/Blu-ray not available; full credits at IMDb
"Life At The Marmont"
 | Non-fiction book by the hotel’s co-owner Raymond R. Sarlot and Fred Basten The Chateau Marmont on the east end of the Sunset Strip in Hollywood was constructed as an apartment building in tbe late 1920s; economic woes of The Great Depression found it converted to an exclusive hotel, catering to the Hollywood entertainment industry elite. Roundtable Publng hardcover [10/87] out of print/used Chateau Marmont official website • entry at Wikipedia |
Announced 6/2011: Producers Aaron Sorkin & John Krasinski are developing a miniseries
for H.B.O. based on the 1987 book “Life At The Marmont”
"The Deal"
 | "The Deal: A Novel of Hollywood" [1991] by Peter Lefcourt Producer Charlie Berns has hit bottom when his nephew brings him a spec script about Queen Victoria, Benjamin Disraeli & William Gladstone; the project morphs into "Lev Disraeli, Freedom Fighter" starring an Afro-American actor and begins filming in Yugoslavia . . . Kindle Edition from Washington Square Press [2004 edition] for $15.99 Washington Square Press 8½x5¼ pb [12/2002] for $21.95 Random House 9½x6½ hardcover [4/91] out of print/used Blackstone Audio UNABR audio CD [1/2008] 6 disks for $19.95 |
 | "The Deal" feature film [video release Jan 2009] Filmed in Los Angeles, the Czech Republic, and South Africa; a movie about XIXth Century British diplomat Benjamin Disraeli gets a greenlight only if the producers hire an action star, who happens to be Afro-American; production halts when the action star is kidnapped . . . Co-written & directed by Steven Schachter; co-written by & starring William H. Macy; based on the novel by Peter Lefcourt; also starring Meg Ryan, Jason Ritter, Fiona Glascott, LL Cool J, Elliott Gould, Sharon Raginiano, John Carson, David Hunt & Kate Blumberg Peace Arch widescreen color Blu-ray [1/2009] for $8.49 Peace Arch Films widescreen color DVD + digital [1/2009] for $6.99 Peace Arch Trinity widescreen color DVD [1/2009] for $4.72 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
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