Hollywood Babylon: The Legendary Underground Classic of Hollywood's Darkest and Best Kept Secrets

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Sadly, the tragic "Chords of Fame" have continued to play on for far too many in and out of Hollywood in subsequent years, despite the cautionary tales of their forebears. I heard something different than the sordid tale of Stroheim's monocle blinding ladies on beaches into dropping their bikini tops. This book about the earlier stars and studios was originally published, long ago, in French in Paris.

Kenneth Anger was a trail blazer in the 60s with his bitter brand of celebrity reportage - Perez Hilton owes a debt to him - but the truth is that Anger's photo library is the best thing about this book, his sequel to the original bestseller. This book about tabloid and scandal, cracking open old Hollywood's best kept sex/murder/ and more than occasionally, occultist-related secrets, also ensued a lot of scandal and tabloid in itself. While pics were an important part of part I, here there are some actual photo essays presented entirely without words. There's still a lot of great information and awesome photos, but the meat of the book is considerably weaker than the original Holly Baby.A mere cursory glance at the chapter index should suffice in giving one a clear idea of what to expect if opting to proceed any further: ‘Heroin Heroines’, ‘William Randolph’s Hearse’, ‘Charlie’s Nymphs’, ‘The Dirty Hun’, ‘Death Garage’, ‘Monster Mae’, ‘In Like Flynn’, ‘Chop-Suicide’ and - my absolute favourite - ‘Hollywoodämmerung’. I love books about the golden age of Hollywood and gossip about the stars but in my mind there are far better books out there than this. No, what saves Kenneth Anger’s cult classic from being relegated to the dust bin for being wholly out of date (which it is), is that it doesn’t ever purport to serve this function. The first appearance of Kenneth Anger's sensationalist swipe at Hollywood, packed with photos, gritty detail, and innuendo.

First edition of Hollywood Babylon in the original French language, printed in Paris six years before the American edition. This includes actor George Sanders, Jack Dougherty, husband of Barbara La Marr, Lupe Velez, Jonathan Hale, Gig Young and his young wife Kim Schmidt’s double suicide, Mae West’s lover John Indrisano, actress Peg Entwistle, Charles Boyer, Clara Blandick, Alan Ladd, Chester Morris, Inger Stevens, Margaret Sullivan, and others. Il lato oscuro del sogno americano, sesso, droga, alienazione, depravazione, tutto riprovevole ma dannatamente intrigante; al servizio del mito. It's a case of sitting down with the nelliest queen in all Nellydom and listening to caviar quality dirt. Written by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince, the book had no participation or association with Anger.I got on to this book after hearing about the first one in an interview by NPR about a band that is using it as inspiration for an album. In 1939 when George Cukor was replaced by Victor Fleming to direct the epic film, “Gone with the wind,” it was widely reported that the “macho” Gable did not like to work with the gay director because of his dislike for that lifestyle. The concluding chapter on Ronald Reagan is a fittingly sobering end to the trajectory of the two volumes' tales. In those “halcyon” days, even if you were one of the few lucky ones picked out for a life of shameless luxury, hedonism and blind adoration, chances were good you’d eventually do yourself in (accidental or not), be done in, or ended your life as an unhappy has-been, firmly clenching the bottle or drugged out of your mind by uppers, downers or screamers. Kenneth Anger paints a sinister, evil picture of a Hollywood that chews its "stars" up and spits them out.

For here we have the infamous, tragicomic tale of Mexico born actress Lupe Vélez who, in a botched suicide attempt by drug overdose, ended up not peaceful in her bed like some ravishing Aztec queen as intended, but head down in a toilet bowl, covered in her own throw-up. Who knows after 50+ years how true that is, except that this is a scarcer edition than the original one published in France in the late 1950's. sleepover-cum-orgy and Lillian Gish had no idea that Dorothy Gish was the other girl in the bed with Griffiths.

I really cannot think of a way to adequately express how horrible the writing is; I found myself having to re-read numerous paragraphs just to make sense of them. I needed to finally dive into this after listening to You Must Remember this a few years ago and hearing all of the true stories behind Angers’ tabloid stories. Parts of this book feel dated and parts feel absolutely iconic, in particular the litany of Hollywood suicides. The book's famous cover perfectly captures its attitude: the Hollywood glamor image self destructing before our eyes in Jayne Mansfield's overpainted face and saggy tits.