Issue: Fall 2018

Fall Reading

The Road to Oz: The Evolution, Creation, and Legacy of a Motion Picture Masterpiece is a complete retelling of how The Wizard of Oz was influenced and created and attained its iconic status. The new volume by Jay Scarfone and William Stillman reflects recent research and much more through newly discovered period interviews, media resources of the era, transcriptions and unique contemporary interviews with those who were there. Additionally, never-before-published imagery accompanies the text. In its truth and candor, this new historical contribution is ideal to tie-in with the 2018-19 80 ^th anniversary of the 1939 movie.

Poised, cultured and unforgettable, Grace Kelly had the aura of a princess even before she was crowned. She exuded grace, polish, flair and serenity as a fashion icon, actor and humanitarian. Living with Graceis a captivating look at this elegant woman who has been an inspiration for many and whose legacy enlightened a new generation of fans. Seldom seen photos and outtakes are complemented by inspiriting quotes from ad about Grace and the famous roles she played. These words and images highlight what made her so iconic on film and in life. Written by Hollywood’s own Mary Mallory, a motion picture historian and author of Hollywoodland, Hollywood at Play and A Little Barn Stated It All: The History of Hollywood Heritage’s Lasky DeMille Barn.

Actor training programs frequently focus on performance skills, but not the underlying mental attitudes that can sustain healthy and long-lasting careers in theatre, film and television. Actor for Life: How to Have An Amazing Career Without All the Dramaby acting professor Connie de Veer and master coach and teacher Jan Elfline offers fresh, accessible insights and exercises for actors to create lives that support their acting work. Instead of providing lessons on acting technique or know-how on the business of “the biz,” Actor for Life spreads the positive philosophy that how we think is a powerful engine that either supports or undermines an actor’s success. Emphasizing the need to nourish the mental and emotional needs of actors, deVeer and Elfline teach readers how to develop resilience, motivation and courage.

Confidential Confidential: The Inside Story of Hollywood’s Notorious Scandal Magazine is a painstakingly researched history of America’s first gossip magazine, by Samantha Barbas. The controversial scandal magazine was, without a doubt, the forerunner of today’s titillating headlines and celebrity gossip exposes. In the 1950s American culture revered celebrities as exemplary citizens with high morals, Confidential challenged that notion with each issue and managed to tarnish Hollywood stars’ well-constructed images by publishing raunchy and brazen stores of their misdeeds and transgressions. Readers will learn how Confidential gained its notorious reputation and how it forever altered American culture, law and journalism.

Billy Wilkerson was the most powerful man in Hollywood during the 1930s, 40s and 50s. he was the owner and publisher of the Hollywood Reporter; the film industry newspaper that became known as “Hollywood’s bible.” He built the Café Trocadero and other legendary nightspots on the famed Sunset Strip. In 30 years as Tinseltown’s premier behind-the-scenes mover and shaker, Wilkerson introduced Clark Gable and Lana Turner to the world, brought the Mafia to Hollywood, engineered the shakedown of Hollywood studios by mob-run unions, helped invent Las Vegas, tangled with Bugsy Siegel (and possibly was involved with his murder), initiated the Hollywood blacklist and conspired to cripple the studio system. W.R. Wilkerson III, Wilkerson’s son, has done painstaking research on his father, interviewing everyone from allies and partners to employees and enemies. In Hollywood Godfather, he takes an honest look at his father’s legacy and is not afraid to reflect on his actions with a critical eye.