Whatever Happened to Hollywood?
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Narrated by:
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Richard Niles
About this listen
Screenwriter Jesse L. Lasky, Jr. tells his Hollywood tales as an insider, with stories and insights sparkling with poetry, humor and the heat of first-hand observation. The son of the man who produced Hollywood’s first feature film, Jesse’s book is the history of the film industry, the birth of an art form and a compelling personal memoir. There are revealing portraits of Lasky, Sr. and his partners Samuel Goldwyn and Cecil B. De Mille (for whom Jesse wrote eight films, including The Ten Commandments) - and friends and colleagues such as Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Alfred Hitchcock, Harry Cohn, Darryl Zanuck, Nick Ray and Sam Fuller. From dating Jean Harlow to writing for Gary Cooper, Edward G. Robinson and Yul Brynner, here are the artists and the conmen, the breathtaking creativity and the destructive treachery, described by a man who knew everyone and saw everything.
New edition, music by narrator Richard Niles (richardniles.com) ©2021 Niles Smiles Music (BMI)
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Critic reviews
"Jesse Lasky, the son of one of filmland’s great founders, has written a bitter-sweet memoir of his life as a Hollywood screenwriter. It evaporates the mist of fantasy surrounding the Hollywood dream factory to reveal the realities that built the fairy-tale image." (Joan Crawford)
"It is certainly many notches above most of the other books on 'Hollywood'." (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.)
"...a nostalgic, romantic and frequently hilarious account...impressive!" (Variety)
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- Narrated by: Steve John Shepherd
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Take an unforgettable journey with the man George Bernard Shaw called "the only genius to come out of the movie industry" as he moves from his impoverished South London childhood to the heights of Hollywood wealth and fame; from the McCarthy-era investigations to his founding of United Artists to his "reverse migration" back to Europe.
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Finally Chaplin’s auto is available!
- By Ryan Baumbach on 04-28-22
By: Charles Chaplin, and others
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Burr
- A Novel (Narratives of Empire, Book 1)
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is an extraordinary portrait of one of the most complicated - and misunderstood - figures among the Founding Fathers. In 1804, while serving as vice president, Aaron Burr fought a duel with his political nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, and killed him. In 1807, he was arrested, tried, and acquitted of treason. In 1833, Burr is newly married, an aging statesman considered a monster by many. But he is determined to tell his own story, and he chooses to confide in a young New York City journalist. Burr is the first novel in Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series.
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Finally! Vidal's Great Take on the Life of Burr
- By John Norton on 06-12-19
By: Gore Vidal
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Furious Love
- Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century
- By: Sam Kashner, Nancy Schoenberger
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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He was a tough-guy Welshman softened by the affections of a breathtakingly beautiful woman; she was a modern-day Cleopatra madly in love with her own Mark Antony. For nearly a quarter of a century, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were Hollywood royalty, and their fiery romance - often called "the marriage of the century" - was the most notorious, publicized, and celebrated love affair of its day.
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Paul Boehmer needs more practice
- By Brenda Miller on 06-16-10
By: Sam Kashner, and others
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All About Me!
- My Remarkable Life in Show Business
- By: Mel Brooks
- Narrated by: Mel Brooks
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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At 95, the legendary Mel Brooks continues to set the standard for comedy across television, film, and the stage. Now, for the first time, this EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner shares his story in his own words.
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Wonderful and nostalgic
- By GAT on 12-07-21
By: Mel Brooks
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Pieces of My Heart
- A Life
- By: Robert J. Wagner
- Narrated by: Robert J. Wagner
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Abridged
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Robert J. Wagner has starred in more than 100 films and television series over the past 50 years. In this deeply personal story, he recalls his rise to stardom. He talks candidly about his relationships with some of the greatest stars of the 20th century, including Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, and, for the first time, he shares the details of his two marriages to Natalie Wood. Wagner also offers a fascinating look at Hollywood during the last half of the 20th century.
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Wagner's life, told in a gracious manner
- By Chris on 12-18-08
By: Robert J. Wagner
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Talking to Canadians
- A Memoir
- By: Rick Mercer
- Narrated by: Rick Mercer
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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What is Rick Mercer going to do now? That was the question on everyone's lips when the beloved comedian retired his hugely successful TV show after 15 seasons - and at the peak of its popularity. The answer came not long after, when he roared back in a new role as stand-up-comedian, playing to sold-out houses wherever he appeared. And then COVID-19 struck. And his legions of fans began asking again: What is Rick Mercer going to do now? Well, for one thing, he's been writing a comic masterpiece.
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Mercer Killed and He Will Kill Again
- By Quinn M on 11-28-22
By: Rick Mercer
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Singular Sensation
- The Triumph of Broadway
- By: Michael Riedel
- Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The 1990s was a decade of profound change on Broadway. At the dawn of the '90s, the British invasion of Broadway was in full swing, as musical spectacles like Les Miserables, Cats, and The Phantom of the Opera dominated the box office. But Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard soon spelled the end of this era and ushered in a new wave of American musicals, beginning with the ascendance of an unlikely show by a struggling writer who reimagined Puccini’s opera La Bohème as the smash Broadway show Rent
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Why Didn’t Michael Riedel Read This Himself?
- By Tallulah on 01-17-22
By: Michael Riedel
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Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters
- The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire
- By: Richard Hack
- Narrated by: Dan Cashman
- Length: 17 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Howard Hughes was a true American original: legendary lover, record-setting aviator, award-winning film producer, talented inventor, ultimate eccentric, and, for much of his lifetime, the richest man in the United States. His desire for privacy was so fierce and his isolation so complete that even now, 25 years after his death, inaccurate stories continue to circulate, and many have been published as fact. Hughes explodes the illusion of his life and exposes the man behind the myth. He was a playboy whose sexual exploits with Hollywood stars were legendary.
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GOOD READ
- By Randall on 04-25-09
By: Richard Hack
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Oil!
- By: Upton Sinclair
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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As he did so masterfully in The Jungle, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Upton Sinclair interweaves social criticism with human tragedy to create an unforgettable portrait of Southern California's early oil industry. Enraged by the oil scandals of the Harding administration in the 1920s, Sinclair tells a gripping tale of avarice, corruption, and class warfare, featuring a cavalcade of characters, including senators, oil magnates, Hollywood film starlets, and a crusading evangelist.
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an outstanding book
- By Gregory on 05-18-08
By: Upton Sinclair
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Starmaker
- Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, The Rat Pack, & 600 More Stars Who Fired Me
- By: Jay Bernstein
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Revealingly candid, this Hollywood memoir is the story of Jay Bernstein, an entertainment industry fixture who helped launch and sustain the careers of many celebrities including Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Somers. From his childhood in Oklahoma City and his first job in a Hollywood mail room to the ownership of his own public relations firm and his work as a television producer, Bernstein’s life is chronicled in his own words.
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Very Entertaining
- By patrick on 09-27-15
By: Jay Bernstein
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High Society
- The Life of Grace Kelly
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: George K Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In just seven years---from 1950 through 1956---Grace Kelly embarked on a whirlwind career that included roles in 11 movies. From the principled Amy Fowler Kane in High Noon to the thrill-seeking Frances Stevens of To Catch a Thief, Grace established herself as one of Hollywood's most talented actresses and iconic beauties.
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Find a better Grace Kelly biography, I'd skip this
- By Daniel on 08-20-12
By: Donald Spoto
What listeners say about Whatever Happened to Hollywood?
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- Charles Wall
- 08-10-21
Great Insight
Such a unique perspective on a by-gone era of Hollywood. These experiences shared by Jesse Lasky Jr are a very personal look into a life molded by the Golden era of Hollywood.
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- Steve
- 03-19-24
Terrific first person anecdotes, Editor needed.
While this book is bursting with first person and at-arms-length anecdotes of the golden age of Hollywoodland, only available from this author's unique perspective, it might beggar belief that this tome came from a professional writer's pen.
It is certainly worth the while but the listener is warned of the whiplash they may get from the narrative's subject often changing mid-sentence, and not being told the name of the new subject until much later in the paragraph. This may "read" better in print since there may be paragraph breaks the eye could see that the narrator might barrel through here. Keep the "rewind 30 seconds" button handy so you can keep track of who is now being profiled when things stop making sense.
The biggest detractor however is the desperate need for a good sound engineer or editor. Sentences are often restarted, without these retakes being trimmed. Some beginnings and middles you get to revisit no less than four times in a row! (how like Hollywood; always eager for another "take"). A more professional reader would also help.
But... if you can grit your teeth past the sometimes clunky similes, annoying alliterations, confusing structure, and audio gaffs, beyond the seemingly scattershot use of adjectives (I don't think the author looked up their definitions after finding alternatives in the thesaurus; many do not fit at all: "inoculate" keeps appearing instead of "imbued", "inculcated", or various other "i"type words), or past the guffaw-out-loud passage where the author uses the phrase: "paragraph of purple prose" to describe clothing - with no hint of self reference or irony - then this is a worthwhile listen for any lover of Hollywood's golden-cogged machine at its zenith. Few have had such a privileged inside look as this author, and even fewer have put it down on paper for themselves.
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