I guess I read this for the same reason one cranes one's head to see the details of a traffic accident. When, in many cases, actual facts are widely available, Anger ignores them in favor of titillating conjecture. Tra pura exploitationg e glitter, tra boa di struzzo e bagni nello champagne, tra "Cronaca vera" e splatter-pulp. It turned out that when Clark Gable was still a bit player at MGM, he had let himself blow-serviced by Haines and seek his help to further his career at MGM.

And Charlie Chaplin's mustache supplementing his income by performing mustache stand-in duties for Hitler? There was no basis to the story; in 2013, the first publication of a death photo showed Vélez had been found on her bedroom floor. Have to take a moment to commemorate here what's inscribed at the back of my ancient library edition -- somehow still in circulation! 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. Described by The Daily Beast as 'essentially a work of fiction There is no doubt that many-if not all- of the stories Anger shares in his slim bible have no merit".There's a difference: the 1965 version is packaged like that of a sleaze-gossip rag in 95 cent paperback form, versus the 1975 edition, which was published again after the ban was lifted, Anger having cleaned up some of his facts, embellished some of the fluidity and structure of the book, and laid out higher quality images into a "coffee table" hardcover format. Il lato oscuro del sogno americano, sesso, droga, alienazione, depravazione, tutto riprovevole ma dannatamente intrigante; al servizio del mito. And of course it is effulgent of imagery, much of it disturbing and capturing the banal reality of death in a land of happy dreams.

I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the history of Hollywood, especially the golden era.The book also claimed that Lupe Vélez was found drowned in her own vomit with her head in a toilet after she committed suicide by swallowing more than 500 sleeping tablets. Finally, here was an acknowledgement, a mea culpa , yet simultaneously also a morbid, almost pathetic celebration of what Hollywood once was. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Written by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince, the book had no participation or association with Anger.