Short, Entertaining Anecdotes About The Stars And Legends Of The Movies! (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
It seems like celebrity news is everywhere these days, from supermarket tabloids to reality news shows, but it exists because we love to hear about what they do and why they do it. Sometimes they things they did were very quirky, amusing and downright shocking.In the latest novel by Stephen Schochet, Hollywood Stories: Short. Entertaining Anecdotes About the Stars and Legends of the Movies takes a look at celebrities from the past and present and shares those insights inside the cover of this wonderful book. From Buster Keaton, to The Three Stooges, from Johnny Depp to George Lucas, from Marilyn Monroe to Walt Disney, anyone who has loved movies or television stars will love this candid look into some of those rare moments in their public and private lives.Did you know that the basis for the voice of Gollum, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy was from a cat coughing up a hairball? Or that Dick Van Dyke donated money to Walt Disney's newly formed Cal Arts University in exchange for getting the secondary role of the elderly banker in Mary Poppins and even the "Banks" children did not know it was the same actor that played Burt in the movie?How about Jimmy Stewart who was just returning from serving the last five years in the Army Air Corps, and felt he was a changed man. He began questioning his return to acting as he was starring in It's A Wonderful Life, and received a lecture from Lionel Barrymore, the wheelchair bound, Mr. Potter after moping around the set for five days. He felt that maybe working in films wasn't for decent folks. Lionel's advice? He told Jimmy that making pictures gave people more happiness than shooting at them from planes. The pep talk helped restore Stewart's pride in his craft; he delivered his most famous performance in Wonderful Life and went on to have a long post-war movie career.There are simple so many great anecdotes that everyone will find something that they love inside the pages of this hardcover book. I received this book compliments of Pump Up Your Books tours and Stephen Schochet for my honest opinion and think this would make a beautiful gift for your favorite movie or television lover! From vintage classics to your favorite sitcoms, this is such a wonderful book to gain a piece of Hollywood's brightest and biggest stars and why I rate it a 5 out of 5 stars. So, I've finally finished this one. I've had it on my bedside table since the beginning of October, so it's been a long read.The format of short anecdotes, most of them filling about a third of a page, implies to me that the book should be read in bursts, maybe two - four pages at a time. That way I can savour the stories and dwell on them for a while.The stories themselves are mostly fun and witty. I get the feeling some of the stories appear more than once and there are some mistakes where years are mixed up and such, but overall it's just as entertaining as promised. I really like it that there's an index at the end of the book, so I can look up the stories of my favorite star.My only big letdown was that the book works best for an American audience - a lot of the stars mentioned are people I have only a vague idea about who they are. This especially applies to stars from the 50's and earlier. It's still interesting though, as a time doument over the dominating entertainment industry of the world during the twentieth century.
What do You think about Short, Entertaining Anecdotes About The Stars And Legends Of The Movies! (2000)?
Fun and funny. I love the hollywood stories of old.
—Madisen
Some interesting stories... Some not so much
—Celest2017
