unverified, defamatory tales are not interesting, but the breathless tone and full commitment nastiness lit up my petty mind for a night. ( )

Interesting book about old Hollywood scandals. ( )

Bizarre mish mash of scandalous lies and truth about Hollywood from the silents to the '50s. Fun read. Tame by today's standards when you think a former college and pro football star and actor can cut his wife's and her boyfriend's head off, lead police on a televised high speed chase, and get away with it. Michael Jackson. Phil Hartmann. Phil Spector. And on and on. ( )

The early decades of Hollywood were mindbogglingly decadent according to Kenneth Anger. Much of this is probably just made-up slander and exaggerated gossip. Still a fun read though. Some of the photographs are very graphic.

Anyone into this kind of stuff should listen to Karina Longworth's podcast "You Must Remember This". ( )

A very interesting and moving tale about the not-so-humane Hollywood in the early days. A must-read for film enthusiasts, and aficionados of gossip, in the days when stars were interesting and really stars. ( )

It's like Kenneth Anger wrote a tabloid magazine just for me and fed-exed it to the future!! I don't care if half of this is untrue or blown out of proportion, it's a lot of fun to read on the bus. I love you, Frances Farmer. ( )

A sensational book that blows the lid off Old Hollywood and its Golden Age. All the news that wasn't fit to print. If you're looking for a book to keep you up late at night reading, this is it! ( )

I still can't believe how much I loved this book when I first bought it. Such scandalous behaviour by actors whose names meant nothing to me then (and only slightly more now) somehow caught my attention like few other books had before or since. Weird.

Anyhoo, "Hollywood Babylon" is a couple hundred pages of gossip on Hollywood stars of the past. For many years I took what Kenneth Anger wrote on people like Charlie Chaplin, Paul Bern and Thomas Ince here as gospel and while I was saddened to read that in many cases there was very little link between much of the contents of "Hollywood Babylon" and reality, it still hasn't reduced my enjoyment of the book. ( )

Things I Learned: Rich and famous people are crazy, too! Maybe even more so ...

Comments: Anger's style is perplexing, but perhaps well-suit to his subject: celebrities of the silver screen, those well-known and the infamous. It's all here, and he names names. There were several volumes of this book published through the 1970's and 80's, all dealing with the tawdry aspects of Tinseltown. One volume that gave me bad dreams I encountered at my friends Carol's house. It was the volume dealing with the Black Dahlia murder, with crime scene photos and Elizabeth Short herself that were quite frightening. It's the kind of book that makes you glad you're just a regular Jane or Joe. ( )

Deliciously creepy, sordid true tales of Hollywood’s golden age. Lots of black and white photographs lend this book a noir quality. Well-written by filmmaker Kenneth Anger, no stranger to decadence himself. Definitely recommended. ( )

Having just returned from a trip to Hollywood, walking the path of the stars, taking in Hollywood Boulevard, this is a terrific reminder. Never mind the truth of the text, just take in the photographs. Black and white, so appropriate. Just wonderful for the film buff. And much of the silent film stuff was new to me. ( )

I first bought this book right out of college and loved it for being so salacious and juicy. I read it for a 2nd time recently then did Wikipedia searches on lots of the silent stars: Theda Bara, Clara Bow, Olive Thomas and a few others.........only to find that most of the info in this book on these folks is pure slaner, libel, myth, urban legend.........whatever you want to call it......pure FALSEHOODS!!! Reader, please double check at least one other source before you believe any of the tales spun in this book! ( )

A book which recounts the scandals that surrounded some Hollywood screen stars - with pictures ( )

Perez Hilton's precursor - early Hollywood scandal proving that the more things change the more they stay the same. ( )

Anger writes with such lurid aplomb. Hollywood Babylon is a delightful book. ( )

Anecdotas sobre cine ( )

“The Legendary Underground Classic of Hollywood's Darkest and Best Kept Secrets.”
Books on the seamy side of the film industry have been around a long time, but a half century after its original publication, Hollywood Babylon seems ever more secure in its not-so-lofty status as Tinseltown's ultimate scandal-fest. The individuals covered amount to a veritable who’s who of the film industry’s baddest and brightest : Fatty Arbuckle, Errol Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, William Randolph Hearst, Thelma Todd, Ramon Novarro, Joan Crawford, et al. The suspects are the usual and the stories familiar, but never have they been told with more relish, nor more guaranteed to produce a plethora of schadenfreude-laced guilty pleasures in the best of us. As one Amazon reviewer aptly puts it : ‘Like heroin. Only way more addictive.’ Generously illustrated with deliciously tabloidy photos.
Of related interest : for a general survey of corruption and decay in Hollywood's Golden Age, presented in a more highbrow style, see: Otto Friedrich’s City of Nets (Harper & Row, 1986).

Anyone with an interest in the history of film, celebrity gossip, pop culture, or true crime should read this book. Focusing primarily on the pre-code years of tinseltown, the book looks at the silver lining of the seamy underbelly of the movie-making beast. Absolutely fascinating. A need to read. ( )

A collection of Tinsletown scandals spanning the 1920s to the 1950s. Anger employs a sensationalist pen that suggests style over substance, but the subject matter calls for it. Sifting through the tales of debauchery, I was reminded of watching classic noir in all its form-fit glory. Short chapters and varying subjects make for ideal subway reading.

A guilty-pleasure gem.

My only complaint is not in the text but the edition. Expecting an oversize volume matching the sequel I own, I received a mass-market paperback. It's easier to carry around, but to enjoy the impressive collection of photos, I suggest the larger size. ( )

Interesting, covers similar ground as like LA Confidential but over the 20-50's in a Chandler hard-boiled type tone. Would have been revealing when it was published in the 1970's but the world has moved on ( )

4.96/5 ( )

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