What do you think?
Movie Anecdotes
Hollywood, Walter Winchell quipped, is where they shoot too many movies and not enough actors. Always looking for an angle, always, scheming, always the scene of clashing egos, the movie industry is where they place you under contract instead of observation--and if you don't have anything
nice to say, write it down. "In 1940, I had my choice between Hitler and Hollywood," French director René Clair recalled, "and I preferred Hollywood--just a little."
In Movie Anecdotes , Peter Hay treats us to a delightful ride through the world that has captivated audiences for almost a century, with stories that are often hilarious, sometimes tragic, and always entertaining. He takes us from the rough-and tumble early days (when one studio paid Pancho
Villa $25,000 to launch his attacks only in daylight, after a film crew had set up) to the studio era (when Joan Crawford refused to cross the street on the MGM lot except in a chauffeured limousine) to the shenanigans of today's global industry. Here are stories about all the Charlie
Chaplin, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Mae West, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Sophia Loren, John Wayne, and, of course, Ronald Reagan. There are the great directors from D.W. Griffith, Hitchcock, and Eisenstein, to Kurosawa, Bergman,
Visconti, Huston, Ford, and Woody Allen. And Hay has selected tales of the writers, the wits, and the grand moguls, including perhaps the largest collection of Goldwynisms--both genuine and apocryphal.
Along with the laughter, this volume recreates the conflicts that have torn the movie world, from battles over money and contracts, to discrimination, divorces, and scandals. Colorful, incredible, bitter, funny--the stories about moviemaking are as fantastic as the pictures themselves. Now
they have been gathered together in an irresistible bouquet that is certain to delight every movie buff and provide fascinating insights for serious students of film.
nice to say, write it down. "In 1940, I had my choice between Hitler and Hollywood," French director René Clair recalled, "and I preferred Hollywood--just a little."
In Movie Anecdotes , Peter Hay treats us to a delightful ride through the world that has captivated audiences for almost a century, with stories that are often hilarious, sometimes tragic, and always entertaining. He takes us from the rough-and tumble early days (when one studio paid Pancho
Villa $25,000 to launch his attacks only in daylight, after a film crew had set up) to the studio era (when Joan Crawford refused to cross the street on the MGM lot except in a chauffeured limousine) to the shenanigans of today's global industry. Here are stories about all the Charlie
Chaplin, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Mae West, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Sophia Loren, John Wayne, and, of course, Ronald Reagan. There are the great directors from D.W. Griffith, Hitchcock, and Eisenstein, to Kurosawa, Bergman,
Visconti, Huston, Ford, and Woody Allen. And Hay has selected tales of the writers, the wits, and the grand moguls, including perhaps the largest collection of Goldwynisms--both genuine and apocryphal.
Along with the laughter, this volume recreates the conflicts that have torn the movie world, from battles over money and contracts, to discrimination, divorces, and scandals. Colorful, incredible, bitter, funny--the stories about moviemaking are as fantastic as the pictures themselves. Now
they have been gathered together in an irresistible bouquet that is certain to delight every movie buff and provide fascinating insights for serious students of film.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published November 8, 1990
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 9, 2015
Not that good, which should be hard to say about a collection of movie anecdotes entitled, well, "Movie Anecdotes." Despite the high-class publisher, this has the feel of a slapped-together quicker for immediate markdown at your neighborhood Borders or Barnes and Noble at Christmastime to pass off on an unsuspecting relative who "likes movies."
No pretensions to encyclopedic completeness or witty brevity, not particularly well-organized, and frankly, too many of the anecdotes aren't funny or amusing or insightful--all desirable attributes of a well-rounded anecdote. It just seems to start and end with nothing in the middle, not unlike a bad movie that isn't bad enough to be good.
It didn't take long to read. I guess that was a bonus.
No pretensions to encyclopedic completeness or witty brevity, not particularly well-organized, and frankly, too many of the anecdotes aren't funny or amusing or insightful--all desirable attributes of a well-rounded anecdote. It just seems to start and end with nothing in the middle, not unlike a bad movie that isn't bad enough to be good.
It didn't take long to read. I guess that was a bonus.
October 3, 2026
Entertaining and informative. More than just a joke book, funny yet telling much about the history of Hollywood.
Most of the Hollywood studio heads at the very beginning , knew nothing about film making, they were in other trades - like the clothing industry back in NYC. They just had the money- and they wanted to get rich. The evolution of the industry is told here.
Most of the Hollywood studio heads at the very beginning , knew nothing about film making, they were in other trades - like the clothing industry back in NYC. They just had the money- and they wanted to get rich. The evolution of the industry is told here.
January 2, 2021
Read in 1991. Entertaining book featuring stories of Hollywood, sometimes, tragic, sometimes hilarious.
April 28, 2016
If you like old movies, as I do, this is a must read book full of little known tidbits about movies, the stars, the producers, the directors, the sound men, etc. The only reason I didn't give it 5-stars is that I know the book could have been at least 4 or 5 times thicker. The author just scratched the surface. The years covered are from the 1890's to the 1980's, but the majority of the factoids are from the golden years of the 30's & 40's. Highly recommended to movie fans.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews