Silver Screen Book Club discussion

In the 1920s, Hollywood was host of several scandals which threatened movie attendance and revenues. One of the most famous is the unsolved murder of director William Demond Taylor. Several books have been released which claim to have solved the case including this one.

Are you familiar with the William Desmond Taylor case? If so, who do you believe killed him?

What are you hoping to learn from this book?

I find the Taylor case fascinating, knew Mary Miles Minter, and have never been convinced nor satisfied by the "solution" proposed in CAST OF KILLERS. What I hoped for in TINSELTOWN was a more credible answer to the unsolved mystery.

You knew Mary Miles Minter? How, when, etc.?

This one gets some mixed reviews. Could prove interesting.

Samantha wrote: "You knew Mary Miles Minter? How, when, etc.?"

I met Mary in the early 1970s when I was doing research on the Flying A studio in Santa Barbara. Former co-workers mentioned she was in the Santa Monica, CA, phone book under her married name, Mrs. Brandon O'Hildebrandt, and I called her. She did not want to be photographed or grant a recorded interview, but we spoke informally at her house on several occasions and she had me help organize some of her still photographs. She was completely unrecognizable from her days as a screen star, about 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, wearing a rather frowzy house dress and sleeping cap. She claimed her one pleasure left in life was eating, and she had a housekeeper/cook who kept her well fed. I had dinner with Mary on several occasions, and the menu consisted of a large steak, baked potato, steamed vegetables and home-made pie for dessert. Mary was very willful, used to having her own way, and quite demanding. If she asked me to adjust the living room shade, for example, she wanted it done "just so," and no other way would do. She spoke in a very florid manner. She asked me once how old I was, and when I told her I was 21, she responded: "Ah, my dear Mr. Birchard, the world is your oyster." She offered to rent me the former coach-house-converted-to-guest-house on her property for $345 a month, but since I had a 2-bedroom apartment in West Los Angeles at the time and was paying only $185 a month for that, I declined. I'm not sure I could have put up with her domineering attitude on a daily basis, in any event.

I've been wanting to read this book for awhile...already downloaded it on my kindle. Let me know when we start it!

I am not familiar with this case. The cover of this book looks intriguing. I mean who can resist a book the says Murder, Morphine and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood. This should definitely be an interesting read. The last one was interesting but at times it did feel more like I was learning about history more than just Hattie McDaniel.

Here is the reading schedule for this book:

WEEK ONE: Chapters 1-6
WEEK TWO: Chapters 7-15
WEEK THREE: Chapters 16-25
WEEK FOUR: Chapters 26-35
WEEK FIVE: Chapters 36-43
WEEK SIX: Chapters 44-53
WEEK SEVEN: Chapters 54-63
WEEK EIGHT: Chapters 64-END

I already read this book a couple of months ago. I would love to see what everyone thinks about it. :)

Having read Hot Toddy and a bio of Mabel Normand years ago, I am looking forward to this book. Must also admit Hattie was a little disappointing, however I have an earlier bio of her which I have now added to my list of MUST reads. William Mann does write an easy flowing book so this one should be good.

How do you feel about the author's writing style?

One of the things that made A Cast of Killers so readable for me was the narrative style, but it also made me question the research. This book feels similar to me. The author couldn't possibly know all the details he includes in the telling of this real-life crime story, and while it makes it easy to read, it is not very scholarly.

Sorry I haven't started this book yet, though it's been on my kindle for ages. I'll start reading it tonight. Does it support a particular suspect? I bought it thinking it was like all those casebooks about Jack the Ripper, where they list a bunch of suspects but never single out anyone special as the real culprit.

If so, I expect it'll disappoint me. I've always thought Taylor's wife and/or daughter had the most reason to kill him, though I'm not sure whether they could've physically done the deed from New York. It always struck me as odd that a witness described the suspect on scene that night as dressed like a man but walking like a woman. Anyway, it should be a good read!

I've read CAST OF KILLERS which presents director King Vidor's research into the case. I enjoyed that one immensely and am looking forward to reading this one.

I also read Cast of Killers years ago. I feel this current book is similar. Agree all the details could not possibly be known, however, having read other books by William Mann (who also writes fiction novels) I am not surprised by Tinseltown and am enjoying it for what it is - a little fiction and non-fiction mixed together.

Its an interesting book. I think that a lot had to be added. There are only so many facts and then the writer would have to fill in the spaces. Its interesting though. I feel like the book is showing little snippets of what was going on during that time period.

Do you feel you are able to solve the murder case at this point? What information is still missing?