On “Tinseltown:” A Book Review

This year’s book reviews are going to be primarily focused on Hollywood, whether it be the location itself, its stars, or the books that some of those classic movie favorites are based off of. To start it off, I present to you a book about Hollywood in the 1920’s.

Title: Tinseltown

Author: William J. Mann

Genre: Non-Fiction

About the book…

The early days of Hollywood were filled with intrigue and scandal, among which is included the unsolved case of the Motion Picture Directors Association’s president, William Desmond Taylor’s, death. William J. Mann explores the suspects of the time, with a focus on Taylor’s connections to Mary Miles Minter, Mabel Normand, and Margaret Gibson, and their possible motives, presenting his ideas on just what happened the night Taylor was killed, as well as diving into the challenges faced in this fascinating time in Hollywood history.

What I think…

While the history of Hollywood has always been of interest to me, I realized when I picked up this book that I really only knew the basics when it came to the early years of movie making and those were involved. 

To begin with, this was written more in the style of a novel, which made it fast paced to read even at almost 500 pages. It was also broken up in such a way that allowed for a certain amount of suspense to build around the case and all its details. 

I knew very little about the death of Taylor when I started reading, but became more and more fascinated by the details as Mann unraveled them and presented the case. That this case has gone unsolved and still remains unsolved is interesting in itself and by the end of the book I found it interesting to compare the various ideas that have circulated over time as to who did it.

I liked how Mann integrated other issues of the time into the book as well. He addressed how the studio heads, especially Adolph Zukor, handled the increasing scandal of their stars and in general their ideas of how the industry should be shaped. One aspect of this that I really enjoyed reading about was the constant struggle with the rising demands of the public to clean up both their movies and Hollywood, which ultimately led to the Hays Code.

To sum it all up…

An interesting account of Hollywood in the 1920’s, the unsolved death of William Desmond Taylor, and how the studio heads handled the scandals of the time in relation to the demands of the public. This is a book that is great for anyone with an interest in the early history of Hollywood. ♥