Hollywood Babylon II
Mark Down
by Michael Ryan
People Weekly - November 12, 1984
…Kenneth Anger…has set tongues wagging from coast to coast with the
publication of his "Hollywood Babylon II," a sometimes shocking and
instantly popular concatenation of Tinseltown gossip and compromising
candid photos of the stars. To a generation that may not remember him
as a child actor - or as an underground director whose "Scorpio Rising"
was once shown in just about every art theater and college film series
in America - Anger has introduced himself as a one-man wrecking crew of
movie idols. Yet his book, Anger takes pains to insist, is a labor of -
more or less - love. Says he, "Hollywood is one of the few places in
the world that has an indestructible mythology."
No thanks to Anger. The book's…photographs of a grotesquely overweight
Liz Taylor http://snipurl.com/fat_elizabeth are among the unkindest
cuts of all time; the picture of Marily Monroe's deathbed is simply
ghoulish. Like a malevolent imp, Anger has sat on the sidelines of
Hollywood for most of his [life], collecting nasty trivia and brutal
images of the people much of the world worships. Here we find that
Alfred Hitchcock was a sadomasochist, and that Jane Wyman left Ronald
Reagan because he repeatedly bored her - and their friends - by
screening his star turn in "King's Row" http://snipurl.com/1i3vn after
every dinner party.
Anger professes--with the piety of every good gossip--that "Nine-tenths
of the people in Hollywood are straight arrows." But they go unsung -
indeed, unmentioned - in a book that bears witness to its author's
lifelong obsession with the seamiest side of a seamy business... The
juiciest material concerns stars long dead - and beyond access to libel
lawyers. Carmen Miranda had secret compartments cut in her platform
shoes to stash her cocaine; Tallulah Bankhead
http://snipurl.com/tallulah and Hattie McDaniel
http://snipurl.com/hattie were a gay couple; James Dean was boorish,
childish and homosexual - and he had public lice to boot. Too often the
book takes a sniggering tone: In a chapter entitled "Odd Couples,"
Anger reprints a series of photographs of Cary Grant and Randolph Scott
at the swimming pool and the breakfast table of the house he says they
shared in Santa Monica. The text of the chapter - which is devoted to
sexual relationships between improbable couples - makes no mention of
either Scott or Grant. "That's on purpose," Anger concedes.
…New York's far Upper East Side is home to Kenneth Anger now, a home he
shares with posters of the likes of Lupe Velez and Gloria Swanson.
…Portraits of Rudolph Valentino stare down from every wall at Anger's
single bed. The author's grandmother, a Hollywood costume mistress,
dressed Valentino in several of his movies, including "Son of the
Sheik." In a place of honor in the living room...sits a box of Rudolph
Valentino cigars. An old copy of LIFE with a cover story on Valentino
adorns the entraceway. To this day, Anger is grieved at the ignominious
end his hero met. "He's just buried in this niche in a wall..."
http://snipurl.com/niche_wall There were plans for this wonderful
mausoleum, to be built by public subscription. Pola Negri was supposed
to lead it. But it never happened."…
…The stories in this book…come from sources like detectives and butlers
and from Anger's own observations. "I'm a sponge," he says. "I soak up
everything." He proffers a wealth of unprintable scandal about living
stars, and caps it with an astonishing photograph that seems to show a
film legend performing what is usually referred to as an unnatural act.
"I've got enough material for another book," he confides. "But I want
to move on to something else."
"Every 10 years or so, I need to make some money, so I can preserve my
independent lifestyle," Anger says. "I was attacked…just a few years
ago," he remembers. "There was a bunch of Irish kids that were
attacking so-called members of the gay community. They hit me with a
Budweiser bottle. The same kids were attacking men in Central Park and
they attacked this famous tennis player who was just jogging through;
he wasn't even gay. They hit him with a baseball bat and he never
played tennis again. And they weren't even punished."
A listener begins to wonder. The athlete in question was a skater, not
a tennis player. And the men who did it were caught; they were
sentenced to prison. But those details are merely facts. And they do
get in the way of one of Kenneth Anger's good stories.
==========
Kenneth Anger http://snipurl.com/kenneth_anger
Cary Grant and Randolph Scott http://snipurl.com/cary_and_randy
"Although [Carmen Miranda] was mildly addicted to prescription
medications, she did not use cocaine nor carry the drug in her platform
shoes as documented in the controversial book, 'Hollywood Babylon II.'
" -- Filmbug http://www.filmbug.com/db/685
Zeph
Header@[127.1]> wrote:
> "The Look Back of Anger"
> by Michael Ryan
> People Weekly - November 12, 1984
>
> publication of his "Hollywood Babylon II," a sometimes shocking and
> instantly popular concatenation of Tinseltown gossip and compromising
> candid photos of the stars. To a generation that may not remember him
> as a child actor - or as an underground director whose "Scorpio Rising"
> was once shown in just about every art theater and college film series
> in America - Anger has introduced himself as a one-man wrecking crew of
> movie idols. Yet his book, Anger takes pains to insist, is a labor of -
> more or less - love. Says he, "Hollywood is one of the few places in
> the world that has an indestructible mythology."
>
> Liz Taylorhttp://snipurl.com/fat_elizabethare among the unkindest
> cuts of all time; the picture of Marily Monroe's deathbed is simply
> ghoulish. Like a malevolent imp, Anger has sat on the sidelines of
> Hollywood for most of his [life], collecting nasty trivia and brutal
> images of the people much of the world worships. Here we find that
> Alfred Hitchcock was a sadomasochist, and that Jane Wyman left Ronald
> Reagan because he repeatedly bored her - and their friends - by
> screening his star turn in "King's Row"http://snipurl.com/1i3vnafter
> every dinner party.
>
> Anger professes--with the piety of every good gossip--that "Nine-tenths
> of the people in Hollywood are straight arrows." But they go unsung -
> indeed, unmentioned - in a book that bears witness to its author's
> lifelong obsession with the seamiest side of a seamy business... The
> juiciest material concerns stars long dead - and beyond access to libel
> lawyers. Carmen Miranda had secret compartments cut in her platform
> childish and homosexual - and he had public lice to boot. Too often the
> book takes a sniggering tone: In a chapter entitled "Odd Couples,"
> Anger reprints a series of photographs of Cary Grant and Randolph Scott
> at the swimming pool and the breakfast table of the house he says they
> shared in Santa Monica. The text of the chapter - which is devoted to
> sexual relationships between improbable couples - makes no mention of
> either Scott or Grant. "That's on purpose," Anger concedes.
>
> shares with posters of the likes of Lupe Velez and Gloria Swanson.
> single bed. The author's grandmother, a Hollywood costume mistress,
> dressed Valentino in several of his movies, including "Son of the
> Sheik." In a place of honor in the living room...sits a box of Rudolph
> Valentino cigars. An old copy of LIFE with a cover story on Valentino
> adorns the entraceway. To this day, Anger is grieved at the ignominious
> mausoleum, to be built by public subscription. Pola Negri was supposed
>
> ...The stories in this book...come from sources like detectives and butlers
> and from Anger's own observations. "I'm a sponge," he says. "I soak up
> everything." He proffers a wealth of unprintable scandal about living
> stars, and caps it with an astonishing photograph that seems to show a
> film legend performing what is usually referred to as an unnatural act.
> "I've got enough material for another book," he confides. "But I want
> to move on to something else."
>
> "Every 10 years or so, I need to make some money, so I can preserve my
> ago," he remembers. "There was a bunch of Irish kids that were
> attacking so-called members of the gay community. They hit me with a
> Budweiser bottle. The same kids were attacking men in Central Park and
> they attacked this famous tennis player who was just jogging through;
> he wasn't even gay. They hit him with a baseball bat and he never
> played tennis again. And they weren't even punished."
>
> A listener begins to wonder. The athlete in question was a skater, not
> a tennis player. And the men who did it were caught; they were
> sentenced to prison. But those details are merely facts. And they do
> get in the way of one of Kenneth Anger's good stories.
> ==========
>
> Cary Grant and Randolph Scotthttp://snipurl.com/cary_and_randy
>
> "Although [Carmen Miranda] was mildly addicted to prescription
> medications, she did not use cocaine nor carry the drug in her platform
> shoes as documented in the controversial book, 'Hollywood Babylon II.'
> " -- Filmbughttp://www.filmbug.com/db/685
James Dean had public lice? You would think a star of his magnitude
could get private ones.
Z
William Ferry
DEAN
--
Yours for bigger and better silents,
William D. Ferry
"Zeph" <Zephy...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1177598837.3...@s33g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
> On Apr 25, 11:09 pm, Mark Down <Use-Author-Supplied-Address-
mikeg...@gmail.com
years ago; as a big fan of the first one, his main point was
basically, "I know his name isn't Kenneth Friendly, but this really is
an angry book, and is it really fun dirt that Rita Hayworth had
Alzheimer's?"
mack
<mikeg...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1177611313....@t39g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
prime sleazeball and a monumental scumbag. take your choice. To show a
photo of Lewis Stone lying on the sidewalk having a heart attack is beneath
contempt. Who needs to see such a thing?
Greta de Groat
Did the studio have to be closed down and fumigated?
greta