Being there . . . . for one of my few cinema columns rather than continuing with introductionsto new titles about death and destruction during the seething hell of World War II, especiallythe saddest and nightmarish part of all, murder without passion. Instead, reader, let’s considerone of our favorite never-ending subjects guaranteed to bring a smile or two: the film-famedwho endeared themselves into our hearts. You have yours, I have mine (Gabby Hades) leadingthe pack, and the fearless acquisition editors of McFarland Publishers who have theirs. All of asudden, almost overnight at the end of June, they gave us four additional popular titles of whattheir press has been publishing for decades. If you cherish happy early American cinema, trywiggling your hearts and minds from these FOUR newly released paperbacks:“MR. BOJANGLES, DANCE – – Jerry Jeff Walker, Sammy Davis, Jr., and the Song That Made NixonCry”, by Ryan B. Case. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers: 2024, 246 pages, softcover, 6” x9”, photo illustrated, $39.95. Visit, www.mcfarlandpub;“DEANNA DURBIN IN HOLLYWOOD – – Her Life, Films and Music”, by Barry Lowe. McFarland &Company, Inc., Publishers: 2024, 230 pages, softcover, 7” x 10”, excessive photos, $39.95. Visit,www.mcfarlandpub;“JOAN CRAWFORD in FILM NOIR – – The Actress as Auteur”, by David Meuel. McFarland &Company, Inc., Publishers: 2024, 215 pages, softcover, 6” x 9”, highly photo illustrated, $39.95.Visit, www.mcfarlandpub;“IN SEARCH of THE THIN MAN – – Dashiell Hammett, William Powell and the Classic Film Series”,by Philip Zwerling. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers: 2024, 226 pages, softcover, 7”x 10”,highly photo illustrated, $39.95. Visit, www.mcfarlandpub.
Reviewed and recommended by Don DeNevi
WISECRACKING WILSON MIZNER, WHO COINED, “NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK” (NOTW.C. FIELDS) ONCE COMMENTED, “HOLLYWOOD? IT’S A TRIP THROUGH A SEWER IN A GLASS-BOTTOMED BOAT.” A 1930’S FLIMFLAMMING, PENNY-SQUEEZING, GENTLE CON-ARTIST-LARCENIST-PRODUCER, SOME REFERRED TO AS “BAD MELODRAMA”, WAS LOVED BY MOST INTHE MAKE-BELIEVE INDUSTRY FOR HIS UNFORGETTABLE WIT AND ABSOLUTE UNIQUENESS.FOR ALL HIS WIDELY QUOTED QUIPS? NO, BECAUSE HE WOULD HAVE ENJOYED MAKINGMOVIES WITH THE MAIN ACTORS WITHIN THESE FOUR McFARLANDERS. BY 1945, MIZNER WASNO LONGER AN ISSUE OF CONTROVERSY AND DEBATE. HOLLYWOOD AND HER INHABITANTS,GREW UP, AND, ARE STILL GROWING TODAY. DEEPLY APPRECIATED BY EVEN THE NON-ATTENDINGS, CINEPHILES WOULD FIND IT HARD TO EXIST WITHOUT THE BIRTH OF CINEMA, ITSGROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT, ITS H U G H AND M A S S I V E CONTRIBUTIONS TO NOT ONLYCALIFORNIA HISTORY AND CULTURE, BUT ALSO ITS ECONOMY AND RECREATION. THESE FOURTITLES DEMONSTRATE WHY – – ITS LARGENESS OF SPIRIT, INTELLECT, EDUCATION, QUIET
DRAMA, AND HUMOR. HOLLYWOOD’S CELLOUID AND CINEMA SAW OPPORTUNITY TO
ILLUMINATE LIFE’S ANTIC BEHAVIOR IN CRYSTAL CLEAR LIGHT, ADDING WHOLE NEWDIMENSIONs TO OUR LIVES.In “Mr. Bojangles, Dance”, whether we are movie buffs or not, we are quietly allowed toview and critique the private lives of three mutual and successive relationships through a singlesong! In short, we become aware, secretly cognizant, of musical personalities long consideredfurtive, even clandestine. Author Ryan B. Case, once the leader of the critically acclaimedAmericana band, “The Victrolas” from 2005 to 2011, and who wrote and sang the classic hit,“Mr. Bojangles”, never dreamed his song would be such a sensational hit. It was inspired bysimply sitting in a New Orleans jail cell. Sammy Davis, Jr., instantly understood it, havingappreciated, nay, loved, the real Bojangles himself. What a wonderful musical tour of early 20 thCentury music, dance, and feature film we’re led through. This work is pure genius, as you willread, when led by three men’s overlapping musical journeys: Davis’s rise from rags to riches,President Nixon’s huge leap from grocer’s son to Leader of the Free World, and much, muchmore.Deanna Durbin, better known as “America’s First Film Teenager”, was one of the mostpopular actresses of the 1930s and 1940s, taking nothing away from legends, Judy Garland andShirley Temple. At the end of her 12-year career, all she wished for was to be forgotten. Thisbook includes a short biography of Deanna, a serious treatise and in-depth analysis anddiscussion of her films, as well as a history of her recordings and her work in radio. Readers willbe spellbound with her true personality. For the very serious film columnists, critics, and loversof her natural charm, grace, and integrity, Deanna will always be known as “Cinderella ofCinema”, having personally opened Hollywood’s studio gates to generations of adolescentperformers.Then, there’s Joan Crawford’s enormous contributions to the film industry, specifically in therealm of film noir. For us cinema buffs, we’ll always remember Joan for her great performancein “Mildred Pierce”, earning her the Academy Award for best actress. Several of her noir andnoir-tinged efforts contain arguably her best acting work, especially of women alone strugglingto survive. Few Hollywood female stars cared about “Women’s Films”, as long as they wereearning the big bucks. Joan, despite her personal reputation, controversies, and even scandals,sought out roles about females and their hardships other women hid from.“In Search of The Thin Man – Dashiell Hammett, William Powell and the Classic Film Series”has no problems covering the brightest stars, “tastiest scandals”, headlines, personal problemson set and off, and often very serious conflicts behind the sets of “The Thin Man classics”. Over14 years and six films, William Powell and Myrna Loy, the classiest of romantic couples,provided us the ability “to be there” alongside of them through the Great Depression, WorldWar II, and the Cold War. In addition, we watch Hammett, his lover Lillian Hellman, and theirfriend Dorothy Parker, fight alcoholism, sexual convention and Senator Joe McCarthy in“culture wars with eerie resonance today”.Few Writers of Silver Screen History equal these four, Ryan B. Case, Barry Lowe, DavidMeuel, and Philip Zwerling. Friend movie buff, best you spend a few extra bucks purchasing all
four for the developing cinema shelf in your bludgeoning military library.
