Customer Reviews

Cut!: Hollywood Murders, Accidents, and Other Tragedies

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This large and photo-filled book is about life and, even more so, death in Hollywood. The book is organized into seven chapters. The first simply covers many actors' lives and careers, and then their deaths from natural causes. The second chapter goes through a group of actors whose deaths were mysterious, giving rise to speculation that they were murdered. Chapter three focuses on actors who were definitely murdered, covering such well-known ones as Sharon Tate, and more forgotten one, such as Ramon Novarro. Chapter four covers actors who died from drugs, and there were a lot of them, while chapter five covers scandalous Hollywood deaths. The sixth chapter covers actors who died in tragic automobile, plane and whatnot accidents. And finally, chapter seven covers the death of actors while movies were actually being filmed. Along the way, the reader is treated to many wonderful photos.

Overall, I found this to be an absolutely fascinating book. I was fascinated by all of the information on actors both recent and long-ago. Now, as you might expect with a book that covers so very many actors, not too much information is devoted to any one actor. So, if you want in-depth information, you will be disappointed.

But, if you want a book that talks about a lot of actors, who they were, how the lived, and how they died, then this is the book for you. I really enjoyed reading it, and think that you will as well. I highly recommend this book!

Think of it as "Hollywood Babylon" but with more style and credibility. This book about Hollywood celebrities who met untimely deaths is filled with great photos, a nice layout and fascinating lore. The major section of the book is called "The Big Sleep" and is an A-Z profile of film stars who died young from various causes. A chapter titled "Predator" profiles those whose causes of death remain questionable to this day (Marilyn Monroe, William Desmond Taylor, Natalie Wood, etc.) "Dial M For Murder" profiles murder victims such as Sal Mineo, Phil Hartman, Elizabeth Short and Sharon Tate. "Drugstore Cowboy" profiles drug-related deaths (Dorothy Dandridge, Judy Garland, Chris Farley, Elvis Presley, etc.) "Dangerous Liaisons" covers great Hollywood scandals like the Fatty Arbuckle trial, as well as suicides (Charles Boyer, Richard Farnsworth, Capucine). "The Accidental Tourist" includes celebrities who died by accidents (i.e. car wrecks and house fires) and Aaliyah, Linda Darnell, Grace Kelly and Butterfly McQueen. "Lights Camera Death" includes a section of films that are somewhat connected with bizarre death incidents ("The Conquerer," "The Crow," "Our Gang," etc.) The profiles vary from the classic era (Jean Harlow, Roman Navarro, Judy Holliday) to the present (Robert Pastorelli, Divine, John Ritter).

One odd sidenote about the book is that there doesn't seem to be spaces between sentences but somehow it doesn't detract from reading.

I've been a movie buff since the early 70's, and by now, I thought I pretty much knew it all. This book offers readable, accurate and oftentime surprising biographies of so many people. Reading it, I was blown away by how much (of what I thought to be) obscure information was packed into each page. This book is worth every penny.

In this era when the media only caters to the children of Reganomics it is certainly refreshing to read about people born before 1980.

Unfortunately this book is inconsisent and sloppy. There is not only one, but two pictures of the (then) child actor Oliver Robins being identified as Heather O'Rourke. More disturbing is the mis-information. For example it is written in error that Sharon Tate had a minor role in Rosemary's Baby (her husband wanted her to star in the movie). There are many more examples of errors which makes you suspicious of the information written about people you don't know.

Also bothersome are the inconsistencies in emphasis. There is one very sketchy page about Betty Grable - who was a major, major movie star of the 1940s while there are two pages each on Robert Urich and John Ritter. No knock on them - but in a book about "Hollywood" people they would hardly be considered movie stars. And if the book was intended to include major television stars as "Hollywood" then where are the likes of Elizabeth Montgomery and Bob Crane? Also I think it was inappropriate to include the people such as Eric Douglas and Sean Flynn. Again, if children of major stars are to be included then where are Marlon Brando's children??

Also, according to its description the book would appear to discuss people who died relatively early in their lives. I therefore could not understand the inclusion of Walter Slezack and Clara Blandick who died at ages 79 and 82 respectively. Again, if these two are in the book there are endless people omitted who also died at those ages from diseases and misfortunes.

Well-crafted, with deftly-turned phrases and clever chapter titles, Cut! is a must-read for seasoned film buffs, students, and ordinary fans. In this massive silver-screen bible, B-grade bit players, venerable character actors, and relative newcomers are given equal biographical billing with the legends, icons, and veterans. Subjects of the "Drugstore Cowboy" chapter, in particular, are treated with careful respect and compassion.

Suggestion: set this book aside for a snow day, and if it doesn't snow where you live, then call in sick to savor it.

It is interesting to read and re-read Cut!. The details of the deaths of Hollywood's famous (and sometimes not-so-famous) persons made each member of the family call out to the others and ask "Did you see this?"

The writing style is direct and informative and each page provides great photos of the subject. My only complaint about the book is that the typeface is a little small. It is understandable given the vast amount of information covered, but unfortunately, the small font highlights my middle-aged need for bi-focals.

What I remember most from reading Cut, is not the lurid tabloid deaths of Hollywood. Rather, Cut highlighted or reminded me of so many actors that I've seen and enjoyed who have died at a relatively young age. Life, alas, is a terminal disease.

What is it about movie stars that fascinates us? We want to know everything about their lives. We even want to know about their deaths. Sometimes the deaths are tragic accidents, sometimes the results of illness, and sometimes murder and scandalous deaths. This book explores the lives and deaths of some of Hollywood's elite.

I am a sucker for old movies, so when I saw this book was bargain priced, I had to pick it up, thinking I had little to lose. Personally, I think I scored a bit of a treasure with this one. I love movie trivia, and I like to read stories about movies and movie stars, so this was right up my alley.

I thought the book was well organized into different sections, with the appropriate amount of information on each star. I also liked the variety of stars covered in the book. Most were ones with which I was familiar, as least a little, but there were a few instances where I learned about stars that were new to me. And in some instances, I learned some interesting new facts about the stars with which I was familiar.

While this is not a highly academic or scholarly read, nor is it very literary, I found this book highly interesting and entertaining. This is a great book for film buff, particularly those interested in older movie stars. While the subject matter could be considered a bit morbid, it is also quite fascinating.

This is a big book with many stars, classic, silent, modern, etc. People I have never heard of like Cathy O'Donnell, Tom Tyler, and Dorothy Dell are even here. A few are missing, a few photos were labeled with the wrong people, like Heather O'Rourke, and the circumstances surrounding their deaths is rather small in some cases. If you want more details you might be disappointed, but overall a good book to have.

This book was a gift for a person who has been following the Hollywood scene for ages. He loved the book as it gave him a new insight on some of his favorites.

I bought the book "Cut", not really sure what I was expecting, but looking forward to reading it. I was pleasantly surprised at what I received. There are many, many pages of interesting information and pictures about "stars" and "celebrities" whom I had long forgotten about or had never known existed, and this made it all the more interesting. As well, there was lots of information about well known celebrities and the "how", "where", "when", and sometimes "why" of the event. This book helped me so much in gaining an understanding of the personalities and situations which occurred at the time of the person's demise by writing in an easy, understandable vernacular. This is a book I will refer to time and again, and I highly recommend it. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be and hardback, very well done, and very reasonable economically. Enjoy!!! Doodlereader19