Hollywood's Golden Age: As Told By One Who Lived It All [Paperback]

Edward Dmytryk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2003

Edward Dmytryk, director of The Caine Mutiny, Murder, My Sweet, Hitler's Children and a host of other classic movies, has written a powerful memoir of his early days in Hollywood. From peeking in at the special effects for The Ten Commandmants, the original silent film, to his first job as an editor, slowly, patiently splicing film...Dmytryk's brilliantly written and until now unpublished look back on old Hollywood is a joy you won't be able to put down.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Besides the valuable eyewitness info, Dmytryk's writing is marvelously specific, illuminating, with a style that is intelligent and well thought out. Occasionally, admid this tale of early Hollywood, he gives us snatches of some later films, if they in some way pertain to the topic at hand. Photos, mostly from Dmytryk's own films - some rare candids - don't match the tect, but they are so good, you won't mind. This is a refreshingly original slant on Hollywood. Try it out. I can't imagine that you'll be disappointed by the stories, the insights about movie making and the history. --Classic Images

About the Author

Edward Dmytryk was one of Hollywood's Ten: those blacklisted for communism in the 1950s. He directed many classic noir films, including the Oscar-winning Crossfire and The Caine Mutiny, and many others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 195 pages
• Publisher: BearManor Media (July 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971457042
• ISBN-13: 978-0971457041
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,697,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood's Golden Age, August 13, 2005

By 

Steven Hellerstedt "SH" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hollywood's Golden Age: As Told By One Who Lived It All (Paperback)

Beginning in 1923, when the 14-year-old Famous Players-Lasky movie studio message boy Edward Dmytryk met Lillian Gish (`unquestionably the most beautiful woman I had ever seen') until the 1950s, when, according to Dmytryk, the unholy trinity of blacklists, judicial assaults on monopolistic practices, and the one-eyed devil Television conspired to radically change Hollywood, `Hollywood's Golden Age: As Told By One Who Lived It All' is an affectionate memoir of a life spent at or near the center of the film industry.

Easy-going and conversational, Dmytryk approaches his story with a decided lack of rigor. Hot gossip is totally absent and general impressions impose themselves in places where specific details normally dwell. For instance, comedian Jack Oakie is remembered as someone who `pinched a nickel until the Indian (later Thomas Jefferson) begged for mercy' and as the master of the triple-take, but that's about it. If, as Dmytryk indicates, Oakie more than once ate lunch on Dmytryk's dime (or nickel), he shares no personal tidbit or hints at what they may have talked about. In other words, the meat here is definitely not in the details. In fact, the best part of the book is the first half, wherein Dmytryk somewhat distantly recalls his progress from studio factotum to studio projectionist to assistant `cutter' (film editor - `the art is in the cutting'), to first editor. His later career as director seems a little bare in comparison, although many of Dmytryk's greater films - The Caine Mutiny, Murder My Sweet, Crossfire, Warlock - merit a book of their own. If the Oakies of this book flitter through this book with only a passing glance, other Hollywood characters are able to rise to anecdote level. Director Leo McCarey, actors Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and John Carradine, among others, are remembered fondly with wry stories.

`Hollywood's Golden Age' was published in 2003 (Dmytryk died in 1999) with a preface by his widow, Jean Porter Dmytryk. Incidentally, Dmytryk's wife is only briefly alluded to but never mentioned by name. Nor does Dmytryk mention his children. This makes me think - it's nothing more than a guess - that `Hollywood's Golden Age,' with its rough chronology and loose structure, was an early draft of a more ambitious project. As it stands it's less a dispassionate documentation of events and more an impressionistic montage. A montage told in flashback whose images, if not always sharply focused or perfectly centered, are nonetheless compassionately lit. Many of the cameo stars, like Oakie and Gish, are gone in a smile and the wink of an eye. Others, like Spencer Tracy, step forward for a line or two. Considering the author, I can't think of a more appropriate format.

A final word - Dmytryk was one of the `Hollywood Ten' who were among the first artists to be blacklisted by the industry. Dmytryk's involvement in events is more complicated than most of the other participants. `Hollywood's Golden Age' doesn't include any information on Dmytryk and the blacklist beyond some rather superficial observations on `the inquisition.' If, like me, you're interested in Dmytryk's side of the story, he directs our footnoted attention to his book `Odd Man Out,' currently out of print but apparently readily available on the used book market.