Customer Reviews

The Mysterious Montague: A True Tale of Hollywood, Golf, and Armed Robbery

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

LaVerne Moore was one of the more colorful figures in the world of golf in the 1930's and Leigh Montville tells his tale in all its boisterous glory in The Mysterious Montague, A True Tale of Hollywood, Golf, and Armed Robbery.

John Montague, as Moore was better known, was a trick shot artist who could chip a ball into a highball glass or under the sash of a partially-opened window across the room. He reputedly knocked a bird off a power line from 170 yards and consistently drove the ball over 300 yards with a specially-made oversized driver the weighed twice as much as the standard club of its time. Most famously, he once beat Bing Crosby while playing only with a rake, a shovel, and a baseball bat.

Montague had a secret, though. It was why he never allowed himself to be photographed and reputedly why he never entered any professional events. When that secret was revealed, it led to a sensational trial in upstate New York that turned into a celebrity-laden media fest. The secret is told in the first chapter of the book: Montague was wanted under his real name, LaVerne Moore, for the armed robbery of a roadside restaurant in the Adirondacks in 1930. The trial and its aftermath is an interesting window into the media world of the time.

Montville entertains the reader with tales of Montague's prowess, although it's obvious many of them grew to legendary status mainly through the re-telling such feats engender. He also gives us a good look at the celebrities who flocked to Montague's cause. Babe Ruth, Bing Crosby, Oliver Hardy, W.C. Fields, Howard Hughes, Babe Didrickson Zaharias, and many more were tied to Montague one way or another. Sportswriter Grantland Rice was his biggest fan.

The end of the book, which chronicles Montague's late-in-life attempt to break into the ranks of professional tournament golf, may be of the greatest interest to players of the game. Weakened by too many years of Hollywood parties and lack of practice, Montague was a miserable failure in his attempts to compete with PGA stars, who had disdained him from the start.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo

The title of Leigh Montville's new book tells you a lot about the story without ever having to read a page. John Montague played golf and schmoozed with some of the most famous of the 1930's Hollywood celebrities. However, something in his personal life would eventually turn his world totally around. This book will probably not win any literary awards, but it is entertaining, amusing, and at times quite unbelievable. Golfers will love it, non-golfers will enjoy it.

Amazing tale of a mysterious Hollywood golfer and friend of the stars who no one seemed to know his past, due to robbery gone bad in native NY.

The reader is instantly hooked with the robbery account at the beginning, then moving on to his legendary exploits in golf and feats of strength around Hollywood country club set the likes of Olver Hardy to Bing Crosby. The man resisted any photos until sportswriter Grantland Rice gets the man too much press in newspaper story which eventually results in secret photos of the man in national magazine. The photo of him on the cover reminds me much of a young Jackie Gleason and one of my dad's brothers. The NY authorities see this picture, and go to California to have the man arrested and brought back for trial seven years after its the alleged law breaking.

After the trial, unfortunately now in freedom, Montague does not perform up to his legendary status, which gives me dual emotions: sorry that he couldn't and not sorry that his loose behavior prevent it. The likes of John Wayne, Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb play in his fascinating life.

Great read for golfer, sports aficianado and anyone else liking a good read of Americana sports/Hollywood history. Montville is a great writer who holds your interest.

John Montague, who's real name was LaVerne Moore, was a sensation in mid- 1930's Hollywood for his alleged super-human prowess as a golfer (tales of his prowess were possibly true, partially true, imagined or invented, the book does not really tell us and maybe it would be impossible at this point for anyone to really know). He was a man who came to Hollywood seemingly from nowhere; had no obvious employment but lots of cash; and through golf he made a lot of movie star friends including Guy Kibbee, Oliver Hardy and Bing Crosby. He was supposed on one occasion to have won a bet with Crosby by playing a hole with a bat, rake and a spade. Part of his allure was based the fact that he refused to be photographed, and would not play in tournaments. He only played "super-human" club golf, for money of course. Unfortunately for him, John Montague had "a past" that eventually came back to haunt him. This is a well-told tale of the magic era of the 1930's and a man who's talents and energy could not be harnessed in conventional ways. He could have been a great politician, and there's something about him that made me think of Huey Long. His was a fascinating story that included Prohibition Era rum runners; the love of an under-appreciated mother; Hollywood and the press; and a courtroom melodrama. The story trails off a lot toward the end, and a hidden but important character surfaces at the end, whose existence explained a lot, but who was never present in the earlier narrative. In any event, this is a fun book about a fascinating character who was ultimately, at best , a footnote in the history of golf in America.

Funny that the week I began Leigh Montville's, The Mysterious Montague, a jury in Las Vegas should announce a verdict in the armed robbery trial of the Sad and Sorry Simpson in Las Vegas. Two different men in two different times but amazing parallels. Both are stories of poor choices, fortunes made and wasted, families lost and talent and opportunity squandered. Each man, neither loved or pitied in the later years of his life, represents the good we could be and, sadly, the bad we can become.

The Mysterious Montague is neither as long or as fact filled as his two most recent books. This is by no means the fault of Montville. The lives of Babe Ruth and Ted Williams were chronicled each day in newpapers and news reels, splashed out across the Sporting Pages and as National News. Montague, on the other had, had year long gaps in his life, questions that were never answered, activities never explained. Despite the extensive research of Montville a good part of Montague's life is really a mystery.

The story is an interesting mix of West Coast celebrity and East Coast justice -- A worthy read.

But, praise made, why only four stars? Because, like Montville before he researched his subject, I knew nothing of John Montague, a minor 1930's celebrity. Why then, after detailing Montague's alleged crime and trial would he include this caption to a picture almost eighty pages before the reader gets to the verdict ('Acquittal. Here Montague hugs his attorney James Noonan)? Granted, the trial does not provide high drama but I think someone did an injustice to the reader. I realize this book is not a murder mystery but I have never read a 'true crime' book that announced the outcome well before the end of the book. Allowing the reader to get the facts,form an opinion and read the verdict on his or her own would have elevated this book to the five stars it truly deserves.

My brother, an avid golfer like me, recommended this book. I took it on a cruise ship vacation for occasional night reading, and it was perfect for that relaxed atmosphere.

My major observation is that America fawned over celebrities in the 1930s with the same level of adulation we use now--or maybe they were more intense about celebrities then, since there were fewer of them. Then as now, a person could even establish himself or herself as a celebrity without having a long track record of accomplishment, as with Paris Hilton on the contemporary scene.

Additionally, the legal system treated celebrities with more leniency than officials allowed for ordinary citizens. Today's daily news stories describe how TV and movie stars and athletes don't get the same penalties as nonfamous individuals.

One limitation, for me: Much of the suspense disappeared with the crime scene account that opened the book. If Montville had placed that item later in the book, I would have been far more curious about why Montague didn't want publicity, even when his feats were so newsworthy.

Even so, you are likely to consider this book an enjoyable glimpse into a bygone era, and a visit with some of the more colorful characters who dominated the scene.The Complete Communicator: Change Your Communication-change Your Life!

This is the fascinating, intriguing tale of a man who changed identities to start a new life in Hollywood and leave a criminal past behind - or so he hoped. It's one of those "only in America" stories - featuring golf and Hollywood celebrities such as Bing Crosby - with a surprise ending that actually seems fitting although justice isn't done, strictly speaaking.

The book brings to life of an man, whom I was unfamiliar with, and brought to live America before World War II. The story is a fascinating journey that causes the reader to wonder what is true and what is legend. The stories will amaze you and the people who surrounds the man are legendary.

Before there was Tin Cup.. there was Montague. (after reading, I realize that Tin Cup was a rip off of this great story!)

this is an enjoyable book. It takes you back to early hollywood times. the myth of the best golfer in the world is very entertaining.

What an incredible tale! Engaging story that grabs you just by reading the back cover. Truly a story that lives up to the maxim that truth is stranger than fiction. It is a very well paced book and even though "Montague's" talents and life eventually are unravelled, getting there is a great ride.

Montville does an admirable job of communicating just how unique the man was while casually but carefully casting doubt on his abilities and associated claims. It remains a mystery even at the book's completion just how strong and how accomplished his golf skills were. The cast of characters surrounding the story are a veritable Who's Who of Hollywood. And many pages tease us with small stories that sound as if they would qualify for their own book: Otto Schnauber who lived in an attic for 20 years coming down daily to romance the woman of the house while her husband was at work and Death Valley Scotty - America's number one mystery man.

I vote for it being turned into a movie.