Customer Reviews

Those Crazy Wonderful Years When We Ran Warner Bros.

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Stuart Jerome was an errand boy during the late 30s until the war for Warner Brothers studios. He delivered fan mail to the stars, took visitors on tour, and generally caused trouble for his boss Pappmeier. His stories are vivid and interesting, many of which are not well known to Hollywood history fans. He had the unique experience of being both a fan and a co-worker with great names like James Cagney, Olivia De Havilland, Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Dick Powell, and others.

There are great entries here. Was Marion Davies' bugalow haunted by phantoms at a party? Could John Barrymore have played the lead in The Man Who Came to Dinner? Find out about the prime rib that was gradually stolen from Miriam Hopkins' refrigerator. Every single story is well written and great fun to read. Jerome writes like a man who truly appreciated his time at Warners and who has reflected upon his adventures thoroughly. He is never an arrogant kid bragging about his experiences; he is nostalgic and excited which in turn excites the reader. This excellent read is surprisingly unpopular; read it an impress your friends about your knowledge of your favorite stars.

I can't imagine any published book more in need of an editor. Each page is filled with paragraphs that jump without transitions from one topic to another, sentence fragments, and pronouns confusingly without antecedents. The book is simply a transcript of rambling memories. I enjoy racy Hollywood gossip, but this is just a long string of vulgar snippets about who was "on the rag" and needed a pad, who used a star's toilet, which star needed padded underwear (male and female), and which WB page "got f**ked" or a big tip from tourists. These pages were not "co-workers" of Cagney, Davis, Bogart, Flynn, de Havilland. As portrayed by the author himself, they were voyeuristic con-men. I'm glad I only paid three dollars for this mess. Don't bother.