Stephen Schochet

I understand that the author is a professional Hollywood tour guide but most of these stories took place well before his times. They are extremely short stories (close to 300 pages of them!), 3-4 sentences per story with zero transition.

I was hoping this book would be more a story or short essays, at least. Something real and told from his own experiences. I'm not sure how this book has so many 5-star ratings, I might be alone on my opinion here.

The constant use if "Extra:" was ridiculous, also.… (mehr)

HOLLYWOOD STORIES...isn’t quite gossip but it does provide a lot of tidbits about Hollywood personalities and industries along with some history and little known facts. It covers comedians, science fiction, westerns, Walt Disney, directors, the transition from silent films to talkies, television, leading men and women, and lots more.
We read about famous actors who were notorious for coming to the job late, drunk, and or unprepared. Several famous ones never learned their lines and read them from some very unusual sites. Marlon Brando never learned his lines for his 10 minutes of screen time. He read them from the bottom of Superman’s diaper and was paid $19 million.
Ad-libbing was very common. Many of them remained in the finished product. For example, during the filming of Young Frankenstein, Marty Feldman kept moving the hump on his back. Co-workers didn’t notice it for a few days and it remained in the movie.
Some actors were enjoyed being accessible to the public. Others did not. Some were very generous and known for being big tippers. Others, again, were the opposite. When a security guard who protected several celebrities was off work and hospitalized for six weeks after breaking his leg, only Sammy Davis, Jr. continued to pay him.
As a rule, actors resented other actors stealing the scene but that didn’t stop the antics, sometimes very subtle.
Actors were often injured during production, sometimes seriously enough to require hospitalization. During his career, Slim Pickens broke almost every bone in his body.
Some people thought that at the beginning of A Christmas Carol Scrooge was a “well-meaning entrepreneur and a contributor to society.”
W.C. Fields was so moved by the generosity of a clerk at the Kent, Ohio train station that he burst into tears.
When he was a boy, Jackie Vernon sent fan letters to Charlie Chaplin every week for ten years, never getting a reply. Decades later, Vernon saw Chaplin in a restaurant, went up to him, and introduced himself. Chaplin replied, “Vernon...So why did you stop writing?”
Buddy Hackett turned down a chance to replace Curly Howard with the Three Stooges because he thought they were too violent.
When Will Rogers said “I never yet met a man I didn’t like,” he was referring to Leon Trotsky, whom he hadn’t met. The forgotten beginning of the sentence explains Rogers’ philosophy.
Dracula (Latin for Son of Dragon) was originally a love story and Bela Lugosi was a bigger sex symbol than Clark Gable.
General Patton regretted slapping the soldier when he realized the man was genuinely shell shocked. General Eisenhower ordered him to apologize to his troops, but their behavior prevented him from doing so.
Samuel Leroy Jackson became the highest grossing actor in movie box office history.
The construction of the bridge over the River Kwai caused the deaths of 13,000 POWs. Unlike in the movie, Philip Toosey did everything he could to sabotage the mission. Had he collaborated, his own men would have killed him.
The von Trapp family left Austria with a tourist visa in 1938. The children disspised their music careers.
For good reason, “Jaws” was nicknamed “Flaws” by its behind-the-seen staff.
While filming The Passion of the Christ, Jim Cavaziel, on the cross, was struck by lightning. He looked up and asked, “What, you didn’t like that take?” Steven Spielberg was, in many ways, a child with serious behavior problems.
Gangsters went to see Scarface to learn how to dress and behave.
Jesse and Frank James had a reason to be upset with the Pinkerton detectives.
In the first three months of 1938, Snow White made $8,000,000. Tickets cost 25 cents for adults and a dime for kids.
In the late 1940, employees of the major movie studios could be fired for owning a television set.
The day Disneyland opened was a disaster when three times as many people showed up and the grounds weren’t finished.
When Adolph Zukor was asked how he managed to live to 103, he said, “I gave up smoking two years ago.”
After patenting the motion picture camera, Thomas Edison required all producers to pay him a fee before they could show a movie.
Florence Lawrence (1886-1938) was the first movie star. She risked her life to save an actor on the set when a fire broke out. She became temporarily paralyzed and had to sit on the sidelines while Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson become the silent film stars.
Before the building of indoor soundproof sets, movies had to be filmed at night because it was quieter.
Adolph Hitler adopted Charlie Chaplin’s mustache.
Bing Crosby was originally asked to play Lieutenant Columbo. He chose to stay retired.
In Superman, Superman would not be harmed by bullets hitting his chest but would duck a gun thrown at him.
In 1944, Ward Bond was hit by a car and fractured his left shin. The hospital staff was ready to amputate his leg until they recognized him and decided to repair it instead.
Albert Einstein believed that imagination was more important than knowledge.
Shirley Temple was a slingshot expert.
In The Alamo, John Wayne equated the battle with the fight of the US against the Communists.
Popeye was based on Frank Fiegel.
Louis B. Mayer would not distribute Mickey Mouse cartoons because they were too scary and dealt with rape and murder. He said, “All the pregnant women would flee into the streets.”
Ronald Reagan became more interested in politics when his acting career stopped being profitable. He resented being in the 90% bracket at his career peak.
Joan Crawford’s relationship with her fans was her top priority. She’d invite correspondents to stay at her home and fix breakfast for them.
Frank Sinatra told Sophia Loren that foul language showed endearment to Americans.
The King and I was banned in Thailand because of the way it misrepresented the king.
More skin was shown in movies to move people away from television.
HOLLYWOOD STORIES...has a lot more to offer in addition to the tidbits I’ve quoted above. While it covers a lot of the earlier days, it does include more recent examples as well.
This book was a free Amazon download.… (mehr)