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Testimonials

"It was a real pleasure to speak with Gary Sweeney from The Midnight Palace. I enjoyed strolling down Hollywood's memory lane when Hollywood was the queen of entertainment the world over, and made movies without the necessity of foul language and excessive violence and graphic sex. It is always such a pleasure to talk to some one such as Gary who is so knowledgeable of the past glory of the movie industry. It was indeed an honor to reminisce with him."
-James Best
Classic Hollywood Actor

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Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx

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Stepin Fetchit:
The First Black Superstar

Stepin Fetchit

Book Reviews
Written by Gary Sweeney   

Biographies and books pertaining to Classic Hollywood are like a window into the reality behind the characters. The actors and actresses have become so revered over time that it's easy to forget how vulnerable they were. We feel that books are a vital part of understanding the era and we will review those we read on this page.

A

A Cast of Killers

A Star is Born: The Making of the 1954 Movie and Its 1983 Restoration

Alma Rubens: Silent Snowbird

Audrey Hepburn - An Elegant Spirit

B

Barbara Stanwyck - A Biography

C

Cary Grant - A Biography

Century Girl - 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis

Chaplin - A Life

Charles McGraw - Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy

Chasing Carole

Clark Gable - Tormented Star

D

Dark Victory - The Life of Bette Davis

Don't Wear Silver in the Winter

E

F

Florence Lawrence - The Biograph Girl

G

George Raft - The Man Who Would Be Bogart

Googies - Coffeeshop to the Stars

Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx

H

Harpo Speaks!

Howard Hughes - The Untold Story

I

J

Joan Blondell - A Life Between Takes

K

Kate - The Woman Who Was Hepburn

L

Love, Lucy

Lucy at the Movies

M

Mrs. Ziegfeld: The Public and Private Lives of Billie Burke

My Judy Garland Life

N

O

Olive Thomas - The Life & Death of a Silent Film Beauty

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: From the Secret Files of Harry Pennypacker

Otto Preminger - The Man Who Would Be King

P

Paul Bern: The Life and Famous Death of the MGM Director and Husband of Harlow

Q

R

Reluctant Witness - Robert Taylor, Hollywood and Communism

S

Silent Movies - The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture

Star Machine, The

Staying Up Much Too Late...

Swanson on Swanson

T

U

Under the Rainbow...

V

W

Wallace Reid - The Life & Death of a Hollywood Idol

WAMPAS Baby Stars: A Biographical Dictionary, 1922-1934, The

X

Y

Z

 

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 Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant

With unparalleled honesty, Dyan Cannon shares the heartwarming and heartbreaking story of her magical romance and stormy marriage to screen legend Cary Grant. He was the ultimate star, defining Hollywood glamour as well as cinematic achievement. She was a bright new actress, beautiful and funny, who would one day prove her talent by being the first woman to receive Academy Award nominations for her work on-screen and behind the camera. When he asked to meet Dyan, she assumed it was for an acting part, but he had a different role in mind for her...and so began a storybook romance that brought her to dizzying heights. On his arm, she found herself traveling in the inner circles of power and glamour in which Cary Grant was king, with friends such as Noël Coward, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, and so many others considered Hollywood royalty. Behind closed doors, she discovered a Cary no one knew. A thoughtful, caring, and private person, with dark family secrets that weighed heavily on him. He was a man contending with the swan song of an astonishing film career while her career was just beginning. Despite the age difference, they fell in love, got married, and had a beautiful daughter together. Happily Ever After still proved elusive, and their relationship was beset with tragic twists and turns. It took a tremendous toll on Dyan as she struggled to keep her heart and mind intact. With rare photos and never-before-seen letters and notes from Cary Grant, Dear Cary is told with poignancy and hard-won wisdom. For anyone who has ever loved and lost, Dyan Cannon’s memoir is an exploration of what love means, and an inspirational story of surviving life’s slings and arrows. Click HERE to order!