A Cast of Killers
by Sidney D. Kirkpatrick

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Book Reviews of A Cast of Killers

Book Review: Alvarodo Street and Murder
Summary: 5 Stars

In 1922 the murder of director William Desmond Taylor was so filled with scandel it ruined careers and nearly destroyed Hollywood. If the absolute truth had been known, it might have. King Vidor had been a part of this Hollywood in its formative years and planned to make his comeback film by telling the story of it. Kirkpatrick could have turned this into a pulp type expose but instead, and to his credit, takes a respectful and nostalgic tone, both for Vidor and a time gone by. He uses Vidor's notes and findings to let this murder mystery unfold just as it did for Vidor.

For every film buff with a fascination for old Hollywood this is a book you can't put down. It is juicy but never tawdry, Vidor sifting through the misinformation of Hollywood and the corruption of the police to slowly get a picture of the truth he himsef couldn't yet tell because some of the players were still alive. The homicide and the aftermath is filled with names like Mabel Normand, Alan Dwan, James Kirkwood, Gloria Swanson, Claire Windsor, and Charlette Shelby and her waif like daughter Mary Miles Minter, an early rival of Mary Pickford.

Vidor's reputation and the fact he had been a part of this Hollywood way back when gave him weight and would prompt many to open up and talk to Vidor in a way in which they would not have someone else. He would even get to look at police files that would contradict most of what was reported at the time, raising even more questions. As Vidor plays detective in order to write the screenplay that he hoped would put him back on top Kirkpatrick lets us see a man who was once a vital part of the film industry fighting to be remembered. During his investigation he would come into contact with old flame Coleen Moore, a lovely silent star with a fine career of her own. It was a happy coincidence and would force Vidor to make decisions affecting the rest of his life.

A Cast of Killers is a fun, fast read tinged with sadness, as Vidor somehow knew it would be. Before beginning, Vidor himself likened it to an old bottle of wine. If you love a good mystery, and or Hollywood, this is one you have to read.

"I realized it was vintage stuff-the rarest vintage of all: a murder that has never been solved. One opens such a bottle at his own peril....."
King Vidor, 1967

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