Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors, Vol. 1: From the Silent Era to 1965 (Vol 1)
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Barry MonushEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-04
ISBN: 1557835519
Number of pages: 1125
Publisher: Applause
Book Reviews of Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors, Vol. 1: From the Silent Era to 1965 (Vol 1)
Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars
At first, I was very pleased with this directory, and I gave it a glowing review with 4 stars. I had deducted a star because of the bad editing, i.e. lots of typos and factual errors. There seems to be not one page where there aren't lots of typos, and the factual errors reflect a biogrsapher who seems to be just faking it. For example, Nina Foch's entry states that she played the secretary to a "suicidal businessman" in Executive Suite. This is incorrect - the businessman died of a heart attack, the daughter, played by Barbara Stanwyck, was suicidal. And this popped up on the first browse through the book.
Now, I must deduct still another star. I had compared this book favorably to the David Thomson "Biographical Dictionary," because Thomson's is neither biographical nor a dictionary, filled with the unauthoritative, opinions of a phony movie critic, and a mean spirited one at that. Well, alas, upon further reading, I found Monush's work to be equally mean spirited. For example, Mounsh gratuitously mentions a particular actor's homosexuality - something which had absolutely no bearing on his career or work. Of another actor's homosexuality which was was notorious and indeed affected his career, Monush makes no mention. Why Monush chooses to stigmatize one actor and then cover up for another I can only explain as personal favor.
Equally mystifying is are the omissions. Why does Monush include obscure character actors but exclude well-known feature players? For example, why does he exclude Erik Rhodes, who gained immortality in the Astair-Rogers classics Top Hat and Gay Divorcee ("Your wife is safe with Tonetti, he prefers spaghetti.")
Why does Monush exclude Bruce Bennett? Bennett wasn't just a player - he was a star - a minor star, but a star, one of those Olympic Athletes who, as Herman Brix, played Tarzan (some say superior to Weismuller), then changed his name and eventually became a headliner, co-starring with the likes of Crawford and Bogart. Couldn't Monush find a photo?
This directory claims to be encyclopedic, but it definitely is not. It has bad editing, poor fact-checking and unexplained omissions. Still, it is the only directory I know of, extant, which contains photos with the entries, and it does attempt to flesh out the entries. It is superior to the pretentious Thomson and perhaps less dry of a read than the essential and comprehesive (fewer omissions) "Filmgoer's Encyclopedia" by Ephraim Katz. This is a useful reference, but let us hope a better one comes along. So far, if you can dispense with the photos, the Katz is the best.
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