Robert J. Wagner

I have always been enamored with the Golden Age of Hollywood. The movies, the movie stars, the mystique that surrounded them all is something I adore learning about. So when I spied this book by Robert J. Wagner I didn't hesitate to buy it. And I was not disappointed.

Mr. Wagner takes his readers back to the early days of Hollywood - back when there were open fields between homes and back to a time before Beverly Hills. He shares his knowledge of everyone and everything in a laid back manner. show more The reader can imagine Mr. Wagner sitting in their parlor and telling his stories. He effortlessly mixes personal anecdotes with historical facts and all is interspersed with black and white photos. I was captivated from the first word straight through to the last.

The stories are presented in several groupings that make things easy to follow. The insights into the people who made Hollywood what it was and is are witty and informative. His recollections of the glitterati as they moved among themselves, attended each other's soirees, patronized their favorite eateries, as designed their homes makes the legends of the screen human and approachable - although some were quite eccentric.

This book kept my interest from the first page to the last and I was sad that it ended where it did for I would have liked to know even more. If you are an aficionado of Hollywood, the movie industry, or Robert Wagner you won't want to miss reading this book. show less

A trip down memory lane. Not that I'm old enough to have been alive when many of these ladies were at the height of their career, but it did trigger memories of a very important time in my life. When I was a preteens and young teen, my younger sister and myself spent nearly every weekend with my grandparents, they spoiled us shamelessly, not so much with things but with their undivided attention and love. Every Saturday, late afternoon my younger sister and grandmother would go to one of my show more aunts houses to play cards or bunco. I stayed home with my grandfather, by choice, and we would watch the oldies on the television. Remember falling in love with Gene Tierney, Carol Baker and others, my grandfather had a major crush on Maureen O'Hara. Wonderful times.

Love the way this book is divided by decades, what actresses had the most pull in those particular years. Where they came from, what movies they were in, how they were perceived in Hollywood. Robert Wagner, now in his eighties, dated some,, acted with others and of course married a few. While reading this I wondered how he would handle his life with Natalie Wood, never knew they actually married twice. He does address his marriage, her personality but only in a few pages. Her death he addresses not at all, but in fairness this was a book about these amazing women and what they accomplished. So many things I never knew, including the fact that Gene Tierney had a very sad life.

Hollywood today does not have the cache of the old Hollywood. There was so much glamour though to be fair these actresses in this book did many of the same things that are done today but now everything is so much more public, social media and all, that the old mystique is gone. There was no such thing as reality TV stars, think of a world without the Kardashians, if only we could. Anyway, I gulped this one right down and enjoyed every single minute. show less

Robert Wagner takes us on a tour of the people and places of Hollywood's Golden Age (1930's-1950's). Obviously for some of the period discussed, Wagner was not in Hollywood at the time so these are more stories he heard from others. However, his stories of Jack Warner, Sam Goldwyn, James Cagney, Fred Astaire, and so many others were great. He describes some of the homes of folks like Harold Lloyd, Jack Warner, James Cagney, and Marion Davies famous beachhouse and you feel like you were show more there. He also discusses many of the places famous in the 40's such as Ciro's, the Trocadero, Romanoff's, and of course, The Hollywood Canteen. It is sad that these places are gone but I am glad Wagner wrote this book to tell us like it was. My only complaint about the book was the photos were too small. I also would have liked to have seen the menus from the different restaurants. I found it an interesting and enjoyable book. show less

Robert Wagner loves women, and that love shines in his novel about the movie icons of yesteryear. Wagner brings in many fascinating tidbits about each of the actresses, but his style cuts the flow of the story. Many times, I flounder when reading, and wonder which actress Wagner is describing. I learned many lessons while reading the story, and the most important is that becoming an actress in the early days of the cinema was not for the feeble. Wagner brings a humanity and a vulnerability show more to the actresses. show less