Once upon a time I had more time to write epic articles. Now I don't. But we must finish this damn book (and #2)! So continuing from
long ago's Part 1 (which ended with the Valentino chapter) lets get on with hopefully the final part...2!
Debunking Hollywood Babylon Part 2
*Dirty HunsHow convenient as my Stroheim biography just arrived yesterday! This chapter seeks to show Erich von Stroheim as a power detailed crazed (in fairness he was a bit) Director who squandered money (he did). However Anger says on the all his sets from Merry Go Round, Merry Widow, and Queen Kelly (he specifically names these 3 films) von Stroheim had barred all studio folks and no one watched the bills he was racking up. For certain this is mostly untrue in all 3 cases as he was fired notoriously several times for such offenses. Gloria Swanson tells in her autobiography how Joseph Kennedy (producer of "Queen Kelly") hired von Stroheim but insisted on keep a close eye on him. At first he did, but the more artistic von Stroheim grew (he had darker non commercial intentions for the film) Gloria became upset and Joseph found a bunch of wracked up expenses. This mostly goes against what Anger says.
Not that it matters, as always Anger's favorite topic is sex. He claims in a movie (or possibly all the movies...he doesn't really specify) that the orgy and bordello scenes Stroheim filmed were genuinely naughty...giving booze to extras and encouraging kinky acts. Gloria never mentioned any of this and I'm sure she would have been horrified as such. Surely rumors did fly (and have continued on thanks to Anger) but even Anger says such scenes were chopped to bits, meaning no proof one way or the other exists.
Beyond those sensationalist claims this chapters not so bad. However it ends with saying Stroheim said, "Hollywood killed me" and makes him sound unfulfilled and broken down in his later years. In actuality Stroheim found artistic solace in Europe (particularly France) where he took to acting and received tons of praise for his earlier works. None of this is mentioned.
*Hollywood HeadlinesNot too much to disagree with here other then the 'Mae Murray to von Stroheim' story. Apparently it was the same ol same ol: the (in my humble opinion untalented) Murray wanted something light and pretty, von Stroheim wanted his usual darkness. They had a fight over her dance scene (she had this obsession with the waltz) and she called him a Dirty Hun. Apparently Thalberg never slugged Stroheim though and his remarks about 'all women being whores' seems either Murray or Anger's invention.
*Clara's BeauxAlongside Olive, Fatty, and Valentino...
Clara Bow maybe got it the worst of anyone. Which is insulting as David Stenn
wrote a solid bio on her in the 80s
. To this day Anger's stupid rumor is repeated as fact, so much so
snopes.com has an article debunking it. The chapter starts out describing Clara's affair with a married doctor...in the most uncouth of terms. While Clara verged on a breakdown Clara's secretary sold stories about her...ones that are oft repeated still as truth (in short: wild sex). Clara took her to court and was so upset she ended up being committed in 1931.
Clara did have long affairs with Gilbert Roland, Gary Cooper, Harry Richman, and Victor Fleming. However Anger only gets Cooper right (well and Rex Bell, her future husband). Anger claims Bow ended up in the sanatorium ONLY because of the secretary scandal. In fact she was pretty much there before that: Paramount had begun to treat her as second tier and goid her by giving her bad scripts, docking her pay, and charging her for unused costumes.
He also makes it out as if Clara married Rex Bell to save her reputation then to the sanatorium then fired from Paramount. Actually she entered the sanatorium in April 1931, Paramount terminated her contract shortly after, and in 1932 she married Rex Bell (retiring in 1933).
Anger then claims Clara's first talkie "The Wild Party" (which he makes out like she shot after all that, in reality she shot it before in 1929...and she didn't peak fame wise till 1930) was hampered by her accent and that she blew the sound valves because of her booming voice. Its possible (sound technology at the time was so sensitive it picked up jewelry dangling) but despite legend "The Wild Party" did well and she was quickly featured in several more talkies.
Click here to listen to Clara speak. In reality it was her mental problems (and treatment by those close to her and her studio) that did away with her career...not her voice. Rumors (which are not in this book) have it that Lina Lamont in "Singin in the Rain" was based on her and all of Clara's talkies were failures because of her voice. When I heard her I was shocked! She's fine. People gotta kill this one once and for all.
Back to Clara and Anger. He makes it out as if her (apparently real) wild sex life and accent was the end of her career. He is right the papers had a field day, but he's wrong in his assessment overall.
*Saturn over SunsetIronically the pic on the next page is of Norma Talmadge and a mic. I'll agree that the market crash was a final nail in the Silent era coffin. But then Anger goes on to another well demonized star:
John Gilbert. I wonder if Anger was the first to spread this rumor...he probably was.
Anger admits Gilbert's voice was fine (
click here to listen), but goes on to say his first talkie failed and his voice was the reason. In fact contemporary reports never mentioned any laughs or problems with Gilbert's voice...therein lies the rumor. His supposedly infamous "I love you I love you I love" was actually in his second talkie, and to this day people are split over whether this affected him or not. Either way its obvious that his voice wasn't recorded very well in the early silents, but that wasn't really the downfall. The downfall was his fight with studio boss Louis B Mayer...who promptly set out to destroy him.
Anger does repeat that so I'll give him points there. He says Ina Claire rubbed salt in his wounds but again no proof. She herself only had a limited career. Anger seems to imply its all the talkies fault or Mayers. While true its likely the final blow to Gilbert's career was his alcoholism...which eventually killed him.
Marie Prevost is then mentioned. Anger just gets it baffling wrong by saying she had a 'bronx honk'. If Marie ever lived in NY I do not know but she was born in Ontario, grew up in Denver, and then LA. How this would be a 'bronx honk' I have no clue. Anger claims her drinking started because of talkies, but in actuality she hit the bottle due to her mother's sudden death in car accident in 1926 (ya know talkies were a year away from being major).
Her voice again was not the trouble. Her marriage to Kenneth Harlan ended in 1927 which forced her to drink harder and gain weight. In 1928 filming "The Racket" (with Thomas Meighan) she had an affair with Howard Hughes that also ended sending her further into a spiral. According to a Hughes biography this was the end of her leading lady days. Prevost actually avoided talkies until 1930...by which time she was severely alcoholic and overweight from binge eating. Talkies didn't do her in, men did. NONE of this is mentioned by Anger...absolutely NONE of it. In fact just to show how silly it is, her reviews for "Paid" (1930) were quite good. But by 1934 she was unable to handle herself and quit acting.
Marie died on January 21st, but wasn't discovered until the 23rd. Her dachshund had nipped at her legs trying to wake her up. Anger publishes a death photo captioned 'doggy's dinner' and says her corpse was 'half-eaten' which even by the pictures is quite an exaggeration. He makes it out as if her dachshund sat and fed on her for survival. In reality I'm pretty sure the dog could go 2 days without eating half a human corpse (or wiener dogs can eat a lot more than they appear to!)
Anger claims the 37 version of "A Star is Born" was 'mostly based off John Gilbert with the death scene more so to John Bowers'. Most sources don't mention Gilbert at all leading me to doubt that.
Anger then moves on to moguls affected by the stock market. He sums up William Fox's fall by saying he was ejected in 1930 via a hostile take over. In actuality Fox had been fighting all that since 1928, and combined with a car crash and the market crash that Fox lost his studio. He is most likely right about Zukor who ended up having troubles until his death (though I don't know if $40 million is an accurate figure). Anger claims Davies had to sell some of her jewels to save Hearst. Though the depression did hurt Hearst financially he died extremely wealthy...again this story is doubtful (also who would be buying such jewels during that time?)
Anger claims Gilbert was joined in talkie hell by a string of second rate actors (including BFed: Buddy Rogers). In reality they all made it through or chose not to. He claims Ramon Navarro went to quit movies and live in a monastery for a time. I highly doubt this via his filmography (he was very successful during the late 20s/early 30s). Navarro's biographers have a different stance: Ramon threatened it...to avoid a lavender marriage. He was secretly gay and extremely uncomfortable with it. A monastery would solve that conundrum.
Anger then mentions several actresses who also fell via talkies or the depression as he claims. Hes not fully accurate. Most of the actresses weren't exactly at the peak of popularity to begin with, and when they did give talkies a go they didn't have too many troubles (but not really many successes either) ala Colleen Moore or Corinne Griffith.
He claims
Louise Brooks fell from grace to a Macy's counter (whether due to the depression or talkies he doesn't say). Brooks had effectively blacklisted herself in Hollywood (she was headstrong) during the late 20s and fled to Europe where she made Silents well into 1930 (Diary of a Lost girl anyone?) She made some talkies, but no one noticed. She was offered Jean Harlow's role in "The Public Enemy" (which set Harlow's star on fire) but turned it down to be with her lover in New York saying she hated Hollywood anyways. As
Brooks biographer
notes she had a way of self sabotaging herself. Most people feel THIS was the end of her career...not a lacking talkie voice. She actually made a few more films before bowing out.
After films Brooks tried a dance tour and studio which she again self sabotaged by being difficult. She worked at Saks Fifth Avenue...not Macy's...and not till a decade or so after her final films. She bounced back though: by dating rich men and talking about her career. Its not like she was a sales girl forever (and even that move was her own...not a forced one.)
Mae Murray then gets hell. He's not fully right that the depression took her money. Her faux husband was more to blame: he took a good chunk when he divorced her, and he also acted as her manager at the height of her career...convincing her to walk out of films with little more than a word thus effectively pissing off Mayer. Mayer refused to rehire her and her career was in essence over. Anger claims she was arrested for vagrancy for sleeping in a park. I can't find it and its a doubtful story. In reality she went plum crazy, was likely the inspiration for Norma Desmond, and ended up at the Motion Picture home.
*Drastic DoubtsNothing too bad here. However I questioned if 31 was Clara's first trip to the nuthouse...the poor girl had had issues all her life. But I don't have her bio so I'll have to assume as such. Buster Keaton is briefly mentioned.
*EnditailsAnger claims Milton Sills killed himself by running his last limo off Sunset. In actuality Sills died of a heart attack at age 48 while playing tennis with his wife.
He claims actress
Jeanne Eagels purposely OD'd on heroin due to talkies. In actuality she was highly respected at the time of her death and had made a successful talkie. However she had had a drinking problem since the early 20s and due to sinus and other issues she tended to 'self medicate'. After the divorce to her husband in 1928 her alcohol intake increased. As she prepared for a night on the town she took ill and went to the hospital where she died. Reports disagree but say it was either 1) Alcohol 2) Sleeping meds or 3) Heroin that did her in. Given her tendencies its possible it was all 3 but its unlikely it was suicide and extremely unlikely it was due to talkies.
Anger claims Robert Ames took the gas pipe in 1931. For some reason Ames is the hardest person I've had to find info on. He was stage trained and mostly acted in early talkies though he did do silents (thus ruling out Anger's 'talkie failure' theory). Of note were Gloria Swanson's "The Trespasser" and Vilma Banky's "A Lady to Love". He was doing quite well at the time of his death...it doesnt make sense he'd kill himself let alone 'take the gas pipe'. Anger what the hell does that even mean?
I consulted nitrateville and user Harold Aherne was able to find some more info on Ames. An article from The New York Times ("Ames's Death Laid to Natural Causes" from 11/29/31) said he hadnt drank booze 24 hours before, and had last been seen having dinner with friends including apparent gf Ina Claire (who was incosolable upon hearing the news). Suicide was never mentioned and foul play was ruled out. No gas pipe...hmm...
Another article from The NYT ("Finds Liquor Killed Ames" 12/01/31) ruled he died of
delirium tremens from quitting alcohol too abruptly. A miserable way to go, but obviously not by choice. No gas pipe, no suicide. Nice one Anger.
Anger then goes to
Karl Dane who he revisits in Hollywood Babylon 2. Showing he cant get shit right Anger says Dane died in 1932...he died in 1934. Anger also implies Dane did it due to talkies.
We've already covered that's not true.
Anger then takes aim at Paul Bern, Jean Harlow's husband. Again mostly untrue, but Bern wasn't a silent player really so I don't feel like going over it.
Anger continues making my brain hurt by more false suicides. He revisits John Bowers saying Bowers walked nude into waves in Malibu to off himself. Actually Bowers rowed a boat out in Santa Monica and then drowned himself (nude didn't seem to be part of it). He calls Bowers a has been but Bowers seemed to have made films steadily up to talkies (and a few talkies) and was 50 when he died...likely just being old not a has been.
Anger also labels James Murray a has been and says he drowned himself by jumping in the East River. Murray was a has been due to a love of alcohol, and people tried to help him including King Vidor. Anger even admits Murray was clothed, and due to that his death has never been ruled a suicide or accident. Its possible it was either or.
Anger then says George Hill blew his head off with a hunting rifle, implying it was just another has been suicide. In actuality Hill had been extremely successful even in talkies especially due to 1931's "Min and Bill". However he was disfigured in a car accident soon after, something that led to depression and likely his suicide. However he hadn't gone out as a has been: he had been preparing for a rule in the yellowface-riffic "The Good Earth" at the time of his death.
Making me tired of all this, Anger then goes onto
Lou Tellegen who he claims was a pathetic has been who stabbed himself and laid out amongst his pathetic press clippings from happier times. Anger just leaves out the important bits: Tellegen had been extremely successful up to 1926...before his face was disfigured in a fire. To make matters worse he was soon diagnosed with cancer which was withheld from him and he became extremely concerned with his health. Fame obviously faded as did funds. He did kill himself in 1934 with a pair of scissors, and was supposedly surrounded by press clippings. He too was 50. For the record Tellegen did make talkies and also took to directing in his later years. He was Dutch but had been in America quite awhile (almost 24 years) and its likely his voice was fine. Anger also fails to mention his successes with Sarah Bernhardt but does mention his first wife Geraldine Farrar (he must have had a thing for theatre women...)
Anger then mentions Gwili Andre, saying she was a failed starlet. In reality she had been heavily promoted (solely a talkie star) and given a starring role and position by RKO. Her films didn't live up to expectations though and she was let go. He is right though: she did set herself on fire surrounded by her press clippings (so far I may have to give her the second most dramatic death award,
right behind Lya De Putti).
Anger then finishes out this dreadful chapter by claiming Ross Alexander died of a sleeping pill overdose (he didn't, he shot himself in the head with a rifle his wife had shot herself with earlier...see he could be dramatic too!), as well as Tom Forman (who shot himself in the heart, and for the record he did so in 1926, not 1938 as Anger claims).
*Babylon BabblersAHHH my head is gonna explode. Well onward (and thank God we're almost done with silents so I can put this dreadful book in the trash where it belongs)! Anger starts things off by putting Stroheim in the same category as Wallace Beery which shows just how insane he is. He claims Mary Nolan was a BDSM Queen and that her suing of a producer for beating her was part of this. Obviously there is no proof one way or the other. Anger then goes to penis talk (one of his favorite subjects) again claiming Chaplin well endowed. Sure let's take that one as fact.
Anger then goes into F.W. Murnau. Interesting theory here: has anyone actually ever PROVEN Murnau was gay? I just spent forever searching and couldn't find much about his private life, let alone that he was definitely gay or straight or whatever. This may be another case of Anger 'claiming a dead one for the team'. The few links I did find said he was 'gay but never open and self loathing about it'. That would almost indicate he may not have been at all...I want proof. Anger takes all the shots he can claiming Murnau's accidental death (a car accident) was because he was going down on his Filipino valet (who was driving) at the time. Not only that but Anger asserts Murnau was some sort of shameful blacklisted, and turning up at his funeral was a brave act. Every other thing I can find on him says else wise.
Anger then turns to lesbians, starting with Garbo then going to Dietrich. Even though he asserts it was more bisexual than lesbianism. He claims Lili Damita for the team, something I've never heard before (though the other names were in essence out and proud). Its possible but Damita had several intense marriages to men, one of which seen her moving to and
loving IOWA where she is buried. You would have to love cock an awful lot to marry a man and live in Iowa for a few decades. In what I found about Damita she's not generally claimed for the team as Murnau is...thus likely no one listened to Anger on this one.
***This is the point where talkies begin to intermingle with silents quite a bit. As much as I love Mae West and Marilyn Monroe I just don't have the stomach or time to debunk each chapter. So finishing up with the silent ones***
*Diary in BlueMary Astor and her diary. In the early 1930s things weren't going so good for Astor. Her mooching terrible family was spending money she didn't have on improvements for their opulent mansion. She had to sue them to stop.
In 1935 her marriage to Franklin Thorpe was deteriorating, and her lover George S. Kaufman let her know Thorpe had contacted him about it. Seems Thorpe found her diary. Thorpe promised to be quiet as long as Astor divorced him uncontested and let him get custody of their daughter promising after 6 months they could go on a 6 month rotation schedule. Astor agreed thinking it would save her bad publicity and rights to her daughter. In 1935 the divorce was settled with Thorpe getting sole custody of their daughter. In 1936 (assumedly he didnt keep his promise) Astor sued him for custody and wages returned to her. Thorpe went ape shit and submitted her affair and pages from her diary as evidence.
Astor claimed he stole her diary and the pages he submitted were fake. As Thorpe continued to threaten ruining her career she backed down and gave Thorpe control of her securities (he had threatened to ruin her if she didnt). After this Thorpe and his lawyers released the supposed diary anyways to the press, dubbing it 'The Purple Diary'. The letters were mostly sentimental and harmless, but it was damaging none the less. For the record no one ever verified if it was indeed her writing or from her actual diary.
As the custody battle went on the judge seized control of the diary and refused to release it to either Astor (who wanted it back for sentimental reasons) or Thorpe (blackmail reasons). It was quietly destroyed in 1952 with both parties consent. No one recorded its contents before it was destroyed. Astor eventually recovered custody of her daughter and went on to have a long career.
Anger doesnt get it right on pretty much any account. He calls it her 'blue book' (possibly being a smart ass in doing so...blue was the equivlant of dirty back in the day) though he does go on to call it 'blue bound book' later in the chapter. Anger claims she had an illicit affair with John Barrymore at the start of her career, when in actuality they were engaged.
Anger then goes on to publish what he claims are several entries. Not having the newspaper articles I cant say if this is indeed what was in the press. But it goes against it as other accounts say the entries were sweet and romantic and girly. Anger's are full of sexual things. He also has a bunch of court recountings...none of which can be proven true.
Anger then claims the judge ruled it 'pornography' and sent it to the fire. 1) The Judge never ruled it as such and took custody of it because he didnt want it to be part of the custody case (feeling the child's well being more important then tabloid mud slinging) and 2) it wasnt destroyed until almost 20 years later...Anger makes it out like it was right at the time.
*Death GarageThelma Todd barely qualifies as a silent star. In fairness she did work with Laurel and Hardy, Charley Chase, and Buster Keaton.
A beauty Queen discovered in 1925 she eventually entered movies mostly as a pretty face. In 1935 she was found dead, slouched in a car in the garage. Anger says it was in her lover Roland West's garage. It was actually his ex wife's garage: Jewel Carmen. The house was near a resteraunt Todd frequented, and had been at the night of her death. Anger doesnt mention it until way down, saying it was a beach cafe in Palisades.
Anger says she had blood on her face (something not really evident by the lovely death picture he includes) and her clothes were rumpled as if something illicit had happened. However this wasnt reported elsewhere and her death was ruled accidental carbon monoxide poisioning. She was cremated and buried with her mother upon her mother's death.
The LAPD did invesitgate her death, but even after everything still believed it was an accident. Pretty much every other theory Anger mentions (witnesses saying she was such and such, Lucky Luciano did it, etc) has no footing. He almost single handedly encouraged these conspiracy theories.
In the end there are two likely answers. 1) Is that Thelma had been prone to depression and intentionally offed herself. 2) According to History's Mysteries Roland West confessed towards the end of his life to accidentally killing her (dragging her from a party a little too roughly). If she was indeed killed in whatever manner he is the likely suspect regardless.
*Who's Daddy? Sugar DaddyAnd for what is the millionth time in this book, Chaplin is revisted. And as usual Anger's sick fantasies are reported as facts.
He gets the beginning right. In 1942 (he says 43 then 41) nobody wannabe actress named Joan Barry was introduced to Chaplin who thought about usuing her as the lead in a proposed movie he never made. He had just ended his relationship (likely divorcing) with Paulette Goddard and was probably looking for a new something something.
This article covers it thoroughly.Anger says Chaplin signed her to a contract, which he did though eventually he did his best to get rid of her. Anger claims she was forced to have 2 aboritions during her time with Chaplin, which is reportedly true. He says he dumped her 'after she showed up to his house with a gun as part of erotic foreplay'. While she did indeed do just that Chaplin didn't immediately end things with her...they were in touch for awhile.
What really happened was Chaplin had a brief relationship with her before she started exhibiting signs of mental illness much like his mother. One would assume the relationship ended very quickly after it began. She gave birth to a child in likely 1943 (thus pretty much ruling Chaplin out from the get go) long after whipping up a press storm.
Anger is right it was a war between Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper which fueled it. And indeed Hedda Hopper had a taste for blood and definitly wanted to tear Charlie down. Hopper and Parsons were like TMZ and Perez Hilton in their own days (respectivly). Both bitchy, but one much more blood thirsty than the other. And unfortanitly that one was the one after Chaplin.
Anger claims Charlie postponed his marriage to Oona because of the trial. Its untrue as he married her in June 1943 (the suit had been filed in 1943, the child wasnt born until October 1943). The rest of it isnt too far off...the jury did indeed rule that even though blood tests proved the child wasnt his Charlie still had to support it (they figured blood tests were too new and thus inadmissable as evidence). Anger leaves out the part about Barry finally being instituionalized in 1953 after being found wandering the streets holding a pair of baby shoes and a child's ring muttering, "This is magic". Reportedly Oona thought the child was his, and the little girl is still alive. Whatever became of Joan Barry after the magic baby shoes is unknown.
*Chop SuicideIn a chapter about Lupe Velez, Anger starts out with getting Julian Eltinge's death wrong. He says he died purposly OD'ing on sleeping pills. Yet other reports give Eltinge as dying of a cerebral hemorage. He could have had use for suicide, but its just unknown. Anger also says clown Joe Jackson did the same. Jackson actually died in the wings after show.
I'm a little confused by the sentence 'The Second Suicide of Lupe Velez' as it seems hard to achieve that act more than once. I'm gonna bypass the lightly peppered junk of her relationships (flashing her undies in public seems a bit much Anger) and go straight for the meat of the chapter. In 1944 Velez became pregnant by her current beau Harald Maresch. Lupe distraught over giving birth to an illegitimate child killed herself at age 36. Anger gets it wrong point for point.
First he claims Harald's name was Harald Ramond for some unknown reason. He calls him a gigolo though nothing much is known about Maresch. Anger says she was heavy in debt, though nothing else verifies that (she was still steadily working though its possible she could have been a Valentino with her money). Anger also says Maresch agreed to a mock ceremony to give the baby his name only, but Velez refused. Apparently along the way they became engaged. This isnt mentioned anywhere else at all.
Anger says she did up flowers and candles, and a silver lame dress. Nowhere else reports this (its likely as
embellished as his Olive Thomas death). He says she took sleeping pills, then crawled to the toliet to vomit where she unceremouniously drowned and was discovered by a chambermaid named Juanita. In actuality she OD'd on the pills, and her secretary and friend Beulah Kinder. Kinder claims to have found her ''sleeping'' peacefully in bed.
Anger's only claim to why Velez killed herself other than the child was debt. However her biographer notes she may have suffered from bipolar disorder, with an episode leading her to kill herself. Her biographer notes that she defied many social conventions of the time (including divorce, a very unCatholic thing to do) so killing herself over JUST an unborn illegtimate child seems unlikely.
*Hollywoodam MerungMy apologies to Marilyn but my brain hurts. Lets end this horrid book! Anger takes a grand finale by recounting more deaths and old life tales. Corinne Griffith's divorce is one. In 1966 Griffith wanted to divorce her fourth husband, and famously claimed to be...well not Corinne but her sister...claiming Corinne died ages ago. Anger for the most part gets the story right just missing the details. He says it happened in 1965, it happened in 1966. The man was 45, not 44. Anger also leaves out the part about her claiming to be her sister and says she wanted an annulment as the marriage hadnt been consumated. Nothing else says that. He also leaves out the part that 8 years later Griffith was STILL claiming to be her 20 something years younger sister.
Then enter the infamous Ramon Novarro myth. Anger claims that Novarro laid choking on his own blood with 'Rudolph Valentino's art deco dildo stuck down his throat'. I question how one could choke on blood over the supposed dildo but I digress. He also claims the dildo was given '45 years earlier' making it 1923. That would be interesting considering the hellit upseting bigamy charges going on against Valentino, his one man strike, and his constant attachment to
Natacha Rambova.But even more to the point: THERE NEVER WAS A DILDO! Not one used in the crime, not one from Valentino, not one stuffed down Novarro's throat. Novarro and Valentino had likely only met a few times and were not well acquainted. They didnt socialize together and Valentino was a bonafide straight man who was distraught when he lost his wife Natacha. Novarro on the other hand was extremely closeted and a no0b when Valentino was major. Its just...all around improbable beyond FANTASY. Again both Michael Morris (Rambova biographer) and Andre Soares (Novarro biographer) have debunked this hardcore.
For the rest of Novarro's death Anger gets it wrong and wronger. He was murdered on the 30th of October, not the 31st (ala Halloween as Anger claimed). Anger says they just wanted $5000 they heard was hidden in Navarro's home from a hustler. In actuality they were hired via an agency by Novarro for sex. The brothers thought he had a large sum of money hidden in his house, and beat and tortured him until he died and they found nothing. Anger completly forgets the 'beat and tortured part' as well as oddly the hired sex part. He claims they just ransacked the house and left. Close but the hours of torture Novarro endured are much more relevant. Also for the record the brothers left with $20...all they could find. Anger doesnt mention this or what happened to them.
FINALLY DONE!Seriously though this is a dreadful book. I regret I'll have to purchase the second one just to debunk it. #3 isnt so bad though...took 5 minutes.
I actually have another honor project in mind that maybe in the next week I shall pull together and announce. This one is a tiny one; but it makes me happy because its one of those things you can say "It only takes 2 minutes so do it!" and people are a little more willing.
