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

Druxman, Michael B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1593937903 ISBN 13: 9781593937904

Publisher: BearManor Media, 2015

Synopsis

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: From the Secret Files of Harry Pennypacker is a revisionist history of Hollywood's Golden Era and the tabloid press that covered it. Harry Pennypacker was a prolific and revered newspaper columnist; a colleague of Louella Parsons, Walter Winchell, and the other great columnists of the day. Unfortunately, nobody has ever heard of him because the papers never ran his articles. They were too hot. Too dangerous. Too likely to tarnish the delicate image of silver screen icons. The newspaper syndicate couldn't fire him because he had an ironclad contract, so Pennypacker wrote his stories ... and the editors buried them. Until now. The secret files of Harry Pennypacker are secret no longer.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael B. Druxman is a veteran Hollywood screenwriter whose credits include Cheyenne Warrior with Kelly Preston, Dillinger and Capone starring Martin Sheen and F. Murray Abraham, and The Doorway with Roy Scheider, which he also directed.

He is also a prolific playwright, his one-person play, Jolson, having had numerous productions around the country.

Additionally, he is the author of twelve other published books, including several nonfiction works about Hollywood, its movies, and the people who make them (e.g., Basil Rathbone: His Life and His Films, and Make It Again, Sam: A Survey of Movie Remakes), plus two novels, Nobody Drowns in Mineral Lake and Shadow Watcher.

A native of Seattle, Mr. Druxman currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Sandy.

Review:

"Always full of surprises, Druxman takes us on a wild and zany ride down a yellow brick road of filmdom myth that's fun and amusing; it's a sure bet for plenty of laughs."

-- Steve Kanaly, actor, Dallas

"So, you think you know Hollywood lore? You think you've heard all there is to hear about the stars and their films? Well, forget all you've read, because Michael B. Druxman and Stuart Blumberg have uncovered the real dirt behind the legends. I don't want to give away anything in this blurb, but my mouth was agape as I read the strange and sometimes sordid newly discovered tales in this book. Things I never knew about Clark Gable and John Wayne and The Wizard of Oz and James Dean and more -- I was mesmerized, I was astonished, I was giggling. A book that makes Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon seem like Fun with Dick and Jane. Are these tales true? Is the pope Jewish?"

-- Bruce Kimmel, author of the Benjamin Kritzer trilogy and writer/director of the cult movie favorite The First Nudie Musical

"A diverting humorous satire on Tinseltown."

-- James Robert Parish, author of It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks

About this edition

• Publisher: BearManor Media
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1593937903
• ISBN 13: 9781593937904
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 132