Hollywood

Meet Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut ("Maybe" for short). Maybe was named for her mother Chessy's favorite brand of mascara and two of Chessy's favorite Miss Americas. Living above her mother's charm school, perhaps it's not surprise that a lot of what Maybe does in Absolutely Maybe (2009) by Lisa Yee is part of a backlash against her mother.

Chessamay Chestnut Abajian Wing Marshall Wing Sinclair Alvarez (and soon to be Himmler) is a serial marryer. Somehow she winds up married to every man she dates--everyone except Maybe's father who remains a mystery.

Most of the time, Maybe can deal with all of that. Sure, her mother's charm school students taunt her and constantly make fun of her baggy clothes and funky hair colors, but they don't matter. Neither do Chessy's not-always-so-gentle criticisms. Maybe is above all of that. At least until Chessy chooses her sketchy fiance over Maybe, which is the last straw and convinces Maybe that she has to leave her hometown. And her mother. For good.  read more »

Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the premiere of the first work from one of the most notorious men in the history of Hollywood. He is prolific, having had a hand in the making of over one hundred film and television projects. That hand though has been the heavy hand of disassociation through loss of creative control. This man’s name is now synonymous with bad films and bad decisions. His name is Alan Smithee.

Death of a Gunfighter was released on April 25, 1969 in West Germany. The United States premiere was a few weeks later on May 9th. The New York Times gave a positive review for film, stating it was "sharply directed by Allen Smithee who has an adroit facility for scanning faces and extracting sharp background detail". Variety said “Smithee's direction keeps the action taut and he draws convincing portrayals from the supporting cast". Even Roger Ebert, though not familiar with the name, commented possitively on Smithee’s direction.

The absurdity of all this was that Allen Smithee did not exist.

Robert Totten was the original director of Death of a Gunfighter. He left well into production due to disagreements with the lead actor, Richard Widmark. Totten was replaced with Don Siegel but when the film was finished neither wanted to take credit because the final product did not represent either director’s creative vision. The Director’s Guild of America decided to use a pseudonym. Al Smith was the first choice but it was too common and there were already individuals in the film industry with that name. Allen Smithee was chosen because it was uncommon enough but not too strange to stand out. Though his name was later retroactively applied to some earlier works, Death of a Gunfighter was the first film attributed to Smithee.
The standard spelling later became Alan Smithee.

A perfect example of Smithee’s work is the extended televised version of Dune. The original feature film was directed by David Lynch. It was later edited with additional footage without Lynch’s involvement. Lynch had his name removed from this version and also replaced his screenwriting credits with the name Judas Booth, an inside joke and his way of saying the studio betrayed him and killed his film.

In the publishing world these name games are more common and done for entirely different reasons. A press release in the mid 1980’s informed the world of the death Richard Bachman from cancer of the pseudonym. Before I Wake, by Eric Bowman was really written by Mark Frost. And of course there is Lemony Snicket. Usually these pseudonymous writers have fans in the know waiting for more material, but no one is waiting for Alan Smithee films. His few fans are more of the cult classic variety, his films reserved for bad movie nights, his career a trivial footnote in Hollywood history.

In honor of the Oscar awards that took place this past Sunday, I thought I'd share some Hollywood drama in the fiction form. The following novels are set in Hollywood, California and cover various themes. From satire to mystery, these novels capture the Hollywood essence.

In Charles Bukowski's Hollywood, Henry Chinaski gets caught in celebrity Hollywood as he writes his screenplay, "The Dance of Jim Bean."
 
 
 
 
After a nervous breakdown, Maria Wyeth reminisces on her days as a frustrated actress in Joan Didion's Play it as it Lays.
 
 
 
 
What's Hollywood without its wild parties? In Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis, Clay finds himself in the California party scene, but after some disturbing events decides he needs to leave.
 
 
 
Based on true details from a 1947 unsolved murder, The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy is a page-turning mystery that will have you on the edge of your seat. Bucky Belichert is out to solve this brutal murder and investigates the whereabouts of his missing partner.
 
 
No other novel captures Hollywood like Nathanael West's 1939 classic, The Day of the Locust. Artist Todd Hackett works as a set and costume designer in Hollywood, while meeting a host of strange characters that he hopes to include in his painting, "The Burning of Los Angeles."
 

These titles can be requested by visiting the LEO catalog or contacting your local branch.