This is the extraordinary story, told for the first time, of Joseph P. Kennedy's remarkable reign in Hollywood, in which he ran three movie studios simultaneously, led the revolution in sound pictures--and made the fortune that became the foundation of his empire.
Kennedy saw filmmaking as "a gold mine" when movies were an idea one week, in front of the camera the next, and in theaters within the month.
It was 1919; Kennedy was thirty-one years old.
Between 1926 and 1930, Kennedy used his talents to position himself as a Hollywood leader. He ran Film Booking Offices (FBO), was brought in to run Pathe and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theaters, and became the chairman of their boards. Within months, he was asked to head First National film company. By 1928, Kennedy--merciless, electrifying, a visionary--was running three studios at once.
In "Joseph P. Kennedy Presents, "Cari Beauchamp writes about the genius behind Kennedy's profiteering and his importance in changing the way Hollywood conducted business. As one of the first nonfamily members to be given access to Kennedy's personal papers, Beauchamp, through years of meticulous research and countless interviews with those close to Kennedy, has dug through the maze of deals and the files of memos and notes, only recently made available, to tell in full how he made it all happen: how he charmed, cajoled, and bullied; how he juggles various backers--and managed to line his pockets with millions.
Beauchamp writes about the movies Kennedy produced and the stars he made, about the studios he razed and those he reorganized, about the jobs that were lost and the careers that were ruined (among them, that of silent film cowboy star Fred Thomson--one of America's top box-office draws).
Beauchamp tells for the first time the full story of Kennedy's affair with the feisty Gloria Swanson, the "reigning Queen of Hollywood"--an extravagant escapade that became legend and that triggered one of Hollywood's biggest financial fiascos. It began with Kennedy taking over Swanson's personal and professional life ("Together we could make millions," he promised), and ended with his first failure (personal and public) and her career on the brink of ruin, a million dollars in debt.
Beauchamp writes as well about the Hollywood titans surrounding Kennedy: William Randolph Hearst (Kennedy was a welcome guest at "the ranch") . . . Cecil B. De Mille . . . David Sarnoff, who, with Kennedy, masterminded the unprecedented deal that resulted in the founding of RKO, and that made Kennedy millions.
A fascinating tale of business genius and personal greed that brings to light not only the way Joseph P. Kennedy made his fortune, but how he forever changed the business of movie-making.

"From the Hardcover edition."

Frances Marion was Hollywood's highest paid screenwriter--male or female--for almost three decades, wrote almost 200 produced films and won Academy Awards for writing "The Big House" and "The Champ". Here author Cari Beauchamp masterfully combines biography with social and cultural history to examine the lives of Frances Marion and her many female colleagues who shaped film making from 1912 throughout the 1940s. 62 photos.

"Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary" is an insider's view of the film studios of the 1920s - and the first from a secretary's perspective. Rich in gossip, it is also an eyewitness report of Hollywood in transition. In the summer of 1924, Valeria Belletti and her friend Irma visited California, but instead of returning home to New York, the twenty-six-year-old Valeria decided to stay in Los Angeles. She moved into the YWCA, landed a job as Samuel Goldwyn's personal and social secretary and proceeded to trip over history in the making. As she recounts in her dozens of letters to Irma, Valeria Belletti encountered every type of Hollywood player in the course of her working day: moguls, directors, stars, writers, and hopeful extras. She shares news about Valentino's affairs, Sam Goldwyn's bootlegger, the development of the 'talkies,' her own role in helping to cast Gary Cooper in his first major part and much more - often in hilarious detail. She writes of her living and working conditions, her active social life, and her hopes for the future - all the everyday concerns of a young working woman during the jazz age. Alternating sophistication with naivete, Valeria's letters intimately document a personal journey while giving us a unique portrait of a fascinating era.

"I adored Anita, as did the entire fashion and literary world. She was four feet nine inches of lithe, slender, dramatic chic."--Carol Channing

"This book celebrates a character as memorable as any Anita Loos created in her writing. She was an indomitable, wise-cracking prodigy who not only helped create Hollywood, but managed to survive it."--John Sayles

"If we can't have the wonderful Anita Loos-smart, witty, literate and fun- writing today's Hollywood movies, at least we can get reacquainted with her and her work through this delightful book. Filled with previously unpublished material, it shows that while gentlemen may have preferred blondes, everyone else in town wisely preferred the irresistible Ms. Loos."--Kenneth Turan, film critic for the "Los Angeles Times

"This is a wonderful book about a talented, fascinating, and groundbreaking woman. Her life epitomizes a certain era in show business and describes a Hollywood in which few women were allowed to rise to the top. Anita Loos did and we were all the beneficiaries. I loved the book!"--Peter Duchin

"Not only is it valuable to have these delightful Anita Loos pieces, but the biographical chapters are fascinating too."--Kevin Brownlow, author of "David Lean: A BiographyJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

The bestselling story behind Ross Hunter's classic melodrama starring Susan Hayward and John Gavin.
When fly girl and gorgeous socialite Ray Schmidt first meets Walter Saxel in Cincinnati, their attraction is instant and everlasting. As their bond deepens, Ray finds herself envisioning a future with Walter, until one fateful day when the settling of her family affairs interferes with their plans to meet, and his relationship with another woman forms. Though years pass and Ray manages to carve out a life for herself in New York City, Walter remains in her memory, and a chance run-in with him leads them both to fall into their former ways. What unfolds is the fascinating tale of what life was for selfless, devoted Ray, a prisoner to her love for the one man who would never fully love her back.
Originally published in 1931, this bestselling classic novel about the heartbreak of living along the back streets of a man's life was adapted into film three times.
With a new foreword by Cari Beauchamp.
Vintage Movie Classics spotlights classic films that have stood the test of time, now rediscovered through the publication of the novels on which they were based.