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"We were like dragonflies. We seemed to be suspended effortlessly in the air, but in reality, our wings were beating very, very fast." - Mae Murray"It is worse than folly for persons to imagine that this business is an easy road to money, to contentment, or to that strange quality called happiness." - Bebe Daniels "A girl should realize that a career on the screen demands everything, promising nothing." - Helen FergusonIn Dangerous Curves Atop Hollywood Heels, author Michael G. Ankerich examines the lives, careers, and disappointments of 15 silent film actresses, who, despite the odds against them and warnings to stay in their hometowns, came to Hollywood to make names for themselves in the movies.On the screen, these young hopefuls became Agnes Ayres, Olive Borden, Grace Darmond, Elinor Fair, Juanita Hansen, Wanda Hawley, Natalie Joyce, Barbara La Marr, Martha Mansfield, Mae Murray, Mary Nolan, Marie Prevost, Lucille Ricksen, Eve Southern, and Alberta Vaughn.Dangerous Curves follows the precarious routes these young ladies took in their quest for fame and uncovers how some of the top actresses of the silent screen were used, abused, and discarded. Many, unable to let go of the spotlight after it had singed their very souls, came to a stop on that dead-end street, referred to by actress Anna Q. Nilsson as, Hollywood's Heartbreak Lane.Pieced together using contemporary interviews the actresses gave, conversations with friends, relatives, and co-workers, and exhaustive research through scrapbooks, archives, and public records, Dangerous Curves offers an honest, yet compassionate, look at some of the brightest luminaries of the silent screen. The book is illustrated with over 150 photographs.

Howard Stern's Highest Rated and Favorite Adult Film Star Guest with a record 19 appearances on his Radio Show!"We're talking about creating a brand-name from nothing, and where it normally takes years and years and years, within a year and a half Jasmin was a known brand name in porn."- CHARLIE FRY, FORMER MANAGER"Love her or hate her, there is only one Jasmin."- TOP50PORNSTARS.COM"Within the porn community especially, Jasmin will always hold a certain distinct notoriety. Jasmin was very smart with the gang-bang, because she was the first one to make it a career move. She saw how it had put Annabelle Chong into the lime light, and Jasmin did her own gangbang in a much more calculating way to launch herself into stardom - from the advertising to all the press she got out of it, because of the crowd that was there to witness it, to everything else it led to for her professionally. So everyone that went after her more or less followed the Jasmin St. Claire guidelines and technique, and the model she had set. What made Jasmin so special - and always will-is that when she did anything, whether it be porn, or wrestling, or whatever else, she stands out."- RON JEREMY"She's one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Obviously she's talented enough to succeed outside of porn, she had her wrestling career, and I thinkcould have done anything she wanted."- MOTORHEAD FRONTMAN LEMMY KILMISTER

Among the top child stars of the 1930s and 1940s was a former stable boy from southern India, the only star with a single name - Sabu. Born Selar Shaik in 1924, he vaulted to stardom in his first film, a British production entitled Elephant Boy (1937). For the next decade he either starred or was featured in several finely crafted adventure films, including the fantasy favorite The Thief of Bagdad (1940) and the definitive version of Rudyard Kipling's perennially popular Jungle Book (1942). Adapting to modern western ways proved remarkably easy due to his above average intelligence and innate charm.After moving to America, the popular performer became a U.S. citizen in 1944, and did his bit for the war effort as a belly gunner, seeing action in the Pacific theater. In the post-war years Sabu's career began its inevitable decline. Fantasy and exotic adventure films were not as popular as during the war, and Hollywood studios found the dark-skinned actor difficult to cast.In the early 1950s he journeyed to Europe, appearing in a pair of Italian films and two circuses. Sabu next made a triumphant return to his homeland where he acted in one film and tested for another. Returning to America, the still young actor was seen in some minor films and one final foreign film made in Germany.After appearing in a Disney film, India's first and most enduring international movie star passed away suddenly of a heart attack in December 1963, leaving behind an exceptional legacy of memorable motion pictures and an image of radiant youthfulness.

"Michael B. Druxman may have escaped Hollywood after forty-five years,but he also survived and thrived there all those years...hardly a feat for thefaint-hearted. His entertaining and amusing memoir tells us how he did it.With tenacity and talent, he went from PR agent to screenwriter to directorand, along the way, rubbed shoulders with a fascinating array of characters,con-men, and artists. From the stars to the strugglers, from the saints to thescammers, from those who soared to those who took a swan dive, they'reall here. We meet the great, the near-great, the not-so great who makeHollywood their home and their hunting ground. Druxman depicts theirtriumphs and follies, as well as his own, with the nuanced eye of one who hasseen Hollywood at its meanest and most magnificent."- Charles Edward Pogue, Screenwriter of The Fly, Dragonheart, DOA"Michael Druxman's new book is like taking a time machine back to thosethrilling days of yesteryear, a time when there was a real Hollywood with realmovie stars and the kind of class that no longer exists in that place they callHollywood today. The tales of his days as a 'publicist for a price' are endearing and droll, and the celebrities he handled make for a grand cast of characters in this very affectionate memoir. Add to that the stories of writing and directing for Roger Corman, as well as his childhood memories, and you have a book that's a fun, fast read."- Bruce Kimmel, writer/director of The First Nudie Musical,author, record producer"As a working publicist, Michael Druxman was probably responsible for five orten percent of all the baloney written about so-called Hollywood celebrities over the last thirty-five, forty years. I oughta know. He was also my publicist for much of that time. But now, finally, here he is writing about the real Hollywood, and it's plain that he's lived it and knows it. So get the book-read it-and learn."- Stanley Rubin, writer/producer The Narrow Margin, River of No Return, White Hunter, Black Heart

Lloyd Nolan could play any character in any genre and was believable to every role. He was not acting; he was just real. He was Inspector Briggs in The House on 92nd Street and The Street With No Name. He was Dr. Swain in Peyton Place and, even as a bad guy, he was Lt. De Garmot in Lady in the Lake.Nolan's off-screen life was just as remarkable. He was devoted to his autistic son Jay and, when young Jay died in an accident 2500 miles away, Lloyd channeled his grief into action. For the rest of his life, he did everything he could to better the lives of disabled people and their families, and such people are still benefitting from the resulting legislation today.This is the story of the two lives of Lloyd Nolan--his prolific on-screen life that is so familiar to movieoers and television fans alike, and his off-screen life that has positively affected many throughout the country. His was a true Hollywood success story of a role model extraordinnaire!

Vernon Dent.You may not know the name, but you've seen him in countless Three Stooges comedies, usually playing the gruff authority figure. After years of working in the shadows of Moe, Larry, Curly (and Shemp), as well as the great silent film comedian Harry Langdon, Vernon Dent is finally receiving the attention he deserves with this outstanding biography. Written by Bill Cassara (Edgar Kennedy: Master of the Slow Burn), Vernon Dent: Stooge Heavy contains never-before-seen photographs and a massive filmography. Vernon's story is told with the respect it deserves; it is funny, touching, and true. Once read, you'll never forget his name again.

Harangue for Hollywood! From the blighted urban squalor ofDetroit--Paris of the Midwest--came enfant terrible Mike White andhis mutant publication, Cashiers du Cinemart. For fourteen yearsand fifteen issues the writers of Cashiers du Cinemart provided atreasure trove of writing on film and popular culture.This book collects the best articles from the fifteen year historyof Cashiers du Cinemart magazine with sections dedicated toQuentin Tarantino, Star Wars, Black Shampoo, Unproducedscreenplays, celebrity interviews, and much more. Everything hasbeen refreshed, polished, and improved for this volume of moviemayhem.

Starting with Road to Singapore in 1940, Paramount Pictures teamed Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour to star in one of the most successful series of movies ever made.All seven "road" films followed the same basic format: adventurers Hope and Crosby would be caught in a seemingly impossible situation, they would defeat the bad guys, and then vie with one another for Lamour's attention. A few ballads, duets, and comedy numbers were added for musical flavor and it all worked to perfection.This book is a fond look back on three screen stars, all with successful careers of their own, who traveled seven "roads" together and left audiences with miles of movie memories.

Illustrated with over 300 photos, many of them rare and never before in print, JUST JOAN is a compilation of over four years of comprehensive research, culled from rare Lincoln Center archives, original magazines and those who knew her. Crawford is examined as a feminist forerunner, a gay icon, a dynamic artist, and as one of the world's great movie stars. The many anecdotes and quotes within JUST JOAN reveal the sassy, indomitable spirit of this actress who grew up in abject poverty with an indifferent family and yet, against unseemly strife and setbacks, rose from the ashes like a phoenix. Her determination, talent and committed work ethic enabled her to find a career and home with what would be one of the most celebrated and powerful studios in film history, MGM. Hers is the moving, complex story of the pursuit and realization of the American Dream, part sublime, part nightmare, self-actuated. With rich detail and devotion, JUST JOAN bears testament to Crawford's enduring enigma and powerful star. "If Joan Crawford was the ultimate star then Donna Nowak is the ultimatefan. She appreciates this complex subject for her skill as an actress, herimportance as a pop culture icon, as well as displaying a fi ne sense ofhumor for Crawford's more lurid notoriety. Nowak has a fervor, devotion,and attention to detail that even the fastidious Crawford would cheer."- Charles Busch"Intelligent, insightful, witty - Donna Nowak's essays and reviews onthe style, work and life of Joan Crawford would have compelled theUltimate Star to officially adopt her as the devoted creative daughter shealways longed for."- Shaun Considine

With the success of Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, Universal Pictures was quick to capitalize on creating a new Lon Chaney in Bela Lugosi. Chaney had been the original choice to portray a duel role as both Dracula and Professor van Helsing, Dracula's adversary. Before production could begin Chaney died suddenly leaving Carl Laemmle Jr. without a star.Laemmle Jr. had seen Dracula on the stage in New York City, although he could not recall if he had seen Lugosi or Raymond Huntley in the role of Count Dracula. However Lugosi was performing in the touring company which happened to be in Los Angeles at that time. Was he the new Lon Chaney?Lugosi was not Carl Jr's first choice for the role. However he eventually won the part and now they needed more ideas for him. "Murders in the Rue Morgue", "Cagliostro", "The Invisible Man" and "Frankenstein" were top on the list.One day in March 1931 Robert Florey, recently returned to Hollywood from Europe, was having lunch at the Musso and Frank Restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard. He was approached by an old acquaintance, Richard Schayer, head of Universal's story department. Schayer told him that his studio was looking for ideas for a new horror film to star Bela Lugosi and he knew Florey was involved with The Théâtre du Grand-Guignol de Paris, (a small theater, in an obscure alley in Paris which specialized in sadistic, shocking, explicit, violent melodramas and became known as the "Theater of Horrors". It opened in 1897 and closed in 1962.)They both agreed on "Frankenstein" being the best choice. Schayer suggested that Florey would stand a better chance at being asigned writer and director if he were to present the idea to Carl Laemmle Jr.We present now the script for"Frankenstein" as it would have been had Bela Lugosi starred; and Rober Florey directed.

All there is to know about the crime fighting hero created by mystery writer George Harmon Coxe -- from his debut in Black Mask, the popular 1930s pulp magazine, to his 10 year stint on radio, his short lived television career plus his exploits in the movies, novels, comic books and a play. Includes the complete very first Casey short story, "Return Engagement," that appeared in Black Mask, synopses of ALL 21 Casey short stories and novelettes, 6 novels, 4 comic books, 2 films and a play, 2 uncirculated radio scripts, a complete Program Log for radio series -- 431 programs, 1943-1950, 1954-1955, a complete Program Log for television series -- 62 programs, 1945, 1951-1952, 31 photographs and illustrations, including cast photographs for radio and television series, and the first-ever literary biography of George Harmon Coxe, twice President of the Mystery Writers of America and recipient of the MWA Grand Master Award in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the mystery genre and the consistently high quality of his work.A comprehensive, first-rate history of the sleuthing shutterbug. Chock full with valuable information. - Blood and Thunder, Fall/Winter, 2006A richly detailed portrait that secures the program's rightful place in radio's history. - Dick Bertel, Host of WTIC's Golden Age of Radio broadcastBoth Coxe and Casey are long gone but their books brings them back, as fresh as ever. - Francis M. Nevins, Noted mystery writer and criticThis is a great book that follows the career of Flashghun Casey for over two decades. - J. David Goldin, The Man Who Saved Radio

Pat Buttram is known by today's youth as the yodel-y voice in the Disney animated films The Rescuers, Robin Hood, The Fox and the Hound, The Aristocats and A Goofy Movie. To their parents, he's Mr. Haney, the hilarious con-man from Green Acres; and to their grandparents, he's Gene Autry's humorous sidekick. Pat was one of Hollywood's truest success stories. He lived his dream of making people laugh, winning honors from the The Pacific Pioneers Broadcaster's award all the way up to an Emmy, and everyone who knew him loved him. No one could keep an audience laughing as well as Pat could.Born in 1915 in rural Alabama, the seventh of eight children grew up to be one of the most interesting voices in movies and television. This is his story, told for the first time by his many friends, family members, co-stars, and co-workers at Gene Autry Enterprises. Interspersed throughout the book are many of Pat's original one-liners. If they make you laugh, they will have earned their keep.

Legendary film director Robert Wise called the Whistler features, "examples of budgetfilmmaking at its very best." Noted B movie historian Don Miller cited them as, "the bestB pics of the period from Columbia." Famed film critic/historian Leonard Maltin referredto the series as "one of the most unusual- and one of the best mystery series of the30's and 40's. . ."Based on J. Donald Wilson's hit radio suspense program featuring ironic tales ofterror spun by a mysterious host, The Whistler film series consisted of eight motion picturesproduced by Columbia Pictures between 1944 and 1948 starring legendary, AcademyAward-nominated actor, Richard Dix. Although manufactured quickly andcheaply to fill the bottom half of a mandatory double bill, The Whistler films were suspenseful and well made, engendering wide popularity and surprising critical acclaim. Today historians and movie aficionados frequently cite them for their innovation and style-and as early examples of film noir.This is the story of the making of this landmark Columbia series, and the manyextraordinary individuals who pooled their singular talents to make eight lowbudget movies into film classics. Included are rare profiles of 50 Whistler filmmakers:actors, directors, writers, and technicians.

The San Fernando Valley, hidden just on the other side of the Hollywood sign, is the pornography capital of the world. This valley of adult commerce is towered over by Alston Image, the most successful, respected and innovative producer of adult content in history. But when the company's eternally ambitious and publicly reclusive founder and CEO, Isaac Alston, decides to track down and produce the script for a legendary forbidden film by his favorite erotic auteur he incurs a public backlash that echoes across the entire nation. In this scorching debut, author Jordan Owen weaves a tale of scathing satire, corporate intrigue and moral outrage to journey deep into the hearts and minds of the industry that is the Eros Empire...Jordan Owen is a writer, musician and cultural agitator who currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. If you buy this book you are only encouraging him.

First U.S. Printing". . . and as the Baron Frankenstein has been adjudged responsible for the actions of the monster which he created . . . you are charged to carry out sentence of death by beheading. . "So read the instructions on the warrant- but Frankenstein did not die!This is the gruesome, horrific story of Frankenstein's revenge which took the form of an operation to remove the brain from one man, and transplant it in another. Karl, the unfortunate victim of the Baron's machinations, comes to a tragic end, tormented by his new-found freedom and, finally, destroyed by it.Karl, the unfortunate victim of Baron Frankenstein's experiments, is tormentedby his new-found freedom. But his tortured brain cannot grasp the fact that he is merely the tool of the Baron and his assistant. And finally, Frankenstein's gruesome work destroys the brain he has transplanted. . .A Hammer Film Production, Ltd. horror-drama "The Revenge of Frankenstein" was distributed by Columbia Pictures. Starring Peter Cushing, Eunice Gayson, Francis Matthews and Michael Gwynn, it is produced by Anthony Hinds andDirected by Terence Fisher, Screenplay by Jimmy Sangster

The Divine Woman, Released by MGM, 1928 starring Greta Garbois considered a "Lost Film" Only a short nine minute sequence with Russian subtitles has survived, discovered in 1993 at the Gosfilmofond, Moscow. Unfortunately it was stored in the same MGM backlot vault as another "Lost" film "London After Midnight" and both were destoyed by a fire.Adapted from the 1925 play Starlight by Gladys Unger which starred Doris Keane, the plot is loosely based on stories of the early life of the French actress Sarah Bernhardt. Marianne (Greta Garbo) is a poor French girl who goes to Paris in the 1860s to seek her fortune as an actress. As she rises to success in the theatre, she must choose between the romantic attentions of two men: Lucien (Lars Hanson), a passionate young army deserter who goes to jail after stealing a dress for her, and Henry Legrand (Lowell Sherman), a Paris producer who offers her fame and fortune.If the film is never foundThis novelette written by Gladys Unger, based on the shooting script by Dorothy Farnum might be the only glimpse we have on Garbo's only lost film.

A vicious serial killer is terrifying the bayous of Louisiana, and the only person who can catch him is FBI Agent Kate Palmer. But after years spent thinking like serial killers in order to catch them, Kate is facing burnout. To make matters worse, she's about to rekindle a relationship with the only man she ever loved when the Bayou Butcher strikes again, this time frighteningly close to home.For Kate, that makes it personal. And it might also be just what it takes to break her completely.

From the mind of veteran Hollywood television and screenwriter comes a haunting collection of tales focusing on the darker side of childhood. Stretching from the dark days of World War II to the steamy jungles of the Congo and on to the windswept bluffs overlooking exclusive Del Mar, California, you are about to enter a realm of wicked aunts and uncles, homicidal teenagers and proud but impoverished street urchins.Occasionally they find salvation... but not always.

JAN WAHL grew up in North-West Ohio where as a child he played piano on a radio program called The Kiddies Karnival. Next came the creation of traveling magic and puppet shows and shadowplays. Once he appeared at the Toledo Town Hall with the legendary magician Harry Blackstone.At Cornell University he had the good fortune to take classes with Vladimir Nabokov. In Denmark while on a Fullbright scholarship he was invited by director Carl Theodor Dreyer to be part of the making of the now classic film Ordet. He returned to Denmark to act as scribe to Isak Dinesen (Out of Africa) at the time she was writing her Last Tales. He lived a number of years in Guanajuato, Mexico and resides now in Toledo.His more than 100 books mostly for children have been illustrated by Norman Rockwell, Maurice Sendak, Uri Shulevitz, Edward Gorey, Feodor Rojankovsky and other notable artists and have been anthologized, animated, and set to music. His awards include the Avery Hopwood, Redbook, Ohioana and Parents Magazine awards as well as the Coretta Scott King and Bologna Youth Critics prizes.

"The Palik Series of Jules Verne, Published in conjunction with the North American Jules Verne Society, Edited by Brian Taves"This adventure is for everyone who has thrilled to The Scarlet Pimpernel, A Tale of Two Cities, or Scaramouche. A nobleman, the Count of Chanteleine, leads a rebellion against the revolutionary French government. While he fights for the monarchy and the church, his home is destroyed and his wife murdered by the mob. Now he must save his daughter from the guillotine. This exciting swashbuckler is also a meticulous historical re-creation of a particularly bloody episode in the Reign of Terror.The Count of Chanteleine is the first English translation of this Jules Verne novel, the fourth volume in the Palik series published under the auspices of the North American Jules Verne Society. Commentary by an international team of experts supports Edward Baxter's translation.