As a fan of classic Hollywood films from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of interviews by James Bawden, a former TV columnist for the Toronto Star and Ron Miller, the former editor for the San Jose Mercury News. The interviews, re-edited and assembled from their original publications cover a huge swath of Hollywood history, including stars from the silent era (Gloria Swanson and Jackie Coogan) up through new star discoveries of the late 1950s (Diane Varsi). Since many of these interviews were conducted between the late 1960s through the late 1980s, when these stars were at the end of their careers, the reminiscences actually cover most of the 20th Century.

I grew up in a period before Cable TV, before video cassettes and DVD players, a time when there were only the three major Television networks (CBS, NBC and ABC) and various independent stations. If you loved old movies you had to scour the TV Guide every week to see when they would be aired. As a child in Southern California there were lots of independent stations out of Los Angeles that aired classic films. KTTV Channel 11 had the Ben Hunter matinee which every weekday afternoon showed an old movie. KHJ Channel 9 had the Million Dollar Movie, KCBS the local CBS affiliate had The Early Show which showed classic movies in the late afternoon on weekdays. There were many more, including late night movies and creature feature shows like Fright Night and Chiller that specialized in classic horror and monster movies. My brother, sister and I watched them all.

The stations that showed classic movies were my gateways into the world of Hollywood escapism and introduced me to all of the subjects in this enjoyable book. All of the stars in this book were still alive during my childhood and many of them were still active in their careers, though by the 1960s, those still acting, for the most part, had switched to television. You would often see stars from classic movies showing up in TV shows like Wagon Train, Ben Casey, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Route 66, The Big Valley and later, in the 70s, shows like The Love Boat and into the 90s with shows like Murder, She Wrote. These stars often appeared on talk shows as well. Gloria Swanson was a frequent guest on shows like The Merv Griffin Show and The Mike Douglas Show. A few of the stars in this book, like Melvyn Douglas had a renaissance in their movie careers by playing older character parts. Douglas even won his 2nd Academy Award at the age of 79 for his role in "Being There." Glenn Ford, Ralph Bellamy and Kirk Douglas all continued to appear in movies well into their senior citizen years.

The book is filled with nostalgia, juicy gossip and funny stories. One story, told by actress Anne Baxter about a language miscommunication during the filming of "Swamp Water" with French director Jean Renoir, had me in stitches. The book also provides a fundamental education on how the Hollywood Studio system worked and what it meant to be under contract to one of the Studios. You will learn about the tyrants behind the scenes and what happened when stars stood up to them. Readers are also provided a fascinating glimpse into the decline and fall of the Studio system.

At the end of each interview, the interviewers give information on the performers last credits and their age and place of death. Reading each of these concluding epilogues, written years after the interviews had taken place, gave me a twinge of sadness, making me realize how all of these people who were such a part of my life from my childhood into my adult years were now long gone and so was their era of classic movies. Thank goodness their movies live on in the form of DVDs and streaming, and thank goodness for books like this that bring them and their careers momentarily back to life.

Conversations with Classic Film Stars was a quick enjoyable read. This book is perfect for someone who doesn’t want to invest their time in full-scale biographies but still wants to learn something new and interesting about their favorite stars. And if you’re like me and just devoured a 900 page biography, a compilation of short interviews makes for a great palate cleanser. Conversations with Classic Film Stars would make a great gift for someone who is just starting to develop a love for old Hollywood or for someone who has had a life long passion for classic movies.

There were a few errors in the book and sometimes I felt the authors thought very little of their audience. This prevented me from giving it a 5 star review. However it was really good and I would recommend this to pretty much anyone who is interested.

My full review with much more detail can be found here: http://www.outofthepastblog.com/2016/04/conversations-with-classic-film-stars.html

A fairly quick read, despite the size. I was familiar with most of the actors here, and enjoyed reading about all of them, even the ones I didn't know or didn't care for. The format was a great choice (brief bio, followed by context for the interview/s and a well edited rundown of questions and answers). The large pictures included were great. I would have liked more, though it probably would have added too much length. The knowledge and passion of the authors shone through. The discussion with the stars seemed thorough, but fair and not sensationalistic. I would recommend it to anyone with at least a bit of interest in any of the actors included here.