I have recently been obsessed with Old Hollywood so this book was brain candy for me!

Matt MacNabb highlights various actors and actresses in the early days of Hollywood. Each chapter is a short biographical snippet about the lives and deaths of the glamorous and decadent performers specifically focusing on the early twentieth century.

It is interesting how so little has changed in terms of the types of Hollywood scandals. If I was not aware that this was a work of history, you could have fooled me into thinking that some of the antics these performers got themselves into were happening in the present day.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it did sometimes feel as through the author was guiding the reader through various Wikipedia entries. That being said, I am glad I read this book as it provided an accessible introduction before I delve deeper into this time in history.

I received a free copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about old Hollywood stars and scandals that they were involved in.

This book really appealed to me because I really love very old films and find myself looking up the actors/actresses on Wikipedia and most of the time I find myself going down a rabbit hole. Because of this a few of these stories I have read before but there was still a few that shocked me. The story that shocked me most was the one about Clara Bow. My only criticism of the book was that all the photographs were at the end of the book rather than being with their corresponding chapter. I would highly recommend this book if you have any interest in old Hollywood and the scandals that some of the actors were involved in.

I went between a 2 or 3 star. The information in this book is easily attainable everywhere and has been for a long time in every form of media. I gave it a 3 because it's all in one place for a new generation of readers. I was so hoping to read something new..

This is a bit of a whistle-stop tour through some of cinema's big scandals and controversial characters from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Some big names are here - Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford and others - along with some I hadn't heard of. There are some pictures to accompany the potted life stories at the end of the book.

This is a diverting read and one that I quite enjoyed. However, I suppose my issue with the book was that there isn't particularly much that is new here or anything that couldn't be found after a quick Google search. Indeed, a lot of the rumours were unsubstantiated, something the writer does make clear but which doesn't really give the sense of an insider's guide. For me, born after the Golden Age, it was interesting to know about some of the people who made cinema history but for film fans there probably isn't much of substance.

The other quibble is the way this is written is a bit clunky. Words like 'okay' thrown in just jarred with me and there was some odd phrasing.

Overall, an interesting and quick read but there are other more detailed books out there on these subjects if the content is a bit thin for you.

What an interesting book! I am not normally one to stray from my normal genre but this one intrigued me simply because of my love of the golden age of Hollywood and the amazing actors and actresses. I can honestly say, I surprised myself by reading the entire book in one day! Very interesting backstories - some very familiar, some unexpected and heartbreaking. The only thing that I could give as a "negative" review would be to say that the book wasn't long enough! I want to read more!

I love old Hollywood movies and I love the gossip and scandals that surrounded the old stars, so I was happy to receive this book and I did enjoy it for the most part. A few of the actors I’d never heard of but they were interesting none the less.
There were interesting chapters on Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, Mae West - how sexy was she! among others. I think my favourite was Errol Flynn. I remember my parents watching his old movies. But the author says he “went on to enjoy the rest of his career” after his trial for statutory rape. I don’t think he did. I believe his screen image was ruined and he had trouble getting the roles he once did. The book is full of murder, rape, boozing but isn’t really all that salacious. This was a quick light read.
Thanks to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review

I'm familiar with many of these stories from old Hollwood, but it's fun to re-read them and have them collected all in one book! Fans of old movies will appreciate these stories of actors and actresses from way back in the day. Fun and fascinating read.

HOLLYWOOD’S DARK HISTORY by Matt MacNabb is like a rehash of the Kenneth Anger book Hollywood Babylon that came out in the mid 60’s only this telling limits the number of stars and their “scandals” to an unlucky thirteen and does manage to eliminate most of the blatant fallacies and exaggerations contained in Anger’s version of “fake news”.

Most of the “stars” featured in MacNabb’s voyeuristic adventures are long dead (most having been born prior to 1910) and their names would have little meaning, if any, to anyone born after WWII. As for most millennials, well they can barely recall the names of “stars” of the 1960’s and 70’s let alone people like Mae West, Thelma Todd, Evelyn Nesbit, Barbara LaMarr and William Desmond Taylor. .

While the craft may be there, I’m afraid that, except for a few die hard movie buffs, most of Mr. MacNabb’s potential readers are, like the subjects of his book, deceased.

When I was a teenager, many moons ago, I found a book called Hollywood Babylon. It was all about the scandals of early Hollywood. I really enjoyed it. When I saw Hollywood’s Dark History on Netgalley I wished for it and was delighted to receive a copy for advance review. I will say I was not disappointed. The book has great stories from early Hollywood, Mae West, Charlie Chaplin, Lana Turner, Thelma Todd, etc. I really enjoyed re-visiting this time period in Hollywood. This book is not as sensationalized as Hollywood Babylon was, but as an adult I enjoy this book for it’s even telling of these old scandals, what a time to have lived. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes early Hollywood history.

Not recommended
This was a haphazard and poorly written book about Old Hollywood scandals. Containing no new information and no overall organization or theme, this seemed like a cut and paste job., one would do far better to reread Hollywood Babylon for a far more interesting and artistic overview of Hollywood scandal

Not quite in the salacious & gossipy tone of Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon", these thirteen vignettes take us back to the early days of Hollywood and to a few of the earliest scandals. From failed marriages and numerous liaisons, drug and alcohol addiction, abusive childhoods and relationships, murder, blackmail, gangsters, sex tapes and everything else in between, this makes for remarkable reading.

Many of the names may already be familiar to those who harken back to the era of vaudeville, silent films, and the "talkies" - Chaplin, Arbuckle, Normand, Taylor, Flynn, Crawford, Turner & West. All are presented with a look to their earlier life, career, personal life, and legacy. Not all received their star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame -and one wonders if of those who did, whether they actually deserved them.

An afternoon's escapism.

An interesting, enjoyable and well written book that kept interested till the end.
I liked to read about the old scandals and it was a lot of fun.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

'Hollywood's Dark History' was a quick overview of some of Hollywood's most salacious scandals. There were even a couple of people (Taylor, Lemarr) of which I was unfamiliar with their story. It was an entertaining precursor for those that may wish to further explore the seedier side of Hollywood.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pen & Sword, and Matt MacNabb for an ARC of 'Hollywood's Dark History' in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it was interesting and well-done. I always enjoyed Hollywood books and love reading about it. The author clearly has a passion about the topic and it shows in this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for this free advance copy in return for an honest review. Talk about a fast and fun book about the early days of Hollywood. This book covers a dozen or so real life Hollywood stars and their scandalous lives, lives the studios tried to keep quiet. From Fatty Arbuckle to Clara Bow lots of good stuff. I was aware of most of these scandals, the only new one for me being Barbara Lamarr (not Hedy). Interesting stories, and so much scandal that was also contrived by the press. Since there was not any really new information in the book, the book does not get as many stars as if it had contained more material on different stars, of which there were many, who were involved in the Dark History of Hollywood, but for younger fans of those early days of Hollywood this book is a good starter!

Thank you so much NetGalley for the digital ARC to this wonderful book! I wasn't sure what to expect when i requested this book but i was immediately hooked! I watch the old black and white movies so to know the scandals that happened during those times was just so interesting! Murder, booze, embezzlement - it was all there and i loved every word of it! A must read for everyone!

This fascinating scrutiny of early legends in Hollywood pivots on the understanding that audience opinion is everything when it comes to making or breaking the career of a star, on or off the screen. While some figures, like the swashbuckling movie hero Errol Flynn, escaped overweening censure due to the murkiness of allegations and the lack of any documentation in Hollywood itself, others, like Fatty Arbuckle, forfeited all good opinion during his life and after his death even though he was acquitted of the hideous crime that came about in the wake of the kind of party that Hollywood public relations officers would have just as well audiences never heard about. The dangers of scandal and gossip, especially when blasted out by a jubilant media, could send the greatest stars into the land of mental breakdowns. Such was the case of one of the most feted and successful of all stars in her era, Clara Bow, the It girl. The reader will feel relief that she had a decent family life away from the camera after heinous gossip brought her career to a crashing halt. I loved the way in which MacNabb compares the personal Hollywood disasters of yesteryear with well-known cases still causes shock today. I just reviewed Hollywood's Dark History by Matt MacNabb. #HollywoodsDarkHistory #NetGalley
https://www.netgalley.com/book/178166/review/385989

My thanks to Pen &Sword publishing, the author, and Netgalley.
I'm a bit wishy washy about this book! It was well done, and if you are one who doesn't know the stories of these people, then it will be new and in some cases, astonishing 😲.
Unfortunately, I've read all this before. I'm pretty sure that I know more than the author! Or, at least more than he put in this book.
When I first read the synopsis, all I saw was Thelma Todd. I love her! Granted, all the people in this book died before I existed, or soon after...but I have an absolute weakness for silent film on up to around the 1960's.
Thelma Todd-I learned nothing new here. But, I still love reading about this woman! All in all, I can find this information and more on Wikipedia.
Lana Turner? The more I read of her, the more I feel the need to shower afterwards. Tacky life.
Mae West- That woman rocked! We would have been friends! If course, I'd have felt inferior, but she would have set me straight! I especially love women who were suggestive, and fearless! Especially back then.😍
Barbara LaMarr-Starred in Birth of a Nation. She was a great talent, but is sadly remembered for that. I still don't know if she was rascist, I honestly just think she was looking for a payday. Who knows? Also, I think her hubby was the director or producer?
Mary Pickford and Clara Bow.- I put the two together because I simply adore each! Two strong women with very different pasts and widely differing futures. But, they both left an impression. Clara's story breaks my heart. Still, she managed to live a long life. Pickford? Dude? She is what women aspire to.
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle-I don't know or care. I think he should have gone to prison, because what happened was in his rented hotel room. I think some people may have been paid off. Yet, I don't blame him. He had a fine reputation with his female co-workers and friends. This is one case that I wish I could read the autopsy results. I looked, but nothing.
Charlie Chaplin-What a grotesque, pedophile. Any kudos that Hollywood gave him should be shattered and flushed. He may have been considered a genius, but he was just a pervert with a sense of humor.
Errol Flynn - This son of a tapeworm is the lowest of the low. What the author doesn't cover is how in his last year's he had many sexually transmitted diseases. He knew it, and he spread it! Even without that, Errol Flynn was a thief. A degenerate. A drunken, druggie who only cared about using people. Oh, and his image. Ugh!
So, that's my shakedown! If you are curious and don't know much about these folk, then read this. I did enjoy it.
But, if you aren't a newbie, then pass on this.

I've been interested in the seamier side of Hollywood since seeing the documentary series Hollywood Babylon ,hosted by Tony Curtis and inspired by the Kenneth Anger book of the same name, way back in the 90's. More recently I've been reading a lot of James Ellroy's excellent books where Hollywood sleaze and vice is an ongoing background theme. Matt McNabb's "Hollywoods's Dark History " gives a potted history of the misbehaviour of 13 Hollywood icons including Charlie Chaplin, Errol Flynn, Fatty Arbuckle and Mae West. The sad conclusion is that far from the glamorous image Hollywood and the movie industry was, and possibly still is, a sleazy mass of degeneracy with some of the world's best known and loved characters pretty disgusting and immoral people.
The book is well-written and informative if a little brief. There are many more stories from "Tinseltown" still to be told so hopefully more to come from Matt McNabb.

Excellent summary of, standard 20th Hollywood scandals. Nothing extremely new here but fascinating stuff for the uninitiated.