JOHN STANLEY, THE GANG THAT SHOT UP HOLLYWOOD: CHRONICLES OF A CHRONICLE WRITER
02/02/2012 5:00 pm
Location:
Street:
1200 11th St
City:
Bellingham
,
Province:
Washington
Postal Code:
98225-7015
Country:
United States
John Stanley, 33-year veteran entertainment writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, stalks the environs of Hollywood and San Francisco to profile male & female stars of yesteryear who blasted their way through movies and TV series with high-powered handguns, curvaceous, slinky bodies and other weapons of excessive destruction, all for decent box office. Savor four classic Clint Eastwood encounters: Two Dirty Harry moments with actor Clint and two Iwo Jima moments with director Clint. Stanley presents exclusive material and photos about Iwo surrounding the raising of the first small flag, and introduces you to fellow Chronicle employee Joe Rosenthal, who took the famous photo of the second flag-raising. Can hard-hitting martial arts star Chuck Norris survive three showdowns with Stanley? James Stewart survived two Stanley encounters: one about his hard-boiled Westerns, the other about his Hitchcock classics. Meet Robert and John Mitchum, ornery fighting brothers whom Stanley knew intimately, and learn the full truth behind Robert’s 1948 arrest for marijuana use, never before revealed. Karl Malden faces Stanley in five showdowns on the streets of San Francisco. Sink into the world of film noir with “Czar of Noir” Eddie Muller and a warm swarm of femme fatales such as Jane Russell, Ida Lupino, Lauren Bacall, Barbara Stanwyck, Anne Francis, Evelyn Keyes, Marie Windsor, Carroll Baker and other undulating ladies, “the intellectual half.” It’s another noir moment on the set of Samuel Fuller's Naked Kiss when Stanley overhears a conversation that leads to the downfall of the popular cult director, whom Stanley profiles in depth from personal encounters. Then there’s a grim Fisherman’s Wharf showdown with Virginian star James Drury that still has Stanley spinning. Plus countless other moments with Hollywood icons, told with 740 photographs and 17 show biz caricatures. Text and imagery material that will shake up any motion picture lover.
John Stanley, graduate of San Francisco State College, spent 33 years covering the world of movies and TV for the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday "Pink" section. He is also the author of the six-edition Creature Features Movie Guide series, having hosted Creature Features in the San Francisco-Bay Area from 1979-1984. His autobiography, I Was a TV Horror Host, was distributed by Bookmasters in 2007-2008. He has made an estimated 2,000 crossword puzzles for magazines and since 1995 has made thousands of appearances teaching entertainment courses for Bay Area Classic Learning, at one time the most heavily attended Elderhostel in America. His novels include World War III (Avon 1976) and Bogart 48 (Dell 1980). His newest effort, The Gang That Shot Up Hollywood, is the first in a trilogy based on his newspaper experiences covering Hollywood and the entertainment world.
