An Insider's Hollywood

An Insider's Hollywood uses the diaries of producer/writer Charles Brackett to provide a unique insight into the workings and social life of the film community from 1950 through 1956, with particular emphasis on the films that Charles Brackett produced at 20th Century-Fox, including Titanic, Niagara, The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, and The King and I. Daily meetings with Darryl F. Zanuck are here along with interactions with directors, such as Henry Hathaway, Henry Koster, Mitchell Leisen, and Jean Negulesco. Brackett and Wilder may no longer be a partnership, but Wilder still features much in the diaries. Contained here are fascinating glimpses into the parties and dinners that Brackett attended, with guests including Lauren Bacall, Joan Crawford, Hedda Hopper, Ethel Merman, Louella Parsons, Cole Porter, and Clifton Webb. The entries are, in turn, waspish and also tender and compassionate.

And, as with the earlier volume that covered the years from 1932 through 1949, they are, in the words of the Times Literary Supplement, "expertly chosen."